Old Man Meditation
Old Man Meditation was published in The Courtship of Winds.
the old man sits in quiet
his hearing aids off
sits with his coffee in the window
late June sun dappling through
he watches the nuthatches make
their economies in the maple
recalls their chatter from memory
no longer needs to hear it
his thoughts at this hour holy hour
are few and widely spaced
glimpses of boyhood
not so far in the bending branch of time
images of friends dying or gone
without much sadness
these thoughts fade against the present
business of birds, the fullness of morning
the gentle pulsing of the mind interspersed
with the changing light of day
