Butterfly

thumb-sized

dressed in white

        velvet, flits among

jade spears, a quivering

cathedral of

      leaves, willow and

cottonwood thickening

to green-gold the soft

      banks of boulder creek

as mid-day sun pours through

onto churning

     froth of small

waterfall

shining-white

      white-shining

serene flow surrendering

to ecstasy

     wings of air entering

a riot of

Likeness

the hummingbird

hovers

as the sun does

just above

ground on the cusp

 of dawn

bathed in an ocean

of new

gold her wings

circling

circling at the speed

speed of light before

disappearing

into a forest birthing

shadows

Composition

all Winter long

the shining silver trees hold

this condensation of

color ~ a palette

of dried berries

all Winter long you walk

beneath and through and around

those limbs, wondering: what vivid

life lies tightly

tucked within?

all Winter a relentless

sky moves through its kaleidoscope

of refracted Light ~ a Love

in turns harsh

and gentle

all Winter long some quiet

melody yearns

for expression, begins to grow

flesh upon the stark

blueprint of

its bones

And now it’s Spring…

Wood Pile

within the silence of dawn I can hear

echoes of an axe-blade

falling

the heartwood lies open now, exposed

with quartered rings showing

maturity

through the bright air this mountain

rises now, saying: Winter

is coming

my years of growing deep

in the forest have brought me

to this ~

this Love at last ready

for burning, within the silence

of dawn I can hear

echos of a matchstick drawn

across flint, the first

stars ignited

within the mingling of our breath at last

set free, and I can hear

You entering…