NYMPH in clearing tilts head for rustle of circling trees. Is she
SPECK? No, her grave task is sensing all that falls in forest’s ambit.
FERAL folk appraise mere lumber—yet she knows
OVOID seed for stately redwood, sees it tower in beauty and witness centuries.
Author: David Wright
Stopover on Mt. Nebo
FATAL end inevitably arrives, yet cannot speak the final word.
REEDY shore spares a boy for future task and still the journey ends at Nebo’s judgment
POINT, promised land beheld, but barred. Divine
REHAB, shaming death, will raise him to a greater promise.
Present and Future
OTHER shore crossed to at the end, what may I discover?
QUIRK of living darkens vision of that haven: at dusk I enter
RELAY station, at dawn I wake to think I’m home.
SAVVY trekker–will I be?–can guard each step, yet lift gaze to far horizon.
Deeper Currents
AMPLE vices extant in the duchy to keep busy
PRUDEs in motion, compiling lists and anecdotes,
CANONs of behavior formed in voicing glaring faults.
DUCHY’s deeper currents, and hearts of prudes, stay less illumined.
Inward Bound
TRUSS issues started when that bridge collapsed,
MAGMA makes me feel no safer, nor do these heights,
LLAMA seems unafraid, so I pretend to lead it by
STRAP. Note to self: next time, do Inward Bound.
Composite Chordophone
SLING me a definition, Wikipedia.
MAYBE had you been there, not an Encyclopedia Americana 1955,
CHILD I was could have rested, curiosity sated.
BANJO: composite chordophone sounded by plectrum.
Spring or Chemistry
SPADE a foot rest, gaze lingers,
TULIPs spirited hues announce fresh life. For the gardener
LIPIDs, enzymes, and explanation give ground before senses flaring lovely to the mind.
MUCUS? Not cell product, rather first tickle of this year’s sneezes.
Lincoln and the Brain
CHORDs mystically resound in memory, growing
SANER ties of affection to strengthen union.
NINJA away our fractures and dissensions–banish
PINKY and the Brain’s plans to take over the world.
Omphalos
LABOR of stone smiths, focal point of Delphi’s circling hills,
TAPERing jagged lines to curves by chip and flake,
HEARD are mallets’ thwacks and ringing sounds of rock,
NAVEL stone emerges, omphalos of the world.
A Tithe To Beauty
REMIT: to pause–linger on the beautiful,
MANGY day-to-day lifted up in the savoring.
SUMAC, hold this moment by scent and blossom,
TITHE your loveliness to my hectic life!