Returning

Rained hours ago
damp pavement
almost soft -
quiet on the feet:

step, step, pause, step.

The air articulates
clarity
as do the colors,
and their scent:

breathe, look, blink, breathe.

Use the sidewalk
as a memory
to the corner house,
which now -

beat, beat, skip, beat

lives
in my childhood
and not beyond.

Beneath the Flood

Feel the pressure
and the movement
the weight, the heart

Hear the pulsing
and the rhythm
the strength, the arc

Below the flooding
and the ocean
our being, our breath

Above the pounding
and percussion
our hope, our test