I listen to the silence,
the darkening side of dusk,
light's last reflection
frozen in lake ice.

Close by, woods,
trees fading into darker places
the nearer branches picked out clear
against the deeper snow.

Between the trees,
deer.

a magpie perches
on the highest branch
tail flicked wind rocked
in a winter dance

across a field
frozen sharp as bark
sheep take painful
stumbled paths

and fleece
and snow
grey grime against the feathers' glow

solitude and songs
do it for me

my throat
scratched by
gorse and honey
my eyes
washed by
sand and salt
dissolved in
a waterfall of living.

solitude and songs
do it for me.

tall pines
pick at sunlight
piece by piece
light splintered
branch by branch
lies scattered
on the forest floor beneath

we dance
in the mellow
light of autumn
stepping through
a swash of leaves
and slowly spin
a cloak of love
against the winter's freeze.