Just before nightfall
your new leaves
softly sway
in the cool delta breeze,
your limbs glint
in flames
a deeper shade
where rough trunk rises
from clambering vines,
to violet fire.
Oh! Dance with the angels!
Dance with Lord
of the Trees!
His breath will stir you to passion,
His song will lull you
to sacred sleep.
Bronze angel, strong arms
lifting the rainbow,
you stand in the center.
Our fast cars veer around
north, then east
to shop, to school,
to home
but we can’t see
what you see.
Even the truckers,
who lumber down
Abernathy Road
and enter the circle
with heady grapes
ready for press, for barrel,
for thick, green bottle
steer past you.
Our lives are scheduled over-full.
We all have
some place else to go
until unfulfilled,
we return at last
to our bright center,
and in your embracing arms
we rest.
Author’s note:
Image: Mother Nature by Lisa Reinertson, in traffic circle
at Rockville and Abernathy Roads, Suisun Valley, CA.
I know you stroll
beyond Andromeda
gazing on Magellanic Clouds,
but I cannot see that far.
I am stardust
to Earth-fallen.
Yet I seek you in the autumn rain,
hear you singing in the evening wind.
Your breath fills my empty lungs,
your smile lights
my darkened eyes,
and my heart overflows
with your sacred blood —
love spilling,
Earth-fulfilling.
Photo: Brian Federle, “Camping” 3-25-2008
the green glow
of our cottonwoods
newly clothed in the gentle April sun ….
our apple tree,
still skeletal,
intimating cotton buds
promising green glory to come,
and the grass!
all winter-yellow evaporated,
shouting like a
third-grade leprechaun
skipping across the playground
in the school’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
but most unforeseen,
along the rough fence
the vinca
blazing with royal light
in the deep, verdant shade
of our cottonwoods.
(12 April 2010)
The winter tree
does not move.
Its wide trunk
plunges into graven earth,
unseen roots, grasping hands
feel deeply the living soil,
hold firm anchorage
against the coming storm,
but rising wood, thin
though strong enough
to paint slender lines,
trails into purer air,
gives shelter
to Christmas birds.
They hunch on stems, quietly
waiting to sing open
the dawn.
(12/23/2011)
Photo: Brian Federle, Oregon, 2012.
The light in November slants low.
It fills my eyes as I glance
askance through amber trees
and see the leaves descend in
gold flashes
past my open window.
The autumn sun skirts
my low Suisun hills
casting deep shadows
along the ebbing marsh
where wading egrets probe
still, black waters
and finding their prize
rise to blue heaven,
white, slender wings
elegantly beating
the softly falling sun.
(2012-2017)
Photo Brian Federle, Camping March 2010
Wind-ripped leaves
cover my yard
severed flesh, leathery
fingers splayed
grip the brick walkway.
Flush winter roses
drop petals,
red shrouds cover
glistening gold veins
sundered
from ravaged trees.
Yet the trees survive.
mimicking death’s
grey angularity
oblivious to the wind,
nude limbs
lean into the howling storm
and dream of June breezes,
singing green afternoons,
the faithful thrush
thrusting new life to flight.
But for now
black clouds gather
the winter wind sings dirges
for these sacrificial leaves
nourishing the famished earth.
(11/18/2010)
re-post 10/25/2017
“It might be good to open our eyes and see.” Thomas Merton
ore’ shading trees’
hanging leaves cast
green sheen on waters,
on the deep
unbroken mirror
when, rising from night
it breaks lightning
and draws first breath
of thin air –
and, discovery made,
falls back
into the cool
watery shade.
Photo: Brian Federle, Palm Springs Dawn, December 2016
daybreak, still limbs lace
to gray sky, wait for the next
storm to shake open
morning, still sleeping
shuttered windows conceal the
cold face of daybreak.
(2012, 2017)
“The gate of heaven is everywhere.” Thomas Merton
I can hear your soft breath,
gentle strains of music
the easy breeze
nudges the curtains
peace flows
across my skin
like cool water.
But soon impatient dusk
will overtake bright day
when the sun dims
in the dark grip
of eclipse, and ancient
terror thrills even
the most
comprehending mind;
for this is when
metaphore
overtakes fact,
and unknown stars glint
in the afternoon sky.
We never knew
they were hanging so low,
diamonds in deep
caverns,
new light!
(27 Nov 2012: 21 Aug. 2017)
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