Doubtful Sound

Thanks to my husband for these photos.

In a recent communication, Paul (www.originalfaith.com) talked about "discovering" a poem. Most poems seem at least to start that way for me, but then comes the hard part of translating them from the dream time into the words of everyday exchange and preserving at least some of the feelings. The first bit of this poem came to me when I was in Doubtful Sound in New Zealand and has lingered on the edge of my mind. I decided to pull it out and have a go thanks to Paul and his blogpenpal Nasra, who says that her poetry is often inspired by the beauty of nature.(http://iamnasra.blogspot.com/).


All of New Zealand is beautiful, but Doubtful Sound, in the middle of a nature reserve larger than Rhode Island, is deservedly cherished above many others. For our first anniversary we took an overnight cruise onto the sound. It was a long slog to get to the boat, so most of the more casual tourists had gone to Milford Sound, which is also beautiful but more accessible and hence more traveled. We spent the night on the boat and had dolphins frolic alongside us and learned about the flora and fauna from a passionate conservationist.

The next day we had the ultimate treat--nothing. The boat moved slowly into one of the many small inlets along the sound. Everyone on board was requested to be silent for a few minutes. They stopped the engine and we drifted into the deepest silence I have ever experienced. At first the silence was complete, then gradually the birds reclaimed the air with their birdsong, the untroubled waves of the water lapped against the shore, and the wind sighed through the trees clinging tenuously to the steep stone walls surrounding this secret cove.

In this wet cool green center of creation

A gift of stillness

Calls me back to the source of meaning.

Too soon the world returns,

but this small still spot lingers within me.