Etched

a curious ermine

My psyche is
etched-
deeply etched
-by this place.

Vast,
silent
and immense

Snow.

The smell
the taste
the memory
of moon diamond fields.

Walking,
running
and
never seeing the end.

Profound
mountains
rivers
and forests.

Voices in the wind.

Wet mud,
vital and vibrant greens
-newly born-
welcoming birds
home to last year’s country

Water-
The boundary
of winter’s retreat,
of flood,
-of life.

Silence.
Surrounded by
life-sound.

Coyotes echo
chaos
in a world
stalked by order.

Crickets sing as crickets have always sung
-oblivious to all
but other crickets.

Follow the water into the earth,
the wind to the stars and,
the birds to tomorrow.

I close my eyes – stretch my body so thin that it becomes part of the
spring night air
and all that is left
is a sigh.

Two fledgling Cooper’s Hawks

All photos and writing on this blog copyright Joanne Siderius