Aegean Colors
A white sail
on the world’s blue edge,
and here on shore
a fisherboy in red pants.
He sits a-spraddle on a rock,
bright legs splayed,
watching his pole and the far
white sail. His line of sight
is tied to it there
on the horizon’s arc –
his pole held lightly,
centered:
navigator
sailor.
Alchemy
In Autumn the red maple by the lake
takes sunlight of late afternoon,
holds fire captive as though in ransom
against the coming cold. Each leaf burns,
the whole a conflagration.
Through short October days, as leaves fall, flying,
the fire drops away. The tree defines itself
against the lake in dark, fine turnings,
branchings like pilgrim paths that wander upward.
When sun strikes on a sudden morning
through a frozen fog, the ransom of Autumn lost,
a glory stands in silvered white, a gleam so cold
that now the tree’s breath shines.
It is as though the tree has lived for this:
neither for the green promises of Spring
nor the blazing heat of Fall’s lost bargain,
but rather for this revelation of essential form,
an alchemy of water, air, and light.
Animal Crackers
The Cricket
With his legs, at night,
the cricket sings a song.
He sings it long,
from dusk to dawn,
and never, ever
does he sing
a single note
wrong.
How Now Brown Cow
For a brown cow
it’s always Now.
She munches grass
and what may pass
she notes, or not.
There’s not a lot
for her to do
but chew,
or look at you.
Spelling Bees
Bees buzz
very well,
but they don’t
spell well
at all.
They’re too beezy
buzzing.
A Beetle
A beetle crossed the floor to me.
He walked up to my shoe
and stopped beside me suddenly
uncertain what to do.
Soon he went directly
along the sole, and then
he met the heel, thought quickly,
and crossed the floor again.
Harry, the Bear
It’s bad.
Harry isn’t hairy.
He’s a bare bear –
and a bear without hair
can barely bare
being a bear!
It’s sad.
The Dog
The dog has a bark
and so does a tree,
but one you can hear
and one you can see.
The one you can see
stands very still
in forest, on hill.
The one you can hear
trots up quite near
to the tree with the bark
and barks at the tree.
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