Shifting Patterns

between:
  Mark Alan Osterhaus
  AC Missias
  Paul MacNeil

shifting patterns
of an old brick path ~
wisps of morning snow
(mao)
three driveways down
he raises his shovel in greeting
(acm)
pale posts
behind the billboard
empty vines
(pwm)
passing headlights
one radio station into another
(mao)
quiet lake -
a falling leaf
ripples the moon
(acm)
slow rain in the birch grove
mushroom pickers
(pwm)
plume of ash ~
father and son poke
a mound of blazing brush
(mao)
bending with the hookset
a barracuda flash
(pwm)
the curve of his neck -
a breeze across the table
scatters my papers
(acm)
rounding an island rookery
the airy bob of coupled pelicans
(mao)
sheltered lovers
on the mountaintop
red wine and fruit
(pwm)
billowing from the palm tree
a dragon kite's colored tail
(acm)
all day
a pale moon ~
droning cicadas
(mao)
browned on one side
the smell of afternoon hay
(pwm)
resort beach --
just enough room for
one more umbrella
(acm)
parting the mayapples
a beaver's bleached skull
(mao)
lemon blossoms
the keeper takes a tray
of honeycomb
(pwm)
the tang of a mint julep
a colt kicks the starting gate
(acm)
ripping through
packets of seeds
her muddy fingers
(mao)
between two Renoirs
the sunlit wall
(acm)
they hang the mobile -
a wind-up bunny plays
the cradle song
(pwm)
under the arch of a bridge
her warm embrace
(mao)
his footsteps echo
across the empty plaza
winter stars
(acm)
a boy lands with both feet
the squish of slush
(pwm)
crumbled concrete blocks
the black belt's I-yaa
lingers still
(mao)
the words already out
she watches his smile fade
(acm)
Juliet rises
behind the curtain
the cast lines up to bow
(pwm)
working late
the spider's slow descent
(mao)
first cool evening --
from behind the garden wall
a crescent moon
(acm)
countertop breakfast
orange hats on deer antlers
(pwm)
raccoon raid
a light frost settles
on the littered scraps
(mao)
plop of a board's end
the sawblade whirs to a stop
(pwm)
a ceiling fan
slices the darkness --
sleepless night
(acm)
storm windows stowed
we laugh through the screens
(mao)
an earthworm crawls
on the soaked ground
peach petals
(pwm)
between weathered roots
acorns sprouting
(acm)

 

Started: March 16(?), 1998
Finished: June 4, 1998