Country Store
Beer, gas, cigarettes,
liquor and the like
all for a price,
painted with a wide brush
in bold red letters.
Signs of civilization
in front of the
country store I pass
nearly every day,
on one hand,
competing for my
attention and
on the other
rolling hills, a
meandering stream,
grazing cattle and
oncoming cars.
Nature Photographer
Nearly naked, she steps into the icy froth
shutter clicking, backing further
from the shore. Above her lens in the
late air, fresh beams of moon shudder
with each synched flash. Before the
stir ignoring the surf, plunging
boldly into the brine, a passel
of pint-sized sea turtles waggle
from sandy nests to the safety
of the sea and slip under foamy waves
to disappear in seaweed, pebbles, shells,
all rumbling, sliding, thrashing up and back
with each wave of optimism, perhaps
straining for a glance back at the nature
photographer running to the car, bare legs goose
bumped
from the salty chill,
not wanting
to be wet and feeling the gritty sand
scratching at the skin of her sandaled feet.
God Time
God knows black holes do not precede a galaxy's birth. Heaven knows they
are fed by the same
gases that form the stars. Just look for the bulge
of dense matter
that signals the demise of the classic galactic disk.
Breath
a sigh of relief when you see Orion's Belt
and Rigel knowing we are nothing
in God's time.
