When I was small and out to play
In my backyard I had to stay.
But my backyard was filled with things.
My mind could fly on angel wings.
At least one hundred mighty oak
A creek my size where I could soak
With maple, apple, walnut trees
A million flowers for the bees.
The Osage orange was a pain.
Their apples drove the sheep insane.
And Dutchman’s Britches in the shade
But thistles must be cut by spade.
A thousand colors close to earth
While birds and squirrels in trees did berth.
The sheep, the horse, the cattle grazed.
Inside all this my soul was raised.
Nine oaks that made a ring of trees
Where I could hide but from the breeze.
T’was there I found my inner soul
Since He alone was in control.
To sense all this was just a start,
To feel all this within my heart.
These things were never taught in school
Or even with the golden rule.
(continued)
A world so full of things to please
With simple rules to feel with ease.
To love, to give, to be, to care
To feel, to know, to want to share.
The names of things were in a book.
The feel of things came from that nook.
To know the wind, to feel the rain,
To be this soul removed all pain.
And something happened mighty strange
For this stretched out across the range.
That man could misconstrue his life
When in His world there was no strife.
Someday they will replace that space
With home and street and leave no trace.
And yet no tears will I impart
For what I learned is in my heart.
That eighty acres full of love
To fill my life with things above
Was my backyard when I was small.
My inner soul it did enthrall.
Where ere I go, inside of me
Is every part of every tree.
The thoughts I have, the things I feel,
My inner soul is more than real.
COPYRIGHT – DR. JON FULFS – JULY 1991