Sub Rosa

[Norma photo]

As I, under
Rose shadow,
Worked my ass
Off years ago,
Old foundations
Crumbled --oh, we
Mumble explanations:
Surely age and weather
Exact a toll together
On farmhouses
And fools --a new
Physique, more
Room back there
For tools.

Or A Kid With A Hula Hoop

[Norma Photo]

Nothing is alone--
Even nothing--
A moment
Makes sense.
Something scratches in
The shadow of the fence--
Unknown cats.
Clouds about their business
In the back yard
And rain,
Our rain, into this
Instant paused,
Could have caused it--
With bushtits in tall hedges,
Percolating quail--
Left along the
Edges of a lizard's
Tapered tail.