A creek trickles its way South
Along the base of Willow Ridge
Leading each wild animal
To fields beyond.
My eyes catch a reflection
Sun hitting a circling eagle
Finding its meal
A superior huntsman.
Mid summer, so no cool breeze here
But running water keeps calm
All the nerves alerted
To sounds of the wild.
Take me on your ride
Golden hour has found me here
A single violin to carry us
Like moondust in a summer breeze
Book me into all your spots
Naked here in all my thoughts
For afternoons spent with you
Love me in a motion picture
I shall keep of you.
What took you to this destiny
Your wings have let you free
Wondering what made you grow
Large and green I wonder how
Lasting so all summer long
Curling up and falling down
Round and round goes every root
Water tapped mycelium
Green I see your destiny
Little honey bee stay with me
Stay for tea and summer sun
Lingering here in Autumn day
Sweet harvest to where we roam
Toadstools, apples, tomatillos!
Hungry deer may join our cheer
We’ll find blackberry bushes near
A fruit so treasured by all who eat
Stained fingers with every touch!
Fill our bellies till we are silly
Roll around in thigh high grass
To the forest for a midday flurry
A hunt for salal and its fair berry
Garland for every arranged bouquet
That shall join us later as we sup
On lettuce and radish and beets just up
Found over, beyond the trees,
So stay with me, I’ll let you free
Wander over to the cherry, honey bee
I’ll find you just the right sunflower
To sit by, and enjoy delight.
Monkey changes sweet summer night
Lips through darkness my mind free
Red light tropical under the sea
Hello dear friend, hello bass line
Hello turtle shell reverb echo
Overgrown, my weathered seed
Corner darkness and my eager eyes
Whether you come home with me or not
Change my song until it’s dawn
And let me see (sing) you again.
I wrote a poem as depths of summer
Did I know it would collapse?
I followed the wind into sweet trees
And left my marrow to bleed.
I cried a last chance
Like winds over emptiness
I called and hung on to a word
Yet unspoken was my very reply.
Soon I had walked beyond
Escaped a southern wind
And opened my book to a lost page
Again, a cold and fleeting choice.
Sunsets have come again
Chipping paint on my front door
Paint paint paint some more
Let me go ol’Loony bin
I’m growing wild to my back steps
It’s summer come to hem me in
Picking out my rooted joy
Chip-o-way-o-chip-a-maw
Returned again with knuckles raw
Scuffed it up till fingers bled
A little grass to dull the pain
Watching sunsets come again
Call me in the morning sun
Call me in the morning
Call me when it’s to dark again
In the great time of y’or
When my Grandfather Thick Neck
Roamed these wild lands
His deer were thousands strong
And each Autumn they’d collect
From all four corners of
His vast kingdom
He had roamed all Summer
And would gather near
The great Big River
To Winter in collective warmth
The power was in their numbers
It was impossible for predators
To attack such a strong group
And in the darkest days of Winter
They had fellow deer
To remind each other
Of the bountiful Summer days
Coming soon again.
I cannot believe
What continually turns me around
I’ve got ten thousand wounds
Pierced through my broken soul
I’ve spent every summer
In the winter of my heart
And the coldness always warms up
What has forever been alone
I pull apart my chest
To reveal my ancient glacier
Upon which my survivor
Wags back and forth his tail
I separate every bit of sunlight
From creeping darkness setting in
And I’m left with an aggressive snarl
Cause I’m out looking for more.
These days are long, my son
The grass hardly grows
And we must be keen and aware
To find what has been left
From the summer’s growing
See these cat tails?
They will do you very good
But the birch, poplar, and willow
Those will do.
For we are not the only ones
Looking for sustenance
In these cold, blizzardy days
No, let this be a reminder
That when the food is plenty
In the warm summer days of green
To eat and eat and eat some more,
For winter’s sure to come again
And we survive, oh, we do survive
We are survivors on what has been stored
During the summer days of green.
