Of the Wide-Ranging

The forest line plunges
into a narrow-sided gulley
worn smooth by water
in a snow-thawing
trickle.

The open and spreading
plumes of prairie grass
light up from within
like tiers of birthday
cake or chandelier.

They speak a numinous
language, everlasting graces,
and can't resist
the sweeping away,
the eclipse of a diffuse sun.

They nurture more than
they forget. Blades of
bluestem turn apricot
then wine in the frost-
bound landscape.

They beg us to look
closer, their obsession
the flickering of the
world's memory,
a corona of beliefs.

They gift us the joy
of fluidity, their kind
unconfined by idea,
furnished with the facility
for flourish.

Winter Interest