Love language

The night’s darkness melts away in the morning sun’s rays,
An autumn leaf floats sleepily in the river,
It has been there for days.
A washed green forest looks back at me and meets my gaze.
A black silken cat steps out of the veil of fog,
Only to disappear into the white, misty haze.

Who is that I see now, curled up on a tree?
Is that a spotted leopard, that in only pictures I’ve seen?

I look at him in pure awe and wide-eyed wonder.
What does he like to see? What does he like to hear?
The green ivy?The flowers of coral red? The silver lightning bolts?
The pitter-patter of rain or the crash of thunder?

He looks back at me, in what I’d like to think in at least half the awe and wonder.
Am I a friend?
Can he let me in?
He soon knows that I come in peace and absolute surrender.

Now, we roam the forest together,
Wild and free,
My new friend, the leopard,
And his friend… me.