NPM: Fresh Glory

Two cardinals hopped

Through the budding branches

Of my Japanese maple today

A mated pair

And I was transfixed

By the color of the female

Normally, the males are revered

For their vivid red hue

So bright and unusual

But her tones were subdued

And sublime

The colors of the dawn

Soft cream, pale yellow

And the flush of purest rose

She was the morning sky

The promise of a new day

Unmarred, unsullied

And to me, her subtle beauty

Far outshone her flashy consort

There is fresh glory in the overlooked–

In nature

And in us

NPM: Treasure

The sun glazes each leaf on the branches stretched over me

Each serrated edge gilded with molten gold

I lay sprawled at the base of the tree

like a dragon on its hoard

but the treasure tosses above me

not below

NPWM Day 27: Bees and the Foxglove Tree

The bees come to worship at the foxglove tree.

They pay homage at each purple-blossomed shrine.

Hiding their faces in the blooms,

they breathe deep the holy air

and collect pollen like manna.

Only enough for today–

no more, no less.

And they, fed by the foxgloved hand of God,

want for nothing.

NPWM Day 14: Chestnut

Beneath a giant, spreading chestnut

I found myself on a summer evening

The light hung like streamers from its branches,

pooling among its roots as molten gold

It creaked a windy greeting 

Its leaves murmured about sun and soil

and time, such time

I laid my hand against the massive trunk

and felt the press of years

and the pulsing life that started as a seed

still pushing outward, upward, always