What is there about walking around Walden Pond—silently
Could be the way the water moves across the pond

Maybe it’s the swimmers on a cold autumn day

Could be the cairns built on the edge of the pond

Maybe it’s the red foliage

Could  be the reflections in the water

Maybe it’s the half submerged branch

Could be the sand beach

or the children with pails at the water’s edge

or the fisherman with three poles simply waiting

Maybe it’s the two ducks at one end of the pond

or the sound of the wind weaving a path through leaves

or a bird sound you can’t identify

Maybe it’s the sound of your sneakers

on the hard packed sand

Could be the way you relax into the day

and wear the goodness like a shawl

from Joyce Rupp’s A Star in my Heart:

Leaf by Leaf

Leaf by leaf by leaf
They tumble and fall
All my haggard hurts.

Like a cottonwood tree
Ever so slowly letting go,
So the heartache of my heart.

There goes a bit of sadness,
Now a leaf of anger flies;
Then it’s the dropping of self-pity.

The leaf of unforgiveness
Takes forever to fall,
Almost as long as non-trusting.

Leaf by leaf by leaf
They fall from my heart
Like a tree in its own time.

Old wounds don’t heal quickly,
They drop in despairing slowness,
Never looking at the clock.

It seems a forever process,
This healing of the hurt,
And I am none too patient.

But a quiet day finally comes
When the old tree with no leaves,
is decidedly ready for the new.

And in my waiting heart,
The branches with no leaves
Have just a hint of green.