Open

When the sun’s path traverses
the long skinny lake beside us
so that wildflower meadows
capping its ends glisten with
dew drops in the sunrise—

When the forest whomps
a wave of energy through me
so that I stop and fill my lungs
with the warm greeting of
a thousand lodgepole pines—

When the cold lake offsets
the sweat of a midday hike
so that naked bodies squeal
then prickle then tingle then
laugh at an all-natural swim—

When the butterfly flits from
cloudform to chat to actuality
so that its representation of life
and soul transforms my focus
into meaning-filled presence—

When the moonless sky offers
galactic pinprick brightness
so that stars burn into my retinas
and reappear inside my eyelids
when I close them to sleep—

When the experience provides
every want/need my heart held
so that I’m reminded to open it …
open it wide … open it wider …
and open it wider still.