Green Leaf Memory

A sweep of green, sweet summer breeze

recall my toddler days

A forest lea, leaf dappled sky,

sift slow through mental haze



Pacific Northwest family home

paternal people live

Cascade mountains, wooded glade

did childhood pleasure give



Cool, misty, summer afternoon,

family time well spent

Long gone people, places too,

these glimpses give a hint,,



Of spending perfect days at play

beneath a cloud free sky

The images I catch are few

and fleeting, cause a sigh



Around the time of my fourth year

we left the mountain crown

Headed east, across the land,

first to my grandma's town



My mother's mom and father's home,

our resting place back there

Before we started south to school,

my father's house of prayer



Through plains and rolling foothills,

down to the Smoky Mountains

My solid memories start back then,

near Carson Newman's fountains.



A theologic school no more,

back then was seminary

Thunder Road, fresh on the screen,

the ending wreck was scary



A chain of conscious memory

is anchored in that place

Jumbled sequenced scenes unfurl,

before the anchor base



And still I feel the soft moist air

back half a hundred years

Lost in the green and quiet place,

a time before all fears



Before I felt the trials of life

I stored this hiding place

I find my way on well worn paths,

that time cannot erase



When life time details wear me down,

I step back in my mind,

There give my mind a barefoot run,

and come back redefined



You who read these words I write,

gain by what you see

I'm really glad you benefit

I like the company



Richard Higley © Oct 2011