where there had been mist
now only light
sparkling the path

chattering ducks
on either broken pier
a heron stood
on sentry
as if outside
a palace royal
the pollarded trees
bursting with
coronets of green
life anew everywhere

the first dragonflies
zigzag along the path
two coots
mother and four ducklings
on a day out
avoid me with surprise
what is this thing
in light trousers
blue shirt
sitting
not talking
like us

no sign of the hawks today
swifts swoop
across the glassy lake
taking mayflies for their tea

slowly I feel I am melding
into the wooden bench
beneath the willow trees
beside the daisies
and the buttercups

nothing watches me now
even a peacock blue
a beetle considers
whether my boot
is worth climbing

I am as I am
becoming invisible
even to me

Canada geese
lift high
into the sky
their leader
reprimanding the slow
he is the apex

I am part of
a scene
my brain will absorb
as my spirit
flies

four swallows now
O
to be free as thee

the hawk is back fishing
two birds startle
the coot coots
the day is changing
a breeze arises
the sky no longer clear
petals scatter
on the bench
on me
I see

may flies
water-boatmen
air fills
with bird song
quiet
am
I

08/27/2013