Adelaide B. Shaw

Sky Watch

There are months of no rain. Sunny days more like summer than autumn. The creek is at a low level, almost soundless now with no splashes, gurgles or gushes. Dull and dusty leaves turn brown and crinkly, disintegrate and disappear into the dirt or are blown away by warm winds. Days become weeks, become months, until one day clouds roll in. The sky turns a slate gray and the temperature drops. The spell is broken, the vise is loosened, the gates are open.

first snow
enough to hide bare spots
and ragged weeds
enough to imagine life
as cleanly perfect

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About the Author

Adelaide B. Shaw lives in Somers, New York.  She has been creating Japanese poetic forms for over fifty years. Her book An Unknown Road won third place in the 2009 HSA Merit Book Awards. It and her other books—Travel Souveniers, The Distance I’ve Come, and Ancient History—are available on Cyberwit and Amazon. http://www.adelaide-whitepetals.blogspot.com.

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