23 August
2021
Days of summer heated change to
a darkening crisper fall
Life hardens coils preparing for the
resting rusting of winter
Uncertain a chickadee flutters nearby astride
berry laden branches
Winter snows will soon burden its
call
One lone black squirrel stands squatting
on its edge
Nose buried in an oddly brown
fur tail its own
Remnants of scaled snake skin hold
drops of this morning's rain A
few old dry brown twigs hang
broken thorny brown leafed hedges
Hints of dampness twist in the
mild winds from the south Truth
of illusion marks a yellow uneven
fading distant horizon Somewhere a tenor
beagle howls mournfully to emptiness Young
girls moving together striate their celebrations
of youth There is an ache
in my hips and neck this
morning heart wane filled wistful
Melancholy of dog days on unhealed
roads twisting
Memory of times long past fistfuls
I never can restart
morning I
stand beside that long open road
never land of lost dreams Fruit
bears search for meaning nature's transitions
and streams