Collected Poems 10
Along the Rhine, Germany
There is a defiant rock chapel
Marked 1689,
A grotto of sorts
On a hill overlooking the Rhine
Neglected and abandoned
But for a tree standing beside
And a bench for wanderers chancing by.
If you happen upon this place unawares
Seeking rest perchance or silence for a moment,
You linger, reluctant to move on—
Then after, while winding your way down
To the deep-flowing Rhine below,
You wonder at what presence,
What purpose it was
That hovered round those stones
Somehow subduing all struggle within
And instilling peace
Without one's doing
In ways wondrous and unknown.
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