Monarch Chronicles

"Autumn, cloud blades on the horizon.
The west wind blows from ten thousand miles.
Dawn, in the clear morning air,
Farmers busy after long rain."
    – Tu Fu, "Clear After Rain"







Heavy rain all day runs down the roof
and splatters off of the courtyard tiles.
Across the street an orange kayak noses
the bulging green river like a lone snake.
I think of bright new friends in sunshine
from another day. A Yellow Coneflower
reaching upwards after the loss of petals.
The sweet rubies of raspberry bramble
hidden like royalty by guarding vines.
I remember on approach how the field thistle
revealed more beautiful head than body.
Leaving, my field a kingdom of faces
as cornfields filled the rest of the rearview
mirror in plots of motionless green.