The loveliness of an unexpected coolness

in the morning air

soothes the skin on a mid-July morning

while the gentle beauty of delicate mist

forming above the bottoms of creeks and rivers

speaks to the soul of those the Giver has gifted

with this quiet dawning.

A pastel gray hovers above the woods and ridges

of northeastern Kansas,

beneath the stars of a moonless sky

while the least hint of an eastern light

etches the edges of night’s softening canopy.

I stand beneath the paper-bark birches

that stretch along the fringe of a gravel driveway,

taking in the subtle coming of this day the Lord has made,

giving thanks,

praying for wisdom,

yielding to the grace of gratitude

and trusting that all that I need will be received

in the hour of its needing.

H. Arnett

7/20/2021