WINTER HOLDS THE LIFE

Dark pines stand sternly tall,

Grandfathering the forever possible.

Bless the snow that comforts them,

Bless the earth and rocks that root them

And the kind winds that freshen them.

In darkness pines perform
An everlasting task of love,
Sustaining quiet rhythms of our earth

Till majesty and frolic shake again

Our frozen souls to fresh beholding

And our laughter to its spring.

              Ted Black, 2/1/2014

SMOKE RINGS

My brother could blow smoke rings,

Lazy bits of filament

That hung in the air

Like circles of sagacity,

Then slipped softly into vanishment.

One day I stared in wonder

While three rings held up sunlight,

Saying, "See me, feel me, know me,

I am real and I have magic.

Catch it if you can."

Suddenly he started forward,

"What are you doing?"

I turned to see our mother,

Watering can in hand

For her begonias,

Pouring drop by drop in cooling gift

On her ecstatic sun-golden canary.

    Ted Black, 2/9/2014