Glimpses Of Gaia Poem by Hugh Mitchell

This time I nearly didn't know you, Gaia,
elegant dancer; slow smiler
the children, of course, they knew you from the start,
knew you and loved you -
there's no fooling them
their grief was boundless and eloquent
as an Irish lake beneath a wind-swept sky
saying goodbye.

That blackbird singing in the garden in the spring
(was that you?)
she it was started the process of re-birth
livened my mind again
I should have been expecting you
but knew you only in
your going back into your earth.

Fooled again!
I'll never know you perfectly, Gaia
(elegant dancer; eloquent slow smiler)
But draw some comfort fleetingly
from knowing where you've been.