Two Skies

Morning brings

two skies

dark

and grumbling

above

beaming

blue

Trees wear

two colors

summer green

and

autumn scarlet

Flowers bloom

as their neighbors

fade

Afternoon

will bring

buzzing heat

but evening

hints

at frost

to come

 

I got up for this

 

I got up for this

to stand

above

rippling waters

and contemplate

the reflection

of the full moon

to follow

two geese in flight

my heart 

climbing

with their wingbeats

to see the sun rise

and notice

how the clouds

embrace

the dawn

reflecting fire

in the east

and faint pink 

in the west

To breath

To be

Thunder somewhere

In a dark

corner

beyond streetlights 

startled

by a flash

of lightning

Above

the sky

is veiled 

in transparent 

clouds

broken

by star-speckled

pools

of blue-black

All is silent

but

thunder 

somewhere 

 

September Between

Summer

is drowsy

sleeping late

then nodding off

when Lady Sun

pulls the shadows

long

as she slips to bed

early

 

Windtorn

 

Fall

feels near

as sunrise

and sunset

draw closer

Late summer storms

scatter

rain-ravaged leaves

already fading

mingled

with summer's seeds

and

skeletons

of flowers

No Power

 

Our human hands

have no power

to renew

We

control

tame

prune

select

supplement

eradicate

destroy

We can't

even

truly

co-exist

Only

restore

Only

surrender

Then

Nature

will

return

renew

recreate

Summer faces

The flowers

are waiting

faces tilted

to the morning

purple

gold

and palest pink

winking

amid

the

leaves

 

Fleet[ing]

 

Nature's

fleeting

moments

feel

less fleeting

than ours

less fragile

less fraught

The seasons

lean into

decay

drawing energy

and releasing it

into

the universe

Water Memories

 

Memory

is mostly

water

Lilypad lake

Broody gray

Pacific

in winter

The Minnesota River

meandered through

two separate decades

I have lived on

an isthmus

between lakes

and crossed

the Mississipi daily

to school and work

For four seasons

I looked out over

Superior

in awe

of its endless skyline

Now

the Crow is my

river

It brings me

waterbirds

and wildflowers

Self Care

I could

drink this sky

like a tonic

take a relaxing

dip in

golden rays

of the sun

then rest

on softest

pillow clouds

and

just

breathe

 

New Day

 

Yesterday's clouds

wrapped me up

in gray

Today

blue skies

pull me on

hill

over hill

toward

sunrise

    

Storm Sky

 

Cicada 

buzz

cuts 

through

still

sticky

air

plop

plop

the first

drops

fall

thunder

rumbles

warning

of storms

to come

Sky Beach

 

When I was

a child

we lived

near the sea

Little me

would

run

to meet the waves

darting

like the pipers

that ran beside me

The water

left ripples

in the sand

shaped like

these clouds

My upside down

 sea

in the sky

Sky Garden

 

I carried

the earth

home

to make

a sky garden

and the earth

gave me

green

and the green

gave me

sunshine

in its cells

July Afternoon

 

The trees

sigh

and 

the flowers

sag

There is

a rosy cast

to the

cloudless sky

as if the air

is blushing

from the heat

Caught

 

Something

feels

caught

wedged

under my heart

crowding

my lungs

I can't reach it

Watching

wears me

Only time

might

tear it away

or maybe

gently

wash it

free

Looking

 

Looking for

the metaphor

the weed

that cracked

the pavement

the line

of flying geese

two

by ten

new spruce cone

so green

flower puff

so white

waning moon

hazy sun

What do I see

What do you see

Nature

should not

mean

but

be

Acknowledgement to MacLeish

Harmless

 

Would I

wish away

the clouds

Instead

Why not

erase

every trace

of us

the tame grass

the nonnative trees

the buildings

roofs peeling 

in the sun

Erase me too

Until nothing

is left

but

that which is

harmless

Storm Sky

 

Am I racing

the storm

grumbling softly

to the northwest

or the storm

inside

Is the static

electricity

sending shocks

beneath my skin

in the air

or crackling

across my synapses

Home ahead

of the rain

I look

over my shoulder

something

humming

in the wind

Sky sisters

 

Lady Sun

rising

Face ablaze

tinting

smoky skies

golden

Sister Moon

serene

bows in the West

then slips

away

Sky dreams

 

This blue

a blanket

to wrap

around

anxiety

to bind up

brokenness

to lay out

and sleep

afloat

in a meadow

of wildflowers

and dreams

Resume

 

What if I'm

not drowning

What if

the current

isn't too strong

What if I

stopped fighting

What if I find

the momentary eddy

the mossy rock

What if I rest

then resume

swimming

Seasonless

 

I look out

to contemplate

this seasonless

season

of nothing

and anything

An eagle

skims by

riding

currents

of spring-like

warmth

In the shadows

rare snow

lingers

perforated

with patches

of precocious

green

Suspended

 

That

suspended feeling

like time

is holding

its breath

Does

the earth

know

what was

or wasn't?

Is

its deep wisdom

deep memory?

What do

the trees know

that I don't

as sap flows

and buds swell

regardless

of calendar,

without fear

or

forewarning

Circle

 

The path seems

straight

the curves

easy

as you enter

the woods

at dawn

The way

ahead

is unknown

the forest's

secrets

hidden

in shadow

Then

spotlighted

when the sun

beams into

the heart

of a dewy spiderweb

Only

as you follow

the light

do you understand

your journey

is circling

back

to where

you began

Awake

 

When

the journey

has been

so long

across miles

across days

you fall

asleep

with your eyes

open

Jolting

awake

to a strange

landscape

heart

louder

than the car engine

Awake

and

grateful

to be alive