Poem in September

Since you were taken, my left eye
has not healed. The world thrashes on,
eating and being eaten.
I expect any minute
to see you slink your shadow
through the door flap
and tell me about
the crisp nightworld outside.

With you gone, something of me
has not come back.  Still,
robins raise their young
in this leafy yard
and seem to know me.
A black bear cub sits on his haunches
snacking under the apple tree.
A wounded doe brings her fawns,
easy in our dappled refuge.

Broccoli thrusts its green blossom
and cucumbers sprout by the steps.
Coyotes and owls are here
to remind us: we are not immortal.
We are small.  A lesson

I thought I’d learned from you,
Shadowcat.  Meanwhile, the lake
shakes her stars in the lap
of the Valhallas. The glacier
hangs on bravely
under a strained September sun.

Since you left, my third eye
has not healed.

—for Dylan Thomas & Shadowcat

—from the collection Star Seeds
2009 New Orphic Publishers, Nelson, BC Canada

—New Denver is a village in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, along the shore of Slocan Lake.