"Nothing, nothing at all ...."

Nothing, nothing at all

is born,

Dies, the shell says again

and again

from the depth of hollowness,

         Its body

Swept off by tide – so what?

         It sleeps

in sand, drying in sunlight,

         bathing

in moonlight.  Nothing to do

         with sea

or anything else.  Over

         and over

it vanishes with the wave.

Shinkichi Takahashi

"It is a wholesome ...."

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility.

Rachel Carson