I am working on a series of poems based on the ancient elements. The first poem, Earth, was written for the wedding of my friends Andrew and Sonya Long.

Come with me, and pass along the winter plains,
snow-covered. pristine.
Snow-flakes settling gently on the fences
upon the quaint slate rooftops,
snuggling against the barn door.

Or weave among the jolly hills,
the forests sprouting tuliptrees
the spruce, the birch and sycamore,
lifting up their hands in praise
around the flowered meadows,
the swaying willows,
where butterflies play with sunbeams
filtered through the dancing trees.

Grasp the outcrops of the mountain-wall,
Above the earth, yet anchored to it,
Solid, rooted, strong.
Splash your hands in the mountian-stream,
Cold, fresh, alive.
Below, the forests, farms, and rivers
slumber in the morning haze.

Below, the cavern glistens from our lamp.
The glasslike columns reach above, beneath,
growing gently, drip by drip.
Silent beauty, born in darkness,
crystals bred from living stone.
Vaulted halls defy imagination.
Deep among the jewels' home.

May your love be like the earth,
A treasured emerald. Precious. Deep.
Resting solid, rooted in the Living Stone,
Fruitful like His ancient garden,
A warm embrace among life's silent wintertimes.