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The View

I'm sitting here
Admiring the view
Thankful for it's beauty
It's comfort
It's familiarity.

I've been here before
So I can close my eyes
and picture it still

And I know it all.

Deep breath in
Contented smile
Snapshot made
The scene is owned


Then the eyes open
As realisation strikes
- I own nothing
- I know nothing

I don't know 
how each hill was formed
the names of the farmers who built the stiles to every field
or the names of those who now own those blankets of land

I cannot begin 
to count every blade of grass
to measure the mist
to know the age and history of every tree
 
The past of the very bench I'm sat on
is a mystery to me

The winding roads have their own heritage
And I can't say who first walked it's length
Or where that plodding bus was built
Or where it's been since it's birth

The cars stuck behind are heading on their own unique journeys
I can't vouch as to where to or where from
Far less state the words and thoughts of those cocooned inside
Or declare the depth of any of the puddles they pass

I can't tell you the wattage of the bulb
Shining through that distant window
Still less how warm the sun will feel in an hour
Or the direction the wind came from, even ten seconds ago
 
The provenance and future of those clouds
Cannot be told by them
Let alone by me.
 
Eyes close once more
 
I know nothing but
the fact that this view
In this moment
Does belong to me

And that maybe, somehow
I'm all the wiser for knowing less

beautymysterynatureprose poetry

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