A beaver’s teeth marks
This tree will not stand for long
Windy mountain top.
*****
Squirrel on wires
A few morning snowflakes fall
Sound of scratching claws.
*****
Tree robbed of branches
To make room for power lines
Our priorities.
The sounds of cold rain
And my feet on damp soil
All else is quiet.
*****
“Holly tree!” I cry
How glad I am that you grow
While the others sleep.
*****
Music of the streams
This new rainfall spills their banks
They feed the salt marsh.
Found you in a dream
You’re still no good at goodbyes
Dawn – Alone again.
******
Beggar’s empty cup
Walking through stop light traffic
Thin and ragged gloves.
******
Miss our little talks
When you could spare a moment
My heart leapt for joy.
The fresh fallen snow
Ice laden tree limbs glitter
and groan at the weight
*****
Wind howls – sirens scream
Shovels scraping on sidewalks
Sounds at the window
*****
The moon is hiding
Behind a shawl of storm clouds
Who could blame her though?
No poem so pretty
As a yellow maple leaf
Fluttering to earth.
*****
Will you come to tea?
The kettle overboils
Hear the shrieking steam.
*****
Chattering of birds
Dispels these dark thoughts for now
Hazard a smile.
No cries of sea birds
Steel, concrete, and car exhaust
New Jersey marshlands.
*****
Food loses savor
And my ribs begin to show
This anxiety.
*****
Mist shrouded tree trunks
Wet leaves glisten – fungi sprout
Early autumn damp.
I woke this morning
Baptized by chilly dew drops
Nature’s kiss at dawn
*****
Fragile as a moth
Or the hollow bones of birds
No, this hope is steel
*****
First chill of autumn
Chairs inch closer and closer
To the dying fire.
