I Watch the Stars Instead

I can’t read the news.
It weighs down my heart
As Fear and Dread creep in,
Casting shadows.
I can’t watch the news.
I watch the sunrise and the waves instead.
I watch the flames of a campfire at sunset,
the colours once the sun has fled.
We watched the stars last night on a whim.
We lay in sleeping bags in the garden
And gazed at inky skies,
And where there had been worry
I felt wonder seeping in.
I can’t listen to the news.
I listen to the sea instead.
The river song, the whispers of the leaves.
And in the dappled woodland
The light floods back in.
I get my daily briefing from the trees:
Which way the wind is blowing,
The discussion of the birds,
The reassurance of the breeze.

I can’t watch the news.
I watch the sea and stars and trees instead.