On the grasses
The ducks stood; bills underwater.
One looked up, then resumed its business.
Cooper’s hawk flew low over the grass.
The hawk does not belong to Cooper.
The daffodils fill the grass;
The ducks stand by daffodils —
The hawk flies over the daffodils.
The dandelions sprout in clumps.
The trees sound of singing —
Small birds drive over the grass —
Large cars flit about the highway.
Their sounds compete in volume.
The birdsong provides the melody;
The pounding of the tires gives the rhythm.
The birds are finite.
The cars go forever.
Nothing interrupts either sound.
Metal stakes sprout up along the sea wall.
Their height mimics that of the grasses.
Their sparsity distinguishes the two.
The grasses grow dense along the sea wall.
Lumpen masses rest occasionally.
Tree trunks uprooted and stationary.
Wood fencing piled and stationary.
Construction equipment parked and stationary.
Some things cannot rest —
Wind-blown plastic shuffles across the grasses.
Wind-blown leaves shuffle against their branches.
Wind-blown water shuffle into the sea wall.
Wind-blown gulls shuffle through the air.
The trees are sparse, but eternal;
The sea wall cracks and crumbles.
Shards lie haphazard along the grasses.
Nothing can change the trees but time.
Some trees hold brown leaves even still.
Birds seek refuge in the trees —
The trees seek sunlight for their leaves—
Sunlight must seek something in its travels.
The birds respond to the wind.
Gulls change course.
The hawk loops upward.
Little birds change altitude.
The cars do not feel the wind.
Their course does not change.
They do not loop upward.
Their altitude does not change.
Their business is not interrupted.