Approval
We hiked into the woodlot first snow
Brought home a tree for the holidays
Misshapen hemlock few would look twice at
And because you were sick we held the
Tree outside the kitchen window for
You to see, smile, nod an approval
Point quickly to a chickadee
Seasons
All my life
Lived under the stars
Walked with them night after
Night, and I’m still
Learning how they move
Through the seasons
And you help — point your
Gloved hand this winter
Evening almost over our heads
To Cassiopeia and then arc
To the North Star in the
Little of the dippers — it’s
Easy once you know, once you
Are shown, once you have
Someone to see with
My Love. . .
wonders every winter-to-spring about a garden that grows on the way to town. This year she is worried about the man who plants and tends that garden every year. She hasn’t seen him at all out there working. Ground unplowed. She remembers him in the fall looking frail. There is a small pickup truck in the driveway. The gardener has no idea about my love’s thoughts. The space between the road and the house is maybe one hundred feet and within that space is a possible eden.
Lovers Of The Earth
Today in a supermarket in town, coming back from a job of land clearing, we stopped at a local grocers’ and found a few things, plus a sack of sunflower seeds since Sweetheart just can’t stop feeding the birds she feeds all winter long
It is springtime now
The bears may come for this seed if she isn’t careful
At the checkout an old-timer watched her buy the seed and before I packed it he asked her (and ignored me) “Are you going to eat those, or plant them?”
A gentle question
Sweetheart smiled and said, “Feed the birds”
His eyes grew in size
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BOB ARNOLD
I'm In Love With You
Who Is In Love With Me
Longhouse 2012
