what the thunder said

what the thunder said

let’s take off those 
hats we wear let them blow
away in the wind

that runs high across the prairies we've yet

to see them 
in

time

let’s relate 
to the wind is
the chief is
the way to the heart is the chief is
the way to the true mind is the chief is the way to

love is the chief
is an action, not a promise

     that 

we        notice        
     the finch
                  swelling with song

at the tip of the mountain

what the sand crab sees

           

 i.                    tide pools

the children run barefoot

down the steepest dune as fast as they can, 
careful not to land on any sharp sticks.

at the bottom of the dune,

their father is smiling

and his caring hands

           

ii.                  are full with sea water

i see now that this is the holy water

feeding the flowering marram grasses,

their seed heads rising above leaf spikes

that witness the glinting ocean all winter long.

Swaying to the sound of inspired gulls and primordial crashing,

this is our burial music.
this is the detraining song.

--swc

printed versions of these poems are available in Street Life Magazine at White Rabbit in Iowa City, Iowa.
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