FALLEN GIANT

A final remnant of the fallen.

Once mighty, redolent, and flowing

Now lies barren on the rocky shore.

Bleached by wind, water and time

The porous branch clings to its sinewy core

Wrapped anew in lichen and moss.

Once branches, now stubs

Death’s paleness

Masking the vibrant life of new tenants

Inside her defenseless bark.

Like a shipwreck,

Unmoving and useless to new generations

Soon disintegrated, forgotten.

Swaths of her own peeling paper

Lie scattered on the mossy ground.

Blanched, curled at the edges

Waiting for brother wind to take them aloft.

THE INVISIBLE

Thin wooden soldiers dot the shoreline

Their leaves long departed

Bracing themselves

Stinging spray from Superior’s crashing waves

Clings to branch and trunk

Encasing the barren mountain ash in a glistening frozen tomb 

Creating an immobile army of ice-covered warriors.

Patiently they stand until Spring

Waiting to be set free.

TOWERING PINES

God’s totems emerge

Densely from ancient ground

Crisp green treetops blanket the Sawtooth Mountains.

What lies beneath,

A mystery to transient guests

Yet untimately familiar

To those sparse lucky inhabitants.

Endless to the horizon

These towering pines grant shelter

Swaying aloft Superior’s gentle breeze

Secrets kept

Stories untold

Lumberjack, gray wolf and eagle

GRAY WOLF

Gray wolf emerges from forested hillside

Saucer-sized paws grip lichen-covered stone

Slipping ever so slightly in damp spots

Where wind-carried water pools in the cracks.

Welcoming soft needles of spruce

Brushing his face

As he traverses the jagged shore.

So thirsty

So long since the last wet sip.

He pines for just a drop

Knowing he will gulp the shore’s cool offering

Until he can swallow no more.

YEARNING

Brilliant rosy orbs hang densely from every branch

Defying the blanching of time

Pulling their lifeline

Toward the edge of a watery abyss.

Beckoned to the shore

Branch, berry and wave reach for each other.

A tryst of lovers aching to be joined

Swallowed whole.

If only they could stretch a bit further.

Oh Superior,

With your vast cauldron

Of churning life force.

Why take the lone remnant of color

From these pale northern shores?