"My Pagan Heart"
A poem by Christine Bode from Eden Redefined
My pagan heart belongs to no world religion.
I cannot put blind faith into the hearts and minds of men.
Reverence for nature leads my spirit to a Higher Power;
It shimmers silver in sunlight, shining through a forest glen.
The red fox and the raven,
The wind in the willows,
The heady scent of lilacs in the spring;
Scorching summer sunsets over the Big Rideau,
Stars scattered in the dark sky almost sing.
The petrichor, bronze, red and yellow leaves,
The Zen of olive-green moss on my toes,
The festive smell of burning wood;
Midnight call of the lonesome loon,
Rabbit tracks formed on freshly fallen snow.
A stroll through autumn-kissed woods,
A swim in a calm, clear loch,
The taste of ripe raspberries to the tongue;
A full moon on a still night and the call of the wild,
The softness of birchbark to the touch.
My pagan heart responds to this evidence of God.
In nature, the music is always perfect and the sermon serene.
Here there is no exclusivity, no propaganda, no dogma;
Which is why you’ll never find me in your man-made church scene.
My Pagan Heart appears in my second volume of poetry, Eden Redefined, available here.