Meeting at Last

 ....its intense reality with love
 and wonder, this lonely rock.
'Oh, Lovely Rock' by Robinson Jeffers

Chopping wood today,
down below the rocky ridge, 
I looked up and saw it.

The slanting sun 
through the cold, clear air,
green ferns and grey rock.

Just taking a break,
warming my hands,
easing my back.

Lichen blotched,
cracked and riven,
enduring grey rock.

Looking down at me here,
but for millions of years,
always changing and on the move.

Islands, ferns, wind voices, roaring surf,
creatures crawling out of the mud.
 Flowers, the calls of the first birds.

Once, long before that, free as air,
ash drifting on the wind
from endless volcanoes.

Falling lightly on ocean,
down to the bottom,
covering coral reefs.

Traveller across the Pacific
compacting, twisting, hardening,
eventually here.

Worn down, covered in moss,
cracked and broken,
surrounded by trees.

Here am I, 
looking at you looking at me. 
Meeting at last, oh lovely rock.