wood harbinger

wood harbinger heralds the snows
up winding the path covered white
a shelter in the bark
burnt folds are open to us
we watch the snow without
from within the tree
holding on to us
talking with me
i can tickle the giant sequoia
and it laughs a thousand year old laugh
out of deer, grey squirrels, chipmunks and birds
passing shadows
making faces
marking time
on top of the mountain
slight little me
how tall and how long
can you stand in rain
and snow
in winds that blow
in sun and heat
all seasons complete
an auburn tree watches and holds on to me
and reminds me not to rush
no worry so great
no love so strong
no time to stop
letting the world go on about its way.

the biggest raindrops

the moribund  go en masse
stampeding unleashed, wild running free.

an invasion force of filler fellows,

lean, manic decoration. 

but then the real gordos are engaged

beyond the last of the legionnaires,

after the noisy wind has scampered.

during the wee hours usually

when all is quiet.  that's their time.

they are fewer.  the summation.

it seems as regular course that the very
fattest raindrops jump when i'm sleeping.

they slip, or are pushed, off the cloud,

do something like sizzle on the way down;

a faint wet hiss or whistle, a quiet, steady

sound; the only one they make.

soar in solo,  a fly ball into center.

splat what they hit.  there are no misses.

outside my window they zap a plastic tarp

covering the neighbor's motorcycle.

after listening an hour i am conscious enough

to realize what's going on, and predawn

i write lines preserving their integrity 
in recognition of their sonic contribution

victory

victory over sail
sweeping far to sea
onward to uncharted shores
that's where i long to be

five centuries before my birth
ancestors sat at evening meal
even to this very day
i know just what they feel

deep inside of everyone
there flicks a tiny spark
passed through daughters and father's sons
now shadows in the dark

they live anew, though i know not where
or how much of them is able
to break into my consciousness
and be seated at my table

while they have long since fallen
bone and teeth far  gone
some thing moves from sun to sun
something left undone

victory over the sail
victory over the sea
the final quest lies beyond the sun
that's where i long to be