quietude

---

a circle of ravens in the distance

their loud calls muted through the cool air,

a lark sparrow chitters in the pine tree while a

towhee scratches in the blanket of needles below

blending with the furtive movements

of a pack rat across open ground

sun and shadows tremble under the

few remaining yellow leaves of a poplar

remnants of snow seep invisibly into

dark earth, leaves, hummus and loam,

the smell of smoke moves sharply in

spirals from someone’s fire

and I sit on a lichen-covered rock

on a hill overlooking scraggly hills

breathe deep the music of desert blues

and greens, the bright, wide-open sky

Clelia Vahni Lewis

©2022