Belonging

This place

is not mine

nor does it belong

to the hands

that built

the dock

where I rest

and breathe

or the blackbirds

calling from 

the cattails

Does the lake

belong to the sky?

or to the trees

bending to embrace

their reflections?

or the reeds that hug

the shoreline?

This place is not

mine

only the moment

is

3
 

All the purples

 

The vanished prairie

lives on

in seeds

that survived

salvaged

saved

scattered

In pockets

restored

and wild

Prairie Clover

Ironweed

Blazing Star

All the purples

Nature's legacy

Ekphrasis

Grasshoppers 

with black and cream

banded wings

parachute

from the sere grass

their flight

clicking

like cards

clipped to a bicycle wheel

Wild cucumber vines

blanket fallen trees

tendrils reaching

to the trail

entwinning

with raspberry canes

The clouds

encircle

a pool of blue sky

reflected

in still waters

 

Wild Raspberries

 

I leave the trail

and step into

the shaded grove

of my memory

Picking wild raspberries

with my father

Filling an ice cream pail

with juicy

seedy caps

Taking only

what yields

to a gentle pull

The dark cells

crunch

more than burst

between my teeth

while mosquitoes hum

and a pheasant rooster

warns

with a hoarse cry

Later

our harvest is

boiled down

to preserve

purple

summer

Needs

 

We may want

sunshine

but we need

rain

We need cloudy days

We even need winter

We need rest

We need boredom

We need mistakes

regrets

reversals

We need scars

to protect

the places

we've been torn

We need to say

I'm sorry

to each other

and ourselves