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Oh wow, this poem really gives a visceral feel of the loss wrought by the tractor. "Just listen for emerald singing and the thick, brown silence." Beautiful blending of senses in the whole poem, but especially this line, which hit me right in the gut. Here's what your prompt drew out of me:

*

The joyful sounds

live in the layers between

hustle and bustle.

Beneath the constant kerfuffle

that drives the markets higher and

the wildlife into traffic and

all of us slowly but surely

into a siren song of panic.

But if you are patient and if

your heart is hospitable,

you will hear

the wind whispering

to the green summer leaves

the trilling of frogs

the buzzing of bees

a multitude of birds calling,

singing, percussing on trees

crickets pulsing in the weeds.

You will know you’ve tuned in

to the right frequency

when, in the resonance

you remember

that nothing else matters,

things are not as they seem

and your hospitable heart

beats steady and peaceful.

Joyful, glad, free.

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I love this, Keith - the idea that the tuning into hear nature’s sounds tunes us to the frequency of what really matters.

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Thanks, friend. I was really tuning in as I walked yesterday with your prompt on my mind. As I walked and listened, it was like layers of subtle sound revealed themselves, which then led all my senses to open and the joy to kick in. A gift!

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“..your hospitable heart beats steady and peaceful. Joyful, glad, free “. Beautiful words

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Thanks, Karri <3

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Oh wow, I really needed "nothing else matters" today -- thank you, Keith!

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So glad - I must have channeled that line just for you (not really, it was at least for me, too...I really needed to feel that when I did).

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Kerfuffle.....

..heh heh heh..

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Oh, I love this. Those first lines really drew me in and set the tone.

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Thanks, A. So glad to hear this :))

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