Time’s Fleeting Images

Unmoved by the wind and rain that ravages
            The aging face of the plains,
An isolated, rock mountain remains to salute
            An endless parade of clouds.

i
Though imperfect mirrors,
The tiny ripples in quiet inlets
Electrify
The brilliant colors they reflect.

ii
Resilient ducks nestle
            In the black-and-white world
Of walkways and streams
            Chilled in snowy shrouds.

1
Flowers blooming out of season,
            Determined children burst forth,
Bringing blues, reds, ambers, and greens
            Into the grey world around them.

2
Through breaks in the clouds,
            Rare sunshine reflects
Off the pristine snow,
            Setting hillsides aglow.

3
In frenzied dances,
            Explosions of rouged tulips pay
Homage to their god:
            Sunlight.

4
Like an artist’s careful brushstrokes,
            Poppies and coreopsis
Bead rolling green slopes
            With liquid gold.

5
Water mists and sunlight
            Bring every surface
Alive, as twinkling green eyes
            Smile in their paradise.

6
Inside weathered walls
            Homes wake up, as darkened windows
Emit warm ocher spirits

7
Swirling celebrations of glories past,
With ticker tape and waving masts.

8
In the striations of granite canyon walls,
Jimsonweeds thrive:
From their green leaves and white flowers, jump
Images of life.
But their poisonous, prickly fruit, threatens
Death.

9
With redwood columns and pine-needle windows,
            Giant sequoias reach to the heavens
Like towering Gothic cathedrals ―
            Shrines to nature’s wonders.

10
Between walls of stone
And weathered clapboard walls,
Stately oak trees surrender their golden petals
To meticulous homeowners.

11
Birch trees, black pools, and moss-covered rocks
Take on a surreal glow,
Suspended in an either of gold stars.

12
After meeting the challenge of snow-covered hills,
Young sledders find their way home as
Silent towns slip into night.

March 1988

Portions of “Time’s Fleeting Image” appeared in the New York Life Insurance Company’s 1989 Home Wall Calendar. It also appears in From These Words (poetry 1973-1988) available for download on this site.