the fox alights
from a dark stand of trees

and down
through the deep drifts

of snow  
it is a myth

of woodsmoke
and vermilion

and it stands silently
beneath the streetlamp

before being led away
by notes we cannot perceive

for our part
we turn hopeful eyes

to night skies
and cling to the promise

of unspooled mysteries
however

at times
we are so savagely illiterate

to the stories
in the stars
  
uncomprehending to the roles
and lines

of constellations

isn't it enough that the wind
makes tumbles of the umbrellas

that dark staccato notes of rain
strike with such force that we pause
  
our busy little lives and marvel at it?
isn't it enough that the very next moment

the sky turns so impossibly blue
that we remember we all have wings?

swooping through
the shadowy spaces

of the narrow underpass
the crow came to rest

atop the fence
right beside me

delicate in its beak
the bird held another’s egg

tilting its head
for an instance

it regarded me
before hopping

upon the air
and was off

it that all there is to it?
the nonchalance of life

and death?  
there one moment
  
gone the next  
as everything spins

and turns
and beats

and breathes
into silence?

my mother veiled
in black

sat in her favorite chair
with her hands folded

over her rosery
she reached up

touched my face
and whispered

you look thin

such is grief
that bottomless reserve

that endlessly open wound
the pain  

has faded greatly
but its barbs
  
still live
with potency

and surprise  
they still dwell

in the dark corners
of dreams

in the secret places
of the heart

do the trees feel it?
are their boughs heavy  

with the change
and weight of it?

are the clouds concerned?
the ever pressure

of always building
of always seeking release?

do the wings worry about it?
the lean and pull

into onto
the wind?

despite all the responsibility
in

and of
this world

is there anything
anything at all

that is not
possible?

there is a line
between

the songs
of love

and the songs
of grief


this is what the silence said


there is a line  
into out of

the horizon
of earth

and sea
and sky


this is what the silence did

last night the wind had its way  
with this world

it waved and clapped its hands
and skeletons of umbrellas
  
were broken and inoperable
they fell to the wet earth

and were whisked away
it snapped its fingers
  
and bicycles and plant pots
lost their balance

and were unable
to right themselves

take the time
to tamper

with what is wild
be sure

to take your turn
to touch

what is waiting