Midst anger fester the fox's concerns
infecting every breathing room
with pique and plaint in brilliance painted
ensconced in virtue, truth untainted
Whilst swirls the mud, a sewer's worth
from which a sample oozes forth
to tempt the toadies of our times
who lip and tongue their fonts of rhyme
Unity's preached midst raw dissension
clarity abuts miscomprehension
The fire’s gone out
in the last wooden hut
Fresh snow has been falling,
cold hunger abuts
The Red Coats emboldened
in far Germantown
The wind carries stillness,
with death all around
A General stands watch
on the farthest of hills
His heart never waivers,
his anger instills
The firewood gone
but the embers still burn
O’er forests and rivers,
to Paris in turn
The Schuylkill runs quiet,
Lenape scouts have returned
“Our enemy grows fat, Sir,
in taverns that burn”
The outcome awaiting,
its body count high
Where cabins though frozen
—the stars and stripes fly
(Valley Forge: November, 2020)
The Ritual of Nature
Disembodied left to feel
Freedom from an empty shell
I saw an aspen tree with its trembling leaves
And a cool zephyr breeze free to explore
Grey mountainous rocks with moss in between
Flora spread it’s colored stream
Grass that swarms abuts a hill
Of ants who will phalanx to seek their food
A sapphire stream that dribbles o'er crags
to blend into the massive brother dam
Sun reflects the river’s face
Mirroring the clouds above
The flowers abound to nourish the bees
And birds alight on a pendulous branch
To seek the shade of a great willow tree
A rain intercedes and falls
Quenching the earths arid core
The fauna have stirred to shake off the rain
Refreshed from the scene that blessed them this day
As the sun sets west on the western plain
Day will fade to seek the night
Moon is welcomed with the light
Seven-Ten Contest Image 2
Sponsored by Emile Pinet
March 22, 2018