on open water
two mute swans preen
a flat moon
seven grey geese
cross the Great Lakes
bristling reeds stand tall
clouds gathering
a rattlesnake slithers
beneath an owl’s gaze
a thrush’s twilight song
bursts through the woods
fog lifts
birds fly out
saws tear and axes hack
aged oaks fall
drought over the land
lions flee from raging fires?
startled dust
a shallow river
salmon swollen for weeks–
no rain yet
Passenger Pigeons
once darkened the clear sky-
now, coo no more
cracking sounds
from glaciers on the Rocky Mountains
black ravens circle