the echo

The wind halted my long run today.
I decided instead to lie down
On the hilly lawn of Union University,
Smack dab in the “U” sculpted out of bushes.

A thought welled up inside my head.
I watched the clouds heave,
And they began to play tricks on me,
Convincing me I rather saw waves in the ocean.

Then the others got in on the joke.
In the limbs of the bushes,
I saw tributaries branching out of a river,
And the veins carrying my blood were there, too.

The wind, of course, took its turn.
I felt the earth inhale,
Even as my own lungs filled themselves,
And nature’s respiration proved much more effective.