Vermont Current

Mother Earth hums

under my boots as softly and slowly

snowflakes flutter into a footprint below

ahead on the whitely dusted Battell Trail

that crutches up the tremoring cosmic mound

of a half-naked Mount Abraham.

Lincoln General Store’s stovetop pot

hot, creamy corn chowder

warmly blankets my belly

tucked into my nourished body

vibrating, attune to the forest’s

crisp frequency of quivering silence,

only cracked by my first footstep

on the frozen ground, before a birdsong

oscillates callings, answers

upon the frigid breezes

buzzing the tops of the icy antennae

of blue-green pine needles

lively, emitting new Life.

Together

My darling, your tired eyes

do not go unnoticed,

and your weary limbs

are not ignored,

though all seems against you,

and you’ve walled yourself

behind your door.

When your tears begin flowing,

and the dam bursts to flood,

remember my love,

call out to me;

I’ll come to you,

be beside you, listening,

together in the mud.

Shepherd of One

Born fragile,

every word

against him

cracked his

confidence,

so he

armored himself

with layers

and layers,

of thickened,

smothering

skin, so

the jabs

didn’t cut,

the slurs

didn’t bruise,

and the

poisonous

hatred wouldn’t

sink in,

yet while

keeping out

the world,

he found

himself alone,

forgotten

with only

his oboe

silent within,

until God

who adores

the always

remembered

fragile, appeared

and created

a new,

unique song

especially for

him

to call

through the

veils muting

his psalm’s

send.