Darkness – Page 22

the bedroom window-
a midnight breeze eases past
the open curtains
–
april morning-
open windows
heavy blankets

walking from the train
a soft rain begins to wash
off the day’s burdens
–
eyes closed-
rocked to sleep
among strangers

telling ghost stories-
embers on the rising smoke
mixing with the stars
–
distant howls-
another log
feeds the fire

sedona night skies-
a desert scorpion crawls
across my bedroll
–
campfire-
embers rise to greet
the desert stars

overnight snowfall
blankets the desert landscape
of sand and sagebrush
–
condors overhead-
remnants of snow
in cactus shadows

just before sunrise-
my tea steeps as a vixen
calls out to her kits
–
plumes of breath-
a young doe
hides her fawn

a whole life reduced
to two dust covered and scuffed
satchels by her feet
–
cold desert night-
the tent offers
poor respite

the first spring sunrise-
a thin mist of winter clings
to the melting snow
–
daybreak-
a silver moon
over hoarfrost grass

rid of you at last
cut from where you’d gotten lodged
just under my skin
–
last year’s maple leaves-
splinters from a
prior life

the end of the rain-
I pull back layers of clouds
to reveal the stars
–
petrichor-
storm clouds
in a puddle