Bridge Over Shadows

Walk of March 11, 2016

Pecking the railing

Bird looks for food where there is none.

(Did I miss something?)

Warmth without flowers;

Sunshine without any green;

Springtime without blooms.

Colette lingers slow,

Her tongue extends past the fence,

(Where leaves are browner)

Dead leaves and the stream--

A strange camaraderie.

(The stream rumbles on).

Beyond the fence, swing,

The forest gently swelling

Curves into the land.

Stream bed, dry again,

Makes its way through the forest,

Its course is unchanged.

Many mother logs

Dissolve slowly into the earth

With moss on their backs.

Sitting on a rock

Evergreen tree shoots upward.

(The rock doesn't mind)

From walk of March 13, 2016

Plates on the table;

Birds eating on the feeder;

Sun mixes with clouds.

The weather is here;

Season is far behind it;

Languishing spring time.

Olivia rests

Her head on Colette's behind--

True bovine friendship.

Suspended in air

Branch waits for the right moment

To come crashing down.

Errant shadows fall

Around the now empty house.

(Did I hear a bird?)

Wandering tree root

Reaches out to touch the road--

So near and so far.

It's now official:

Springtime has truly arrived--

Snow drops are blooming!

No stream flows beneath;

Still the old wood board extends--

Bridge over shadows.

From walk  of March 14, 2015

Shy lady cardinal

Peeks to see if all is safe;

Then she flies away.

All is blue gray

Including the birds that feed

(And my blue gray mood).

Through the blue gray mist

Aroma of cow shit floats,

Warm and welcoming.

Silhouetted blobs

Take their place on the high wire

Before they fly off.

Matching the beige earth,

Pine cones scattered on the ground

Between the seasons.

Rustle in the woods:

Faint flutter of birds rising,

All invisible.

Soft bend in the road

Followed by the mirror stream

That flows beside it.

Dark cave in the rocks,

Home for some forest creature?

(Or my fantasies?)