| Introduction Wilderness was written in 2006 during a period when solitude was both a choice and a way of life. It reflects the questions that often arise when we spend long periods away from the noise of the world—questions about purpose, belonging and whether the path we have chosen will ultimately lead anywhere at all. Twenty years later, those same words carry a different meaning. Rather than revisiting or changing the original poem, I chose to answer it. Wilderness Answered is not an attempt to correct the younger man who wrote the first poem, but to reassure him that the years spent in silence were not years wasted. They became the foundation upon which everything that followed would quietly grow. Together, these poems form a conversation across two decades, reminding us that some questions can only be answered by time itself. |
| Wilderness It’s truly beautiful here, ………… and the quiet nights can haunt your dreams, Silence creeps enthusiastically beneath your ear, … Whilst the dark hides even the moonbeams, Living the life of a solitary man, Has its advantages, Yet for some, these are hard to understand, And not everything is always that easily managed, Here in the barren, remote wastelands, There are times, when even l feel lonely, … Desperate for the company of another living breathing soul, But this comes with the territory of such isolated beauty, And said advantages must somehow take their toll! … And will l live my life always in such seclusion, Often l ask this of myself, … Is this to be the way of this solitary man, Hiding away from society like an ancient volume upon the shelf? I can only imagine, that until l know the answers, … To the questions that l seek, Then l will continue to live in this beautiful yet silent wilderness, …Until like the dusty volume, my knowledge is also unique. © Rory Matier 2006 |
| Wilderness Answered [The Second Verse] I still remember silent nights, When darkness wrapped the lonely land, When solitude became my friend, Though few could truly understand. I wondered then if life would stay, Forever hidden from the crowd, If all my thoughts would fade unheard, Too quiet to be spoken loud. The questions echoed through the years, As seasons turned without a sound; Yet every path I chose alone, Prepared the road on which I’m found. For every mile of wilderness, Each lonely dawn and setting sun, Was teaching lessons patiently, Long before my work had begun. The dusty volume on the shelf, Still waited for another day; Its pages never lost their worth, They simply had no voice to say. Today I tend both earth and soul, Where gardens speak in every leaf; I’ve learnt that beauty often grows, From seasons coloured by our grief. The silence that I feared so much, Has never truly left my side; It walks beside me in the dawn, No longer something that I hide. For silence taught me how to hear, The robin’s song, the blackbird’s call, The whisper of the evening breeze, The quiet wisdom shared by all. And those who could not understand, Why I would walk the lonely way, Now read the thoughts those years prepared, In words I finally chose to say. The wilderness was never there, To keep my life from all the rest; It was the place that shaped the man, Who found his purpose in its test. So to the man I was back then, Still searching skies both near and far; The answers were not lost at all… They simply took the years they are. © Rory Matier 2026 |
| Some poems are written for a moment in time. Others quietly wait for time to answer them. Echoes Through the Garden – The Second Verse revisits poems first written years ago, not to rewrite or replace them, but to continue the conversation. Seen through the eyes of a gardener, a naturalist and the passing of years, each original poem is accompanied by a new companion piece, offering fresh understanding shaped by experience, seasons and the quiet lessons the garden has taught. Together, they become two verses of the same story—one written then, the other written now. |
The Gardener's Curious Journal 