A worry of scurry
shadow scramble
in bitter brambles
game of dark tag
Whoop of hoot
swift slanted scoop
where skitters and twitters
are food chain fodder
slanted rant
nation of cantation
swivel-headed seeing
whiskered wish gnawed
giving receiving
timeless seething
cutting night
for talon grasp
a sudden gasp
beaky rasp
owlets reel
in nesty need
Crow-flicked glacier slithering off soul’s carcass
disembowled mother, bony skeleton
uncovered by hated heat of another global warming
night comes to cover her, cool fevered brow
ancestors rush in rainbow shawls to mourn.
Old lady gathered brown eggs from loosely woven nest,
hen cautioning her, should she take too many,
handle them roughly. Drawing up her apron,
she made another near cradle.
Latching hexagon wired gate, to brace enclosure,
she hurried to a small box and nestled them
under a warming light, sure she had adopted them well.
Cat, hiding in shadows of boots and gloves,
of darkened incubation front entry,
feigned disinterest, waited for first crack.
What wakens green, wrestling with their writhe
I think I know what whispers to them
dip and flutter, soft springish wings
humming colors awash with hue
kissing stem to bud and bloom
delirious desire to emulate
fluttering faithful filaments
birdsong dry days
bald-headed cactus sweltering
in brittle bits of sand
where shade eludes scuttling things
searching for a damp place to be
sage sky simmers
over places man will not walk
but to collect medicine
for another heat
on the forehead of a child
leathery leaves turn hard faces
to boney-brindled cattle
and rough-ribbed horses
stumbling hot-brained
around twirling tumbleweed
a wrinkled hand drops tobacco
at hairy roots and offers a song
about water and gratitude
for even a desert
that can hold healing
in a gray un-needy clutch