Gather the People At Dusk
                 Publlished in Bellowing Ark

The thermometer hits six

on its way to below oh.

I go to gather the younger ones

lest night in full darkness

finds us scattered.

Warm as wild things in winter fur

guests and offspring find their own ways

back to the warm house

but oh, while looking for them,

I saw the stream run black into winter,

giant granite rocks majestic at dusk,

against colors frozen in the western sky.

Winter wind asked secret questions

and the lake now is ice.

Patterns of cracks across the surface

divide the ice into cold seasons

and draw a map of countries I’ve never visited

but must, some day soon.

Deeply cold isolation

and silence soaks into me

as I stand braced against abrupt bluff.

Dark descends from the mountain sky.

New wind rises and suggests I move.

I travel the long dirt road from isolation

back to where laughter

and tales of the day’s adventures

light the warm house

against winter night.