Egret
I saw you in the river
Standing like an egret
Hunted for your plume
On the far bank
Woodland creatures
Locked the forest door
Refused entry
The wind sang
I was not ready to cross
Too deep and swift
For me to ford
Dagger bill agape
Your wings spread
Smacking the surface
Lifting, water rivulets
From curled talons
You were gone
Becoming a cloud
Losing definition
Dispersed in blue wonder
In your absence
The river ran dark
Deep and swift like the arrow
That pierced your heart
Four Winds Ambition
The dehydrated apple skinned man
Leaned against the door frame
He observed my sweeping technique
Making sure dirt, and crumbs
Found the dustpan
I was a kid
He was bent and broken
By a life I could not imagine
Resting his spent body
In the dingy, resident worker quarters
“You’ll go far, young man,”
I couldn’t understand his rational
I was sweeping a floor
In a dark apartment complex
Full of used up workers
Blown like dust bunnies
Watching old westerns and soaps
On a beast of a console TV
The floorboards as worn as they
Faded, split and chipped
Ground down by heels
I was just a kid
Gathering debris from every corner
Clueless as to why, and how
They were blown here
Eternal Hope
Winter I thought you dead
Lifeless under frost
My own body coiled
Under blankets frost thin
Heartbreak aches in cold
But still beats sallow, deep
Subsist under curled leaves
In naked forest sermons
But days grow by minutes
Given the slightest coax
Impudent shoots push
Through the softened skin
Miraculous blood flow
Glacier covers break from bed
I rise slow awakened
Eager buds on every twig
From out stretched hands