In June

In June,

When weary eyes

Tread the tired ponderings

Of faith;

When expectant prayers

Gestate still

In the thickening air,

The day bears out

It’s slow surrender.

Silhouetted

Now

Catskins burst forth

In palest half-light.

Moth and gnat

Swirl

In dervish dance

In the streetlight’s

Amber wake.

A breeze,

High and unfelt,

Rattles the dry leaves

Of the cottonwood

Towering above.

Amid the estival gloaming

Old ghosts prowl

Lonely streets.

Their airy vestments

Reminders

Of a caustic age;

Of ancient wounds;

And new worries,

Reciting their tired

Liturgies of gloom.

Tarrying now,

With malice faced,

These idle feet

Choose

To still;

To soak;

To draw

Deep the breath of life;

To resonate

The length and breadth of freedom,

Yielding their faltering frame

Into the quickening night

And receiving,

In full measure,

The fathomless peace

Eluding comprehension.

Fluttering lids

Dare now to wake.

They dread no more

The anxious hours.

Treading, now,

‘neath oaken boughs.

Once furtive eyes

Behold

Glittering fields

Of fairy starlight

Where insect chorus

Grace the gathered.

And specters

Dance no more

In looming shadow

But wither;

Fade

To dull recall.

Returning

Now

From wayward flight

Before the lumbering

Advance of sleep,

A backwards glance

On solemn streets,

Perhaps a memory

Of this joy

To keep.