Yards before us the smoke pillars call.
Feeling triumphant I allow an exhausted smile,
Imagining the call of the drum and fife -
A cease fire echoing
Over the formidable fields.

Moving shadows turned faces pale
Flashes of blue and certain sound,
From the east rose a line in sudden bound.
I stood tall against the wall of fire steel and hell -
Swallows fly overhead.

Before me hidden an amazing sight
Pain like an avalanche frozen
Through till I cried
One great stroke stole my fight
As scalding water seems icy.

Envious hot lead tore through my side
Splintering a rustic fence post behind
Me - filled with life overgrown like
The rivers edge a beautiful divide
Attacked by creepers.

My knees forget old pain
Before me I see your face
And I breath last words - your name.
And my hands are like mountain air chilled by rain.
Your eyes speak love.

The sky is gray.
Reaching out for you the ground catches me
And the cold earth feels comforting.
For you I fall today.

I saw you walking away from the sun
In the stinging wind and a coat of dust
Through the star juniper and bitter sagebrush.

We watched the sun spider for hours
Splayed out on the concrete wall
Like an ancient relic unearthed -
An Alexandrian myth.

We laughed at the thought of death
How does it bite?

I knew your laughter was deceptive;
Something hidden, aromatic and bold,
A breathless groan uttered
By the old -
Obscuring sadness.

I still looked away
And you were gone.

By the fire
The son shut his eyes.
Words traveled slowly
Like dying stars wandering
Into dark corners of the night.

You were done - said your part
You saw the light,
Set yourself down on the
Frozen ground.

You hardened your heart
Said it looked better in stone
As you kept your eyes open to the flame.

I dreamt about a poem
Covered in cotton sheets,
Hanging from a clothes line.
And the air stirs,
The clouds pass by
Whispering somber utterances -
Words not meant for man.

And I walked out in frustration
From my bedroom morning light
Down the backyard porch steps
Into the wind
And said nothing.
I said nothing to the shadows.
Spoke not a word to the clouds.

Alone and forgotten
Waiting for the words to dry.

Walking along an old logging road
Lost below old North Norton
Alone in the early morning dew
Under glowing leaves
And broken sunlight
I stop and close my eyes.
The trees are whispering
The dark night is gone.
But the shadows hold on
And with earthen chill -
A gentle nudge
I take a deep breath and move on.

I sat alone cross hatching
A darkness beneath us.

To hear the scattered leaves,
The old wind chimes
That fell to the porch
Last year, and the shadows
Scraping sounds in the wind
Trail off when
Your voice cracked.

Then a silence
Of understanding.

Now I enter my pain.
A place for the echoing sound
Of life and laughter,
Like a distant muster of crows
Photographed and framed in flight
Frozen specks of ash across the light
Closed up and leather bound.
I must move or be found
Alone covered in dust.