Rising Star Lane

 


Rising Star Lane

Tonight,
walking by light of moon
On this, the second-longest night
(I’d say who’s counting but
by one god or another
We sure as hell have been for a
very
long time)
snow crunches into softness beneath me
and the cottontail tracks float like Legolas above
and I am all hard crust
and I am all soft underthing
and maybe, I am floating too
and there - oh, waxing poetical - there
is the irrigation ditch
And
is
she
transformed
from some vulgar line of cow shit and roundup ready imposition
to transcendent sheen, shimmering smooth and bubbling cold,
so suddenly worthy
Of coyote going along
edgewise
picking just. this. spot. to step down waterside
where, next week,
(dark god of winter willing)
There may be a way across this half-frozen body of life
Until then,
I look into the shadows
beneath piñon and juniper,
knowing that
all my bright-nighted wandering
hasn’t yet touched
the deep
wondering below those trees
where dreams beyond the wary sleep of deer
are growing
12-21-21

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