winter
under this stand of pine
cold folds into dark and quiet
snowmelt makes a stream
through the still heart
spring
a riot of leopard frogs
wakes in cattails,
boars snuffle
through moldering needles
mists roll off my coat
into my shoes
summer
sunlight flecks the plantation floor
bluebirds dart between boughs
and pull caterpillars from cones
cool air settles on skin
fall
a lone woodpecker trill
floats in the woods,
a prayer before sleeping
