All Things Must Change

I step away from mayhem,

And the fear about what 

Lies ahead, 

I walk outside to look around, 

The hinges on the paddock gate

Are rusty, and two old goats 

Are waiting for their apples

In the lean summer's end,

Yet one that brought some bounty,

Butterfly bushes and bee balm still

Making presence known in the early 

Dimming twilight of approaching fall,

A few coral flowers on the trumpet vine.

I'll fix some dinner and think about 

What is coming on this winter,

I'll worry about friends on

Northern plains, and fret about the

Dying animals and loss of species,

About injustice and 

The heartlessness that

Too often eats the souls of those 

Who live among us, 

I'll pray because it helps and 

Makes me feel better.

Time to start the evening meal,

Chop garlic from the garden 

Into fine and sticky slivers

To sautée with onion, and 

Then decide, as I'm going along, 

What's next, because this is 

The way I've always done it. 

Prayer

I am acquainted with trauma,

And under this quiet, dark night sky,

I also understand that

There is a world

Of bravery, the beauty of

The unknowing knowing of 

Resistance, the stance that says

You can't do this anymore. 

It's not just the global, 

The beautiful stand on

Northern plains, and beyond, far

Out there those 

Waterways, the 

Far archipelagoes,

Far fjords, the

Far cry to world,

Far plea, 

It's also

Echoing grievances, 

Ancient things we hardly

Can find the words for,

Slights, and all that terrible

Bullying, 

And in the primal logic 

Here it all returns

To make a local stand.

We are human family,

We thrive, grieve,

We struggle and 

Are we,

Are we

Turning a corner?

I think, and I let go 

The weeping prayer, and

I cry out, please,

Yes.

Mni Wiconi

Reverie

Driving on the country road

I looked down and saw my

Teal blue pants and 

Atop, the turquoise of my tunic, 

A sudden shift and we were

Walking on the Mall

In another life,

Summer heat puffing up from pavement,

Slim navy teal blue skirt 

Floating about my legs, 

Turquoise shirt with pale russet 

Flowers, in retrospect peonies, 

I think,

Peonies, 

Short sleeves rolled up, cuffed, 

And collar slightly standing.

I wore sandals bought in Paris,

Fifteen years I wore them.

But none of this is necessary

Save to manifest when 

We were young, 

And improbable was possible, 

Color setting off the cascade

Of his arms, his energy and wit,

His red hair and his recklessness.

Driving on the country road 

Those days and months with him 

Collapsed into a second's pause 

On time's ever-shortening path:

There in the empty seat beside me,

In that tan plaid flannel shirt 

He loved to wear,

He sat, alive and present 

As anyone could be,

"Here beside you," he said to me,

And vanished into memory.

RIP David 1950-2007