A Thousand Trumpets

“Let us hear your voice,”
I called, and was silent
It was first light, the marsh
Before us lay open like a fresh page
To read
And our hair and skin still smelled of
Burning wood and balsam fir and the heady musk of oil
And Nature’s voice rang out across the stillness of the land
With the chaotic burst of a thousand trumpets
Honking and flapping to wake the slumbering Earth
And the reeds shook with raucous rasping
For a long moment as we sat
And tasted corn tea on our lips as we breathed
The fresh morning air
Behind us in the trees, birds awakened
And chirped softly, plink, plink
A sound barely audible above the frenzy of horns
From the open water, a pair of geese
Took flight
Winging their way from here
To somewhere
Necks outstretched and trumpeting
Him to her, and back again
Beneath it all, the leaves rustled
Subtly, like conductors in a symphony
All this we heard
Our voices the only ones silent
In the soft light of dawn