solstice mourning 2024

god's dog in a December meadow in this life

everything ends every moment counts

and she remembers

                          her puppies their fathers the moon-filled nights

everything ends

now out in her meadow the ravens and eagles pull

                           at her muscle

                           now her front leg that pained her so is quiet as

                           is her voice

everything ends for a moment

                           her yips and howls ride the wind

what ends only begins again 

                                         

extinction

they put us in
cages
they said
it was our only
hope

for the commander

on the side of the road an eagle stands beside its mate
all things mourn

in the clear sky above the ridge
no tears

we had our marching orders
yet
we strayed

at dusk

     
where the drive goes down to the barn
and there are horses
loafing in the fading light

an owl listens

on a post to the voles
in the meadow where the drive
goes down to the barn
and there are horses

                                   

mourning

underneath where the snow leaves
bare the root
     and the soil crumbles, small rocks
     cascade
   
shelter up in the crook,
the dry darkness

      the memory of years spent
      pushes against what
      was never there                                                  



thinking about shelter: what constitutes it, what it means and hearing of a friend's loss.
what defines us and where we seek that definition...

fragment

late august rustling
ragged winged coppers flutter in a yellow sea of buckwheat
the old dog needs more
and the young one
doesn't know

peace language

imagine the letter 'k'

in the middle of the road
a girl raises her arms

for peace
alone

dream trail relic

in the long night of dreams

i did not know you

yet

you stood in the shadows

a whisper

in the long night there

was one dream in which i knew you

in the long night of one dream

you did not know me

in the dream of the long night

no owls cried out

no coyotes

in the distance

in the long night of the dream

you slept

and in the morning

you walked away