Forty years ago

Sonnet 1
Through green and gold of woods, a summer’s day,
through stillness broken by a bird in song,
through gentle streamlets, rippling on their way
we loved to walk; the wonder held us long.
On windy hilltops, waiting for the night
we watched the sun go down in fiery skies.
The stars appeared, the full moon came up bright.
We saw all this: its glory filled our eyes.
We climbed the dunes beside the crashing sea
and waded in the waves and dug sand-holes.
The seabirds flying o’er us, proud and free,
sustained the sense of splendor in our souls.
You say we’re blind--God’s far from him and me.
If God is not in beauty, where is He?

1965