a dew so heavy

the ferns bow their backs and weep

as though in mourning

as i am now gray

 i rest below an old tree

its shade gives comfort

from a chrysalis

 this shining songless flutter

wanders bloom to bloom

 blessedly last fall

among the lupine and grass

poppies sowed themselves

why explain the moon 

or touch something so perfect

leave it quiescent

 we are born gentle

limpid - guiltless - wonder filled

unable to hate

 winter is melting

soil softens - roots are quickened

the birds will soon come

 they stand at the wall

their lives are oceans behind

hope waits just beyond

 A seed hitched a ride

In the belly of a snake

Got out, in the end

 from shape-shifted dunes

a gust sends grains aloft

beyond the far crest

It is simple, right?

So how much of this was meant?

Explain that to me

 Twenty-six letters

Ten digits and some symbols 

Stories measureless

 In cold marble walls

Relics numbered and displayed

Possessed but not owned

 some life needs little

a crack where seeds can take root

and blessings of rain

 Those who are wary

Must have their eyes on the sides

Those who prey - forward

 There's a time of day

When all flowers burn at once

Their colors depthless

From A Chipmunk 

I must make a hole

Where the hawks and coyotes

Cannot get to me

If not for evil

Would there be reason for good

Or birth without death

There is no limit

This sheer immaculate day

Boundless in beauty

 sweet seeping nectar

gleaned and brewed by constant bees

to ageless honey

 a glaucous-winged storm

swept inland from the ocean

and the land was cleansed

this we can concede

 the past is arguable

but future is not

 the first frail flowers

specks of spring in the desert

delicately white

in dawn's first light

the stars appear to tremble

in awe of the day

 Gila Woodpecker

Smartly dressed in a striped suit

And jaunty red cap

 How high is your sky?

Mine begins at my boot soles

And goes forever

 a cool winter rain

ocotillos give green thanks

crimson-tipped and glad

 a single blade of grass

one of countless in the field

joins soil and the sky

 When the way has changed

When adversity presents

Where would water flow?