PASSING OUTDOORS ON A SUMMER NIGHT
by Michael Langston

Passing outdoors on a summer night,
Past the unnatural world of man’s creation,
Entering the company of nature’s various forms
Has with it, always, a sense of placid contentment.
Quietly sitting, I hear the lessons of silence;
Around and before me, the teachings of darkness:
Away from striving, merely being;
Away from thinking, only knowing
A sense of perfect enlightenment…
Not to be found elsewhere but in nature.