BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN MORNING Misty covered mountains Roll away with the dawn The sun begins

to rise Now I stretch my arms and yawn But the beauty holds me captive As I stop to take a look The view outside my window Is worth writing in a book To stop time frozen For the beauty that I see To hold onto this moment It still amazes me Green mountains rise up Ridge upon ridge unfold They stand firm and proud And have since days of old A bright red cardinal Swoops down upon his prey A caterpillar crawling Who had come to greet the day Now a black crow comes And attempts to steal the prize The cardinal is too quick And away he swiftly flies The butterflies and dragonflies Are warming up their wings They begin to circle my garden Searching out tasty things A brown rabbit slowly hops From beneath a berry bower He cannot resist the taste Of a golden dandelion flower As the sun warms the earth A speckled fawn begins to play His white tail mother joins him And cautiously leads the way

They two enjoy a quiet moment While the world is still asleep They love my private garden Where they find a safe retreat Its just a simple garden With an archway painted white Where oaks, maples, and pines Encircle and keep it from sight Its a place I go to meditate A place where I can be alone I let go of needless worries Sitting on my bench of stone I thank my Creator For the beauty He has made I sing a happy tune And there leave my troubles laid On a morning such as this Theres no place Id rather be Some do like the City life But the Blue Ridge Mountains are for me