Fallen azalea blossoms give way to roses
Upright , tender and urgent: in dazzling ornament
they sway, content.
There is a birthing of new trees.
The land expands in summer rain and sun
Intricate shadows grace the woodland path
Light is early and long.
I watch
The heron’s morning predatory walk
At the water’s edge, note the dip and catch.
This bird, they say,
Aligns the fishes tail to tail
Making a sun wheel-
I praise my fellow denizen of this universe
so alien yet so close
And ask, who, under the sun,
am I?
© Asphodel P. Long 2002