I stand beneath these Douglas firs,

that soar like pillars of a nave,

as slanting beams of sunlight pierce

the silent arches of the glade.

 

Eight hundred years of vibrant growth

unmoving to my watchful eye.

this mighty stand of forest giants

saved from the fallers flashing blade.

 

A man of the city stares,

awed by the lofty canopy

that arches greenly to the sky

so far above his humbled head.

 

Some speak of Nature’s mighty power

and others of God’s guiding hand.

I only know I feel subdued

when standing in that hallowed grove.

David Garlick, Victoria, September, 1986