Richard Dinges

Thunder


Early on, thunder
rumbled its broad bass
echo to tremble
my soles, to excite
a deep-rooted tempo
that rose up my neck
and I awoke to
a wide-open sky
darkened and boiling,
that invited me to
believe there was
power I could
harness, now worn
down to my worn
out boots where
a distant rumble
still echoes with each
slow step forward.


Mulberry Trees


Mulberry trees with
dark trunks thick as
giants wrapped in cragged
cracked bark bleed wisdom
in furrows. A sticky
semblance of ancient
lore weaves shiny
runes unreadable
by those who dare
gaze into crooked limbs.
Fruitless twigs and browned
dry leaves gesture
idly on a quiet breeze.
Wafty green waves
beckon us to climb into
high hearts and look out
across the dark horizon
that awaits us all.