When fear reigns, hope dies

Closed eyes cannot be surprised

The rivers run dry

We find our level

Collect and spool in ditch and pool

Cycle through all life

Sweet nectar fragrance

Flows over the clover field

And turns to memory

It’s that time of year

The wysteria is here

Blue skies bright and clear

An oxygen hit

The first breath of the forest

Deciduous kiss

By finished we mean

We reached our limit and we’re

Ready to move on

Dodging and diving

Between paddle and bulrush

We keep our heads down

March up to the high

Out reach the other soldiers

Who toed their own line

Soft antenna strands

Diffuse longing lipid rays

Buck skin and sward deep

Summer cider haze

Cut the hay before the splash

Over in a flash

Let the weeds go long

Nettles grow between my toes

What have they done wrong?

Don’t wait for perfect

Now is everything you need

You get nothing else

Emerge from our cells

Long cold lonely winter shells

Spring casts magic spells

Gusts of wind and rain

Won’t wash our spirits away

They fill up our sails

The rest have all fledged

From a nest in a hedge on

The edge of a ledge

As I float away

On the ocean waves, I leave

Troubles on the shore

Oxygen rich haze

Hangs in the damp woodland midst

I believe in growth

Float in suspension

Starlings flock in formation

Our wake a mirror

Rolling in the waves

A wake will drive us away

Will I ever change?

Flat lines in the mud

Wings beat back a baffled break

Don’t rattle my cage

Mud banks slip and slide

While the willow warblers hide

Travel with the tide

If I should become

Everything I’ve ever done

Am I just a sum?

As my glory fades

Summer draws me out; I’ll play

For another year

Slowly unravel

Let the lines droop and spill out

As our lives unwind