Monday, July 2, 2012

Wanderings on the Zumwalt Prairie (II)


 
If you clear a bit of the prairie
of rocks, that is, not grass
If you could, a dozen would do
You could build a sturdy old rock jack
Ostensibly to hold the barbed wire fence
but really an altar perch for meadowlarks,
for gospel music that you can embrace

Why are those two coyotes howling midday?
In harmony with the red-winged blackbirds,
meadowlarks and sparrows
While crickets talk thunder
with the black squall rising over the ridge
like a night with nattering stars

Some rain did fall
not enough to dampen the choir
just enough to chime in, awaiting
Yellow sun opened the grey veil

My toes picked a bouquet of wildflowers
even though picking was outlawed on the preserve
somehow my toes didn’t get the message
A spray of biscuitroot with yellow umbrellas
A splash of succulent wild onion
not enough to feed your belly
just enough to feed your sensory delight
somehow my spirit got the message


Francis Opila