Sentinels

Gothic wings stretched,


silhouetted cormorants sit


atop harbor pillars


guarding Vashon entry.


Silent witnesses to each passage.


like Roman legionnaires


in Galecian castros at dawn


and sentinels through the ages,


they peer over foggy hill and seascape


in search of some elusive enemy.


In these discordant times,


their vigilance soothes

and
 shelters us from critical thoughts.


Their presence--a refuge from reason.

Early Birdland

After night rain, I saunter the thistle paths of Roxhill sedge.  
From a high aspen, a redwing 
orchestrates a hummingbird tango. 
Squirrels peer from cottonwood balconies
 and goldfinch flirt the bush.
 In reeds, a shy rail wistfully seeks a partner.
 Scaups flutter the swamp and rush-grass, 
preferring to line dance. 
 The seasons change rhythms bidding 
the swallows to swing the sky.  
Watchful crows cling to power-lines 
cawing their own time.