Different Beauty
Karen Torbiak
2000

As I gaze out at the flat,
barrenness of the prairie world
around me
my mind drifts back in time

A time when the tangy, salt air
had my nostrils twitching
as I tasted of the freshness
flowing into my body

Seeing the endless seas
of green planted fields
rippling forever in the distance
brings the fantasy
of memory closer still

Eyes closed against reality
I transport myself
to the cliffs of my past
where I view
the ever-changing waves
responding to the powerful winds
flowing over their surface

Stepping out after
a gentle prairie rain,
smelling the fresh rebirth
it has given the land
makes me wistful still

Memories of blinding torrents
of water pouring
from skies overburdened
from the oceans near at hand

As I gaze out on the flat
barrenness of the prairie
I see barrenness no more
as it comes to life
for eyes now willing to see