the weight of snow

photo by shf

atmospheric rivers

leave traces everywhere,

downed branches, closed cones,

paths sown with shift, with careful now,

the arrow tree fallen, broken in three,

rocks concealed, mosses snowbound,

golden leaves flattened like paper,

waiting for an autumn poem

about the weight of snow,

prayers planted for deepening dreams,

songs sung to agitations below.

water circles,

unimagined and appearing,

as streams unbank,

winds unbind thing from thing,

sun deafens to suggestion.

and human ingenuity reverts to

heat making, dry finding, slow moving,

nowhere going, calm arriving, quiet being.

and all this talk of atmospheric rivers

recalls stories told

by old women and men

who speak the language of what

the world has to teach tomorrow.