Perhaps not the Mountain -
Perhaps even not the lone hermit, atop said mountain...
sitting as still as tea leaves, left in their jar.
Perhaps not the Mountain.
So unneedful of needs.
Of deeds.
Now moving as imperceptibly, as slowly, as wakefully
as the ‘still’ tea leaves, damp on the saucer;
unfolding like mornings in morning’s new light.
Perhaps not the Mountain.
So unmindful of mind.
Of mankind.
Perhaps not the birds, resting in nooks in rookeries
by snow lines and greenlines.
Perhaps not the lizard or sheep,
one sharp-edged like the low-edges of shiftrock,
the other white-topped like lost-edge of the hightop.
Perhaps not the leopard, rare as the swear
from the hermit; still stretching...
out her morning.
Perhaps none know the mountain
is a slow wave
of Earth.
A Slow Wave
come crashing
so slowly into
shallower Earth.
A great primeval upheaval.
Categories:
rookeries, mountains, philosophy,
Form: Free verse
Shadows detach at dusk to sneak silently away
to roost together like bats in rookeries,
hanging upside down, wrapped in black mantles, gossiping.
Each shadow reborn each morn seeks out its host
like a parasite seeking sustenance and succour,
for a shadow detached is inanimate and non-existent.
Shadows need light and objects to cast silhouettes
to give shadows life, substance and vitality.
Only things of this world cast shadows,
So things and beings that cast no shadow are spooky.
Shadows follow you around mirroring every move you make.
In endless shadow-puppet performances
they often give you away when you sneak up,
and showcase your slinks and skulks when you slither away.
The brighter the light the stronger the shadow.
Multiple lights cast multiple shadows.
Shadows are too dark and foreboding of death and evil to be friends
For shadows are cast by the living, the dead and lifeless things.
But only the living animate shadows into life.
Categories:
rookeries, dark, life, light, mystery,
Form: Free verse
Dusk at the Great Swamp* in early Spring
Applauding
at the curve of twilight
you’ll hear them:
tree frogs.
Bending, feigning
one way then the other,
Greek dancers:
trees.
Concentrating keenly,
with spy scopes
on distant rookeries:
birders.
Disturbing the peace
of winter meditation,
rearing herself:
swamp giant.
Kathy Collins
*Great Swamp National
Wildlife Sanctuary
Morris County, NJ
Categories:
rookeries, nature,
Form: Free verse