Dawn Chorus

First light creeps
slowly reaching over my shoulder
recalling her warm caress
then whispering a lulled breeze
twisting soft curls
gold spun memories, a wide open plane
horizon lines running endlessly away
why I fled the heartland- decades ago

echoing robin’s song fills atmosphere
anywhere a bird can sing on open wing
animals quietly grazing across green velvet
bundles of white flock, drifting clouds
gently culminate into thunderheads
undulating sway of ruminant wonder

pear trees flocked in blossoms of fine white lace
do not compare themselves to sheep
looking only to the stars, reaching up
diamonds shine brightest in blackest night
then alighting gently like glossy dew
refracting deftly along briar’s edge
hands bleeding from holly prick
black pearls on wounded palm

obfuscated colors stick to grey hues
as gasping constellations fade
cold damp loam beneath bare feet
soon warming, like the sky
orange hues streak across heaven
backlit forest sighs into the day
swallow darts from grey to blue
in a flash, dawn erupts into morning