The buds are thickening,
And I feel as emptied
As an unfulfilled year.

Perhaps, also, I
Do pivot my life
As the spring's new growth.

And if my growth does cycle
With tender timed spring...
Then I shall not flower.

This time of new life,
Still in winter's grip,
Finds me unhappy,

And in remembrance
Of a year that housed
Arrested growth.

Punching away shadows, shapes
Back were they came from, from the street
Lights smothering the Inky abyss and pockets
Above the silk black blanket
A sinister grin from a ghostly moon
that changed its shape
from a horn to a circular glow

At night
it's hard to tell
what goes on there
or behind
It's dark and
so quiet that
only silence would bark.

So let's wait till morning's eye
Is kind enough to serve
a clearer sight

Only then we can both
find a way

Out

Tree Hugger...

When I awoke, I felt so bad,
I went to hug my favorite tree.
I thought about the fears I had,
No one would fear, but me.

"Too bad", I thought I heard it say
The bark, it scratched my face
I hugged it all the tighter
As my mind began to race

I'm losing it, I really am
"Too bad", I heard it say
Are my ears deceiving me?
Have I gone all the way?

I open the door
and the morning air arrives
causing me to inhale
as the sun clears the woods.

A few steps onto the deck
and squirrels start to bark at me
I shrug my shoulders and my neck
in the shadow of a tree.

Deer appears from somewhere
then stops and stares at me
then drops its head without a care.
then turns and walks almost carelessly.

a few doves rocket by
dodging limbs without effort
then disappear in the sky
the deer for some reason gives a snort.