Snow Geese at Night

                                                                       Google Image from Audubon 

I can hear them
But I can’t see them
Snow geese that fly at night
They seem infinite in their numbers
Every night the past month I heard them call
This time when they are elsewhere
I will remember selfless calls
Their perfect V’s
Unseen to those who fly

I will remember
The perfection of their V
Silhouetted above the street lights
Generated by the air that we can not see
Explained by the geese that can only feel
When they are in the right place
Singing with the ecstasy
Of remembering
Their home

           Let
                 Me
                     Live
                           The
                     Way
               They
           Fly

Winter Sea

                                                                                   Google Image

The sea sways full with emotion
As waves topple from tall to speak
Rumbling cold thunders of protest
As they run up the cobble beach
And then draw back into the sea
Where salty water needs to be
For one more chance to speak or see
I wonder what the waves all say
Before their torn by wind into spray
Soft lines of whitecaps from far away
Are fearsome and urgent in salty spray
I wonder if waves just speak for wind
Before it dances with forest trees
And flushes birds like autumn leaves

Snow Geese

                                                                  Google Image

Thousands of snow geese
Renewed by birthing their young
Salt and pepper into winter
Their white and black wings
Excitedly wedging a way
Toward the new place they
Always carried with them
Or did they simply hear
And then trust a voice
That frees them to fly
Into unconditional love
  Into nature's golden promise
Breathless survival for some
Yet simple, pure, joy for others

Belief

                                                                                   Google image
Winter’s chill seems inevitable
It has waited outside my door
Where it has always been visible
White snow high on distant mountains
I always saw it there but never felt it
Until it descended like a river into my valley
And separated me so far from the sun
Let my soul be generous to this powerful visitor
The one who knew me before my journey began
This ancestor of life, whom I honor

Nature's Change

                                                                                     Google image
I am shaken well today
Hungry, for a change
I ate – twice breakfast
The first was so good
The dog is fed as usual
I watched two videos
And helped my computer
To wake through darkness
Man shifted his timepiece
Yesterday
So we start the week in light
Today
The real world found me
Right away this morning
Walking along the river
Autumn leaves sleeping
Over ragged green grass
Changing the ground
Near blue sky now filled
With bare black whips
When did all the yellow
Maple leaves come and
Where did all the green
Cottonwood leaves go
The world seems different
Its daylight is different
A seal swims in the river
The salmon must be here
I am so lucky just to be
Able to notice it happen
As my coffee cools and
An eagle labors upstream
Over-top of swimming seals
And under leaving geese
A jet plane lands unaware
Noisy in the middle of it all
Until the sweet harmony of
Nature's changing song returns

Our DoG

Where is the wet nose
The one that finds me
And makes me think
That dog was waiting
Just for my specialness

Where is that bright dog
That became my friend
And accepted my love
So I wanted to give more
And I didn’t need it back

How can I tell my children
That our friend who shared
So many secret journeys
With them just laid down
And let go his warm body

And how without hands
Or words to open dreams
He taught us about trust
And helped us all to love
Simply, openly and freely