by Benjamin Green
The first light of morning
Kindles color
On the canyon cliffs
Apricot and gypsum
Blood-red and juniper:
Dawn descends the rock walls trending
Towards the shelter of my home
Where a trick of light
Becomes a nuthatch
Hanging upside down at the feeder:
familiar but never really known.
A coyote watches me, walks away
slowly, turning to look,
as it goes up the arroyo.
A still moment
In the canyon dawn,
Dry and clear;
Enchanting cottonwoods
Cast spells;
The coyote listens,
Ears lifted.
Benjamin Green is the author of eleven books including The Sound of Fish Dreaming. At the age of sixty-six, he hopes his new work articulates a mature vision of the world and does so with some integrity. He resides in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.