Summer Sequence
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Autumn Sequence

Summer Sequence

Leaf shadows
Disappearing on the wall--
Early morning;
A lone cricket chirps
In time with bobbing branches.

A growing fawn
Frisks over the bean rows
In morning coolness--
These eyes adjust to the glare
Of summer's rising sun.

In formation
A flock of wild geese
Rising...rising...
Past abandoned nests
Into the northern wind.

Towards its nest,
The mockingbird slips
Noiselessly;
Why won't my dreams
Stay hidden amid dense leaves?

Dragonflies darting
Amid blowing thistledown;
This wind--
Its turbulence blindsiding
These dreams, this peace.

Two butterflies
Tumbling around each other--
Now spiraling;
I try to release obsessive thoughts
To the passing clouds.

Even dropping
From the maple's bark--
Cicada molts;
I still hold on to thoughts
That should have passed with dew.

Before dropping,
The aging mandevilla bloom
Deepening its hue;
The young hawk releases
His cry of hunger unsatisfied.

In drought
Amid the thorns blackberries
Wizened;
This body still yearning
For the promises of youth.

Turning
Around rose thorns,
The bindweed--
Its white bloom closing
In afternoon heat.

Twilight;
The hot wind in deep grass
So soft...
Reminding me of the rustling
Of a hummingbird's wings.

Through the open door
And a corner's spider web,
Only the soft night
Enters my silent house,
Enters my heavy mind.

How cold
The firefly's light
In late summer!
No one beckons
In the evening mist.

Dew falling
On the mown lawn
So lightly;
My damp hair covers
This flattened pillow.

Wispy clouds
Moving past a crescent moon--
So little light
To reveal the chrysanthemum bud
Tightly sheathed until fall.

 

Donna Ferrell--2002