February 2024
David Chorlton
DavidChorlton@centurylink.net
DavidChorlton@centurylink.net
Bio Note: I have lived for more than four decades in Arizona. While I got to know much of the state, the southern part emerged as my favorite, with its scenery, wildlife and seasonal moods. Landscapes come with their own mysteries, and those in Madera Canyon and other sky islands are rich in them.
Art credit: David Chorlton
Twilight on the upper slopes,
bats’ wings caress the moon
and the Elf Owl is solitude
flying. All night
the water keeps repeating
where it’s from, and it’s dark
as deer steps in the grass.
Guesswork and whispers.
Fallen leaves and life’s wheel turning
for the forest’s smallest creatures
who watch between the trees
as though the stars could kill.
Huachuca Lullaby
A cold Huachuca wind
blows through a mountain’s ear, whistles
the stars down from the sky
and redirects the stream
on which a Hermit thrush’s call
is floating winter long.
Frost on the windows,
a mineshaft filled with voices
of the men who left it years ago,
the last day of the year
looking over its shoulder
at the trail that leads to endings
and beginnings. Drink
a glass of wood smoke
to the past, another
filled with moonlight to what
comes next, following
the fox who never sleeps. All night
the chimney sings. Dress warmly
for daybreak and leave
the ashes in the hearth to dream
of being fire again.
Evening Trail
The white arms of the sycamore hold up the winter sky.
A chill disguised as sunlight
moves low between the junipers.
Grasses part
to let a trail pass by the pioneer’s grave
to the stream’s evening song
about searching and finding and losing until
day’s end, and later
come the dreams
the stones have that each one in a different world
could have been a mountain.
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