I Heard The Voice Poem by Barry Middleton

I heard the voice in the wood
as a child I heard it clearly
it rang in the waters of my creek
it whispered in the leaves of the trees
it leaped into the silence of dreaming

the voice constantly sang to me
it carried me from the cruel street
where innocent blood was spilled
in homage to the shame of the past
it carried me into the endless universe

and as the child sees
hermits are incubated
innocence retreats

the rational reaction to insanity
is a different type of insanity
a flight of the imagination into the stars
where god lives beyond the silence
where love grows a garden in wilderness

there the voice spoke
and there the voice was heard
it told me I must find my rhythm
it told me I must find my way
my path from hell into salvation

the dreamer seeks peace
the child may sense a true path
yet may lose his way

the desire came before poetry
something inside screamed for expression
the dreams were hard to hold
they came like the tears of the wood
like the silent grief of the garden

where psalms began I was there
alone in the infinity of universe
I found my voice
the constant melody of stardust
was made manifest in humanity

the voice was a song
the words of gods of mercy
the cycle of moons

poetry filled the silence of the wood
it flowed in the waters
it was present in the darkest pond
it was in the memory of a tree's rings
it was within a child's desire

poetry was the boy becoming a man
it was the tears of grief
it was the memory of love
it was in the wish for peace
it was the final return to the stars

rest comes in rhythms
peace is the rhyme scheme of time
a child's dream is law