A slow afternoon,
I walk past river pines
and bowing poplars,
crinkling leaves
on hard earth.
Sun touches cumulus clouds
glinting amber.
In and out of shadows,
I trail a schoolboy with
knapsack full of autumn.
My worn loafers veer off
the even path.
Buried in wildflowers,
I meditate in whirring wind,
invisible.
Muffled cries of crows
traveling eastward
become silent.
I settle in distant woods
laden with winter.
This poem was originally published in East on Central, 2018-2019.