Can you hear a leaf sing?

A couple days ago, I took a long wonderful hike with a friend in Sycamore Canyon, an especially beautiful place south of here, where the head waters of the Verde River can be found. I took the pictures posted with this blog there. On that same night, I received this wonderful poem by a favorite poet of mine, Mary Oliver, from a friend who shares my love of poetry. The pictures and the poem seem to me to be uncannily suited to each other. But then, maybe not. Maybe you who read this blog have had the experience described by Mary Oliver in her poem, and you may even have pictures somewhere that match it, as mine do. My wish for you is that you will go out there wherever you live and listen to the leaves sing, touch the face of rocks, or let your mind reflect the beauty of your life, like the river.

Here is the poem by Mary Oliver.

What can I say that I have not said before?
So I'll say it again.
The leaf has a song in it
Stone is the face of patience.
Inside the river there is an unfinishable story
and you are somewhere in it
and it will never end until it ends.

Take your busy heart to the art museum and the
chamber of commerce
but take it also to the forest.
The song you heard singing in the leaf when you
were a child
is singing still.