to stop
and do
what we always do:
   breathe
with nothing else
but air
eyes
closed
breathing as we do
with nothing
   other
than waves
of air filling
our chest
drawn in
and drawn out
briefly
   through
nothing but you
briefly
   you

how eager are the Spring bursts
in their brightly dappled shows
for the spreading of the seeds

fat bees and hummingbirds drink
hovering in the trees, while bushes
with luck enough to bloom, lure
in their drunken-coated knees

what is the difference
   the feeling
the shape of your spine
or the muscles holding it?
held in place to bend
as you bend, your brain
toppling like a spinning plate
   spun up on top
side to side, wandering
with your nerve tendrils
propelling around, grasping
and moving objects from here
to there as if there was
nothing at all strange
   in the doing

creatures alive under the air
in their spherical habitat
making wonders with burnt smoke
and their little hoarded gems

how magnificent lights might be
strewn across the soft blue globe
once the creatures breach their shore

   progress requires
i take money for the trees
to be killed beside the road
so more cars can fit at once
   and
   surrender the land
to The People who are free
   to take it

there will be sidewalks
bike lanes and a new lane
for cars going either way
   my value will rise!
while the trees
far older than us
all must be removed

older than us except one:
the first one in the long
driveway which my dad
planted as a marker, the first
Christmas tree my first year
on Earth i grew up knowing
that despite its farther height
   (we will both) remain

can i write anything
about an opossum
   that stunk
until i found it
dead curled up
under a gas meter
protectively tucked
in a posture to try
hiding away from death

i could try
honoring the days
it spent performing
marsupial tasks
   valiantly
or with diligence
in its span of time
her parental skills
to carry on the race

but as the gardener
whose loyalty belongs
to the candy tuft
growing on the rocks
   this little beast
is destined for more:
years of turning in
to the soil which feeds
a new cascade of white
   blossoms in
all the Springs to come