! ! To Praise Poem by Michael Shepherd

Spring morning; air full of promise in the nostrils;
scents of flowers yet to bloom;

dew as diamonds on the grass stems;
sunshine on the hills across the river valley;

outside the rabbit hole, a terrier, crouched
on the scuffed reddish run-dust of a hundred paws;

focussed, completely still, every muscle ready and alert;
ear occasionally twitching at some movement underground;

now, all things are praise.


To live with praise, to live in praise,
to know; be blessed; be full;

joining, giving back, taste of that
which satisfies beyond all else;

then, dare to speak it: hear within the voice
knowledge of eternity in living now;

today, all things are praise.


The terrier, full five minutes still,
knows the rabbits knowing him;

gets up as if there’s nothing in the world
but this moment; scampers, wagging tail;

glances towards you, as if to share
the joy of dogginess and paw and earth;

a sudden move of breeze, off the still sea down there
to bless the land; the view quietly sparkles as if to say,

you will remember this all your life
because a moment speaks eternity;

today, all things are praise