In the Dark Mountains, Brilliant

Nature says be cool, nothing ever mattered
More than spending a smooth eternity
Watching this punk purple martin splash
In a trout pool of the Sierra Nevada

Before dying, being released from time
And becoming the feather glance light
Surrendered in these deep blue wing vibrations
Flashing against the grayish matte air

Of the lower ponderosa and blue oak forests





West Coast purple martins on a nest box, near Fern Ridge Reservoir, Oregon, 2007 (US Army Corps of Engineers)