• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • One World
  • A Moment in Time
  • Art Journals
    • Artist’s Statement
    • A Moment in Time
    • Hope
    • Walls
    • Emergence
    • Stream of Consciousness
    • The Village
  • Art Galleries
    • Emergence
    • Cityscapes
    • Southwest Art
    • Rock Art
    • Misc Art
  • About
    • Events
      • Swimming Upstream
    • Bio
    • Who Am I?
  • Contact

Jeannie Hope Gibson

Race of Time

June 21, 2017 By Jen Liszka

This race I run was once a thrill in younger years:
A defiant challenge danced upon the toes of time,
As I screamed my name from lofty mountain outcrops,
And crowed victorious after each relentless climb.

Fearlessly I raced through endless seasons,
Squandering my summers in heedless waste;
And when Autumn beckoned me to rest along her wayside,
I hurried onward spurred by fevered haste.

Now once more the last of summer wanes before me,
And scarlet leaves blow wild around my face.
Amidst their swirling scatter for one last breath of freedom,
I stay behind, reluctant to resume the race.

I join the eagle soaring high above me.
Wild and free it climbs to distant height.
Circling, sailing in the last of daylight’s promise,
Diving unafraid to greet the night.

The final rays of summer’s shining brilliance
Brush one last kiss of warmth upon my hair.
And leave me lost among the shadowed piney giants,
Shivering, swaying, sighing ancient prayers.

Still I linger in the mounting twilight,
Chilled by winter’s whispered hint of snow,
Knowing I should fly before the storm comes,
Pondering this reluctance yet to go.

Then, a shaken leaf, I whirl and run for freedom,
Away from winter’s ponderous embrace,
Scrambling, stumbling in the dark back down the mountain,
No more reluctant runner in the race.

And on the valley floor as I hurry homeward,
The furious thunder roars and screams in vain
From storm clouds raging, roaring high above me,
While I am washed by Autumn’s wistful rain.

Jeannie Hope (1992)

Footer

View the Art Journals

  • Artist’s Statement – The Journals
  • A Moment in Time
  • Hope
  • Walls
  • Emergence
  • Stream of Consciousness
  • The Village

View the Art Galleries

  • Emergence
  • Cityscapes
  • Southwest Art
  • Rock Art
  • Misc Art

Contact Me

Swimming Upstream

Share on Facebook Share
Share on TwitterTweet
Share on Pinterest Share
Share on LinkedIn Share
Share on Digg Share
Send email Mail

Join my mailing list

Loading

Copyright © 2023 · Jeannie Hope Gibson · Site by Bristlecone Studio

Scroll Up