the words were lost downwind
that autumn
— to the wind
i would have moved the treeline back
to make a little clearing and a place
out of the way
for a shelter and a time
an opening — in the middle of nowhere —
under a selfless and a tender rain
— we would have studied rain
the free-fall rain its first best drenching
wet and cold and raw and warm and deep
— followed the ruts of its impinging miniature intensities
into the temperatures that strew birch — beech
— larch — oak — ash — aspen — maple —
elm
over a small connecticut road random in apples
fermenting in the litter of their ripening
to a core of seeds — piercing an icy dawn —
— winter was coming — we knew it
— we should — have — given — it — room —
we should have — taken it in
— snow's billion pilgrims civilize
pastures at landfall — blanketing roots
for generations
— and what i would now do then
shall be done again and again
in season
