I have watched the sky deepen,
Clouds foreshadow a stormy spell,
Earth open its tunnel throat,
Trees sit up with arms wide.  

I have watched rain clouds pile,
Like emotions that bear tidings,
Sky release its fickle frown,
Earth dream of harvests.


I have watched winds yank trees,
Rivers swell, and whisk, and froth,
All of nature roundly fused  
In fevers of expectation.


I have watched the mind go sober,
In the death of a miscarried storm,
And the quick brilliance of blue
Speak of hope’s frailty.


I have watched the course of stars,
The tyrants’ reign taper like smoke,
The muscle of iron slacken
At the poet’s willful voice.


I have watched the land’s (re)birth –  
Unfurl, slow, like parched tongues,
Like the waiting-for-a-messiah,
And like buds of late song…