Sabbath in Motion

Sabbath in Motion

There is no time to be still,
so I take my Sabbath in motion,
walking fast or deliberately
through familiar woods
where it seems impossible to lose myself,
the hum of traffic still audible
across the enfolded hillsides.

And yet the well-trod path
suddenly fades away
into a gully where I have never set foot,
and I am forced to angle back
until I find the trail,
bare earth and crushed leaves,
that will lead me home,
walking now through woods familiar and strange.

Stepping in this moment
through eternity, on either side
snow melting away, rain falling,
vines and trees bursting greenly through spring
into summer, into fall,
into snow again, spring again,
cardinal, woodpecker, heron, goldfinch,
geese winging south, winging north,
each step stretching out
forever.

john hawkins
March 29, 2009