tree meditations and others 235
balances
How strong the young tree is, and heavy
for standing so easily, and
so readily shaking and bending
in the light air
The small limb I saw at, drops and swings
behind me unexpectedly and claws
a rip in my shirt in passing ponderous and
quick as a bear
season
September night,
a long time over
notes on a hummingbird
that fed at the fl owering
bush by the window --
thought unexpectedly
of some trees in winter
on a hill behind a bare fi eld,
black limbs stiffl
y
forking in among
themselves, stern scene
under a colorless sky
of some fi fteen years ago
-- some forgotten old aff ection,
not modifi ed, where now hummingbird
wheels again aglare....