The first thing you notice

is the way she stands,

eyes sharp,

holding both alley
and open land.

There is a black sheen
to her,

feathers
catching the light.

Her head tilts,

catching something
just beyond sound.

She caws and clicks,

while the wind
carries
a truth

we both
understand.

if there were
one gift

i could give,

it would be

to see yourself

through the eyes
of someone
who loves you.

The day fades softly
into the pastels
of the in-between.

The last colorful whisper
of goodbye
slips quietly into night.

I feel the waters
ripple within me,

answering
the rising moon

and the beckoning stars.

I have favorite trees everywhere I go.

On this side of Sugarite,
where the canyon leans close.

Over the pass to Trinidad,
where the road opens to sky.

At the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge,
where antelope graze beneath their watch.

Along the Climax Canyon trail,
where the wild walks almost close enough
to touch.

In Taos,
where I once camped,
and the night pressed its stars
against the branches.

On the road to doctor’s appointments,
companions through dread
and resilience.

At the hotel,
quiet companions
amid the noise
of arrivals and departures.

Even in Minnesota,
far from home,
where I stood as a guest
and somehow belonged.

Today,
in my own neighborhood,
where I sit beneath their shade,
watching the leaves dance.

On the other side of Sugarite,
where the dancing oaks
keep company
with the pines.

I think

they’ve been keeping me company

all along.

It is in these quiet moments
that my heart is free.

Gratitude grows there,
blooms there,
shines through me.

I have spent my life
reaching toward
the unnameable,

longing to touch
the mystery
just beyond
the edges
of my understanding.

So I write.

I photograph.

I sit in silence,

inviting the words
to rise.

in this place,
i can almost hear
all the answers
to every question
i have ever asked.

all of life’s secrets
unfolding before me
in each blade of grass,
each passing cloud,
every whispered change of light,
every bird’s song,
every breath
of the canyon wind.

and i wonder…

if i sat here
long enough,

would i know
the secrets of life itself?

or would a million more questions
be born
with every changing moment?

if we could each spend
one ordinary day

inside each other’s lives,

perhaps

we would both return
more gentle

than we left.

a memory is a song
we sing

to reconnect
to the love
that never ends.

i almost can’t remember
who i was
before this beauty found me.

before the Quiet
lit the universe
from within.

before the darkness
split open
and burst into life,

offering this gift of sight
to one
who had been
walking blind.