For Me The Wider World

For me the wider world
And all her scents and sights
Her oceans and their reverberations
Their resounding shores;
Receding valleys;
Deep caverns;
For me her variegated people
Their unique ways –
For me the best that is
In all nations,
Their songs and lyrics;
Their undying dreams;
The echoes of their most poignant utterances
Shaking the ambient earth.

April 1977