Life's canvas stretches before me,
the paint slowly drying,
having formed a familiar design
from unfolding experiences.

Into the waning light
pensively I journey,
my picture almost complete
but for some final brush strokes.

Expected images are there:
of a mother's tender love
and food on a table
of scrapes and bruises earned
along a sinuous pathway
in carefree days of youth:
these form the edge of my canvas.

Pointing to the centre
are struggles for independence,
then the broader view of life
as I turned away from man's world
to nature's paradise: 
mountain sheep gracefully
leaping from cliff to cliff;
eagles soaring ever higher
across stark blue sunlit skies;
leaves drifting softly
through uplifted branches;
brown eyes shyly smiling
in the noonday shade.

I made myself one
with these impressions of life
and now I've reached the center
ready to unfold to the edges
once again.

Sharran Windwalker