elements

displaced water ripples      

 

air bubbles, misplaced

rise, bursting

surface

to be

re-absorbed

 

elements align

defy assignment

up or down, then or now

 

lost in the undertow

     I marvel

Brother From Another Hill

I saw him as he shambled toward the entrance. The wind ruffled his hair, but he did not seem to notice. Clods of dirt fell with each step. An air of dazed dejection hovered about him.

I stepped back from my vantage point as a knock echoed throughout our home. Everyone stopped what they were doing and, in unison, turned toward our makeshift door. I must admit that it was not a pretty fixture, but it slowed those down who meant us harm.

A visitor who knocked was rare here. I took a moment to gather myself before striding to the door to greet this sad and disheveled visitor.

“Who goes there,” I demanded.

“A brother from another hill,” came the reply.

I muscled the door open and took a closer look at the stranger. It was then that I noticed he was 

missing an eye, and when he moved back to allow for the swing of the door, I could see that one leg bent in an odd manner. Whatever he had been through, it was not good. I scanned the horizon, hoping he had not been followed.

I motioned him in, and he entered as quickly as his awkward gate allowed. I closed the door.

He looked ready to collapse, so I offered him an arm and ushered him to a chair.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “You are most kind.”

I handed him a drink. He sipped and shuddered, unsuccessfully attempting to stanch the tears that 

flowed from his eyes. They created trails of clean skin, vertical stripes in the grime on his face.

“I’m looking for a place,” he told me. “They… blew mine up.”

My eyes widened.

“Who blew it up?”

“Some of the two-legged, two-handed,” he replied. “Adolescents, I think.”

He swallowed hard, resolve gleaming in his eyes. He would tell their story and remember.

“We were finishing work for the day. Those who had assignments outside were on their way back. 

Our infants were in the nursery. Before we could gather for dinner, the two-legged, two-handed shoved something through our door. It sparked with fire before exploding. My brothers and sisters were blown up. Some disintegrated on the spot. Some were thrown from our home and consumed by predators.

“I am the only survivor.” Here, he paused, straightened his antennae, and looked me in the eye. “And now I am here, with you, asking for a place and help to avenge my colony.”

I paused for only a moment.

“This is now your place, and our colony is your colony. We march at dawn.”

Illuminant Ruminant

The illuminant ruminant 

chewed ideas until cogitation coalesced 

and a bulb burst above her head 

birthing a thought 

which grew into dream 

which became a plan 

which graduated to an action 

thus propelling the

illuminant ruminant 

from her place among the herd 

to an elevated echelon 

where she mentored more and 

initiated less 

eventually becoming a figure head 

and then just a head 

from which spouted 

light and meaning and wisdom 

but her acolytes took no action 

because they were 

mere ruminants minus the 

illuminance 

which left them fuming, impotent 

and empty 

and left her 

just a head 

of 

the 

herd.

Evolve

I am heavy

A blue whale on

dry land

struggling over rocks and

needle sharp grass

skin parched

soul lonely

yearning for

comfort

Destined for change

I push on

To survive

To evolve

anticipation

I wait for the walls to break,

dream of the end of a pandemic.

Will we cease to treat others with

suspicion and fear

or

is this a symptom of a

deeper-rooted illness.

Divide sometimes

drives us.

It may define us.

It lines us up in

Front-facing firing squads

each eager to pull the trigger

first. After all,

survival depends on being

in the right.

Left with a choice of this or that,

I choose those,

And anticipate a time of union.

Am I innocent

or ignorant?

Yes.

And hopeful.

The Transformation

The front door slammed. Bernard looked up from his newspaper, his caterpillaresque eyebrows raised in question. He wasn’t expecting anyone, especially at this time of night.

The lamp over his shoulder cast strange shadows across the living room. He strained to see who had entered his home, but there was neither movement nor sound from the foyer. Strange.

Bernard folded the paper and set it on the end table, pausing to ensure that the edges of paper aligned with the edge of the table.

“Who’s there?” he called. “You may as well come in.”

Still nothing.

The grandfather clock in the corner began its sonorous gonging to announce the end of today and the beginning of tomorrow. As the twelfth strike reverberated through the house and silence began again to descend, he heard skittering down the hall.

“What in blazes,” he muttered as he unfolded from his seat and advanced upon the passage. He was tempted to bellow, “AHA,” as he rounded the corner, but restrained himself.  After all, he was unaccustomed to raising his voice. Probably because there was typically no reason to raise it and no one with whom to raise it to since Adele had left him 36 years ago. She wanted kids but he didn’t. Truth be told, it was a decision he’d come to regret in his twilight years.

The tail of a shadow slipped into the kitchen as he watched.

Grabbing the yardstick that had hung on his hallway wall since his retirement from Green Valley High. Holding it out in front of him like a jousting lance, he entered the kitchen.

The shadow he had seen had coalesced into a six-foot-tall rabbit holding a carrot, poached, he could only assume, from his very own fridge.

“Freeze,” Bernard shouted. If ever there was a time to raise one’s voice, it was when a strange, oversized rabbit made an appearance in one’s home.

The rabbit, eyes wide, dropped the carrot and began running in a mad pattern back and forth across the kitchen floor before finally dropping to the floor and rolling beneath the table. And there he stayed, unmoving, eyes open yet vacant.

“Heart attack,” thought Bernard. He had scared the intruder to death. “Oh my,” was all he could summon in response. Should he call the police? What a strange situation.

It was then that Bernard saw a large basket filled with colorful eggs and candies, perched on the counter near where he had first spotted the rabbit.

Absentmindedly he picked up the carrot and began nibbling on it. He wrinkled his nose as he puzzled through the evidence. He tapped his leg as the mist of confusion began to clear. He knew what he needed to do.

Bernard could practically feel his whiskers growing as he lifted the basket and made for the door. He had a lot of ground to cover before morning.

Superhighway

Beads of moisture travel

tiny vehicles on a superhighway

lanes marked by veins.

Drops collide

falling from a leaf tip to

rivulet

racing to the river.