The color of today
Is gray and green
With splashes of red between,
Perched on a pencil shaded dark,
That flit and chirp
And wink at me
And flutter and flirt
Midst dim dogwood tree.

Unleashed rumbling
Thunder rolls
Like bowling balls
And crashes like struck pens.
And the air tastes wet
And smells of green and earthen damp.
I am reminded of my naïve modernity,
Knowing the rumbles of rolling thunder,
Dissipate in eternity.

Somewhere mourning doves complain
And grieve their point of view.
Countering the sentimentality
Of valentines and roses
Dripping with dew.
And here am I,
Observer,
With enigma on my face -
Fear and hope
But too little of each
To state my case.

4/13/1982