2 Crows, in Whiteoak, OHIO Country

2 Crows, in Whiteoak, OHIO Country,
On the road in the Northeast, USA [click photo for next . . . ]

TWO CROWS—from LEAVES

The summer fades behind you,
as late one morning you
look up from your work,

and the sound of the leaves
is suddenly drier, higher
in pitch, and your thoughts

naturally turn from arcane theory
to the facts and practice of shelter
and the coming cold.

Far away in the mountains
it is already snowing, and
a deep and uneasy quiet descends
upon all the passes heading South.

Did they cross safely
to the other side?

The crows know that this is when
the pulse and flow of rivers ease, and
the orchestra of strings stops,

now listening, to tune and tune
again, sensing the hushed sway
of trunks in the spruce forests
of the far North.

How broad and slowly the
waves of wind pass through
the crowns of tall trees.

A hoketus of shrill cries marks
the crows' departure, as an empty
branch bobs nervously about;

arched back, a quick trill
of the paws, and
the gray squirrel has
stashed another piece
of gold.

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Please visit my picture-poems.com MOUNTAIN WATER
print gallery. Above is a set of recent images.
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I might just mention here, following the ethical principle,
First, do no harm, I never use cars or snowmachines. I
do everything on foot, bike or ski. I think this in a
deep and direct way affects my work, and how I see
the world. So all the photos above were approached
on foot, including all the in between spaces, sometimes
involving journeys of weeks or months.

I would not want to work any other way.

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