A morning run and a chance encounter?
You are always there, I should have known better.
A gull of the Greater Northwest, a fixture at ev’r shore,
In my youth I despised you, but not anymore.
See, my friend, my travels have taken me far and broad,
Beheld many a-bird I have, but it was you I should have loved.
A gift of the Creator, this I can now see,
In your heart, perhaps, can you ever forgive me?
I have now come home after many years,
My first sight of you tore my heart, precipitated by tears.
Behaviors at times an inconvenience, yet they nev’r caused much harm,
Those things that once annoyed me, I now see their charm.
Your vocal cries bid me to return to my childhood home,
Only a few more years of labor and I promise I shall come.
When you cry out again do so in remembrance of me,
Due to obligation and duty, I must reluctantly flee.
Be free upon the littoral shores and brisk salty air,
My very heart is ev’r with you in collective prayer.
Reminisce I will on our passing encounter,
A foresight of what will come in my journey after.
If you liked this poem, check out anotherpoem by Drew: Support of a Thousand
Wendell Berry is renowned for his nature and agrarian writings and reflections. A Small Porch: Sabbath Poems 2014 and 2015 is a collection of poems and essays from Berry’s sabbaths outdoor wanderings.
