Nature's Peace

There are times in life,
such as when one is sitting around a fire,
or out in the desert,
with only mountains and sand as their company,
that one's perspective of the world changes.

When you stare
into the leaping flames,
or close your eyes
to listen to the silence,
not many other things matter.

You don't care
if your body smells of smoke,
or that your hands are turning black
from playing with charred wood,
that has escaped the flames.

You don't care
if layers of grime,
dirt
and dust
are slowly collecting on your skin.

The food you eat may be covered
with grit,
and picked up by
those blackened fingers,
but you eat it still.

The flames
and the sky
are your friends.
Other's company
is hardly felt.

The wind and the fire
whisper their secrets,
blocking all else out.

Perhaps later,
when you get somewhere clean,
your irritated skin will begin to protest,
your hair will itch with grit,
the layers of grime will get to you,
and the smell of smoke will stink.

You will yearn
to speak with others,
to laugh and get away
from the silence.

But now,
none of that matters.
The smell of smoke is almost pleasant,
the cool night air refreshing.

A calm peace washes over you
as you are lost
in the beauty of the ever changing flames,
or the void of the star sprinkled night sky,
and the beautiful quiet.

You could sit there for hours,
staring,
as slowly
everything else
trickles away
until you are left
with nothing
but
yourself.