Day Blue

Day Blue
for Sarah

Climbing to reach this spine of a ridge running miles to Chattanooga,
I feel so alive! This is part of my grieving. Walking these hard miles.
This is walking a line. Your leaving has broken my heart.
A harder stone holds this bridge of time together.
Tiny crystaline stones from an ancient stream bed
Run in a line through the rock.

It is amazing to look over and see the green.
Why are the birds so still? Is it the heat?
A bell sounds from far away and fades.
This is a lesson in turning your self over to
Stand on end. Plate tectonics in the raw.
Time and the seasons worked their magic here.

Time found its way through. The landscape of ridge and valley
Fold over and roll. Standing near the edge, there is a moment
When I consider-- Did you ever think of going over the edge?
I think of your being gone now, broken through. I run my hand
Across the stone, its warm rough cheek. My own cheeks wet,
Hot tears and the burn that goes right through my broken heart.

Cattle rest with their calves, some graze. I'd graze in the sweet grass,
Too, if my life were theirs. I'm wanting my sweet life to play...
What happens is one line in the palm of my hand followed to its end.
A jag of happenstance or plan. The best we can hope for is love.
The last of the day rises up from the valley and glows. Hawk
Circles around and comes up, surprised to find me so close.

Softly, softly, the wind comes in from the south.
The sound in the trees rises and falls.
I fill my hands with blueberries,
The unexpected blue.
The stain on my fingers.
The stain of you.

Full Crow Moon

Full Crow Moon

If you told me how you'd watched crow
Darken the bright bare limbs of an oak,
How that harsh call brought you to
mortal grief, I'd believe you.

Walking among the cedars at dusk, I found one
Lightning struck, split and grown together arm
In arm. Even the pines lean in to each other.
Dusk rises with the silver silence of birds.

The last shadow of wings shapes the ground.
Already, rough buds swelling to green.
Another winter flown back to the stars.
The sun still cold on my cheek.

I am leaving this place with a pocket of luck:
Two blue marbles, a feather and a stone.
Small things, but good enough. Bright
Treasure of this night. Full crow moon.