With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning…
~ W. S. Merwin, from “To the New Year” from Present Company
Photo: Ian Cowe (Perthshire, Scotland)