SEEING AND BELIEVING

What would you think…

if across the water you beheld

this hunched and bearded one,

his eye half-closed

just standing

merely standing in the drizzling rain?

Don’t answer –

you who know your birds;

I do not want your disillusioning reply.

My appeal is to the child (or childlike one)

whose early belief is still quite close at hand.

Perhaps you see an old man – as I do –

gifted with the ability to change his form.

I see his cabin deep within a woodland

a haven for all creatures who need shelter

and a healing hand.

He also has the gift of visibility –

and so he may appear,

yet fade from sight and leave you wondering

if what you saw was real.

SMALL CREATURES

Sometimes –

the world is too much with me:

I find myself riding waves

produced by questionable sources.

Things happen this way:

no blame, no shame.

A moment of distracted weariness,

and the current catches me.

I am caught frequently of late,

yet  as I  drift from this to that –

small creatures appear

and beckon me to stillness.

Bright green chameleon winks at me

as I emerge from some ordeal.

He seems aware of his affect,

and as I click,

displays his eagerness to be admired.

A Devil’s Walking Stick

compels me to

“Pull over please.”

Tiny, yet imposing,

he  is not to be ignored.

The hot moist air

caresses me as I click.

Oh Hermit Crab…

Your solitary splendor draws my eye

as I walk the dogs in the Inner Harbor Park.

Pulled forward by my canine darlings,

I am yearning

for the still small point of the dance.

Finding you

is a little bit of Heaven…

A reason to assert myself…

The dogs stand still.

Oh bliss…

to lean against the railing of the pier

absorbed by beauty;

to witness change as the water rises;

see you calmly holding firm

no matter what.

An early morning appointment

has me rushing again,

yet I pause for a walk

in a waterside park close to home.

Fortunate me

discovers a school of minnows swimming

just beneath the surface of the water.

They catch the light in charming ways

and lead me a merry chase.

As I aim my camera

and dash to aim again,

the dogs are confused…

entangled in their leashes.

Yet I must follow the stream

of luminous motion

to reach the still small point of the dance.