Holding On

easy to give in

to the passing of summer

but the sun is still warm

when the rain stops

and the hawk still turns

above us

hear its wild cry

Astronomy

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legs folded on the mountaintop

keep silent with me

where wind never stops

and birds soar below us

next epoch we shall rise wonderfully

eclipse the people we are now

waxed with desire and marked

by the shadows of planets

what is missing is no mystery

galaxies wheel within

Grounded

the field too

begins its next epic

and i am here

in situ

Intermissive

shadows climb the side of the barn

the high broad roof with thunderhead behind

footlit by the lowering sun and center stage

doves sail in with evening on their bellies

joining the gathering chorus

passions in conflict a distant thunder

tin sheets shaken from beyond the next ridge

this is the play of the time of replanting

this strength of feeling this hungering soul

what do we say when we talk about love

you with your lover me with my dream

the melody of your vision

the threnody of mine

in the rain of intermission

Goldenrod Mantra

the ten solidagoes* have started to bloom

as the field revisits its golden age

let's spread an old blanket just over the hill

lie on our backs with our guides and our wine

speaking their names in a language long dead

solidago juncea rugosa odora

let's call down the past and conjure tomorrow

nemoralis altissima elliotii canadensis

let's chant it together solidago solidago solidago

harmonizing with bees in the heat of the sun

let's murmur our summer forever

* ten of the field:

solidago altissima -- tall goldenrod

solidago canadensis --canada goldenrod

solidago elliotii -- elliot's goldenrod

solidago gigantea -- late goldenrod

solidago gramifolia -- lance-leavead goldenrod

solidago juncea -- early goldenrod

solidago nemoralis -- gray goldenrod

solidago odora -- sweet goldenrod

solidago rugosa -- rough-stemmed goldenrod

solidago ulmifolia -- elm-leaved goldenrod

Repair

today i fixed

the broken porch

with an old board

saved from the barn

that fell long ago

when we were young


how could we know

Morning Elemental

morning elemental

it's all here     hidden in mist

how we see it     the possible

volumes of convention dissolve

in one line of poetry

The question is not what we look at but what see.

—Henry David Thoreau, August, 1851

As I Am

day in the leaves

the light and the air

in motion and me

i will not go far

from myself when

evening comes and

i settle into twilight

to be more who i am

deeper in meditation

as i am

deeper in moonlight

Voices

recovering from yesterday

too much time in the city

the antidote today

enveloped by woods

by soft rain by

the gentle voices of care

and quiet wonder

that whisper in the dark

you must change your life

—with a line by Rilke

Beings

field corn in tassel     as it should be

starlight in rainclouds     as it should be

beings in love in each others minds

as it always will be