Litany

•52/ the shift of weight of an autumnal cypress— shifting to rust hue in the halflight of autumn

or the undershadow of wild grass before full sunrise

(he is here)

between the insisting intake, then release,

or cold charcoal ash from a past sacrificial fire, drifting in slow circles

within the triplicate trill of a male grackle

(yes, here as well)

the blood lust of a blue-winged sparrow hawk circling for wood doves or field mice

the rime of ice skimming over fence posts

or even the slow, soft decay of a blood-red maple leaf

•