Noccalula Falls

A Pileated Woodpecker pecks
against hardness of Pignut Hickory
while the Pygmy Shrew
trembles inside the Pink Lady Slipper
ever watchful of the Ringneck Snake
slithering through the Solomon’s Seal

The Red-tailed Hawk
shares an acrobatic dance
with the Peregrine Falcon
high above the Rosebay Rhododendron
wet from the spray of Noccalula Falls

My beloved Blue Ridge
where I walk in solitude
listening to God’s whisper
in the rumbling white water
where I smell angels
in the pink purplish blooms
of Mountain Laurel