MORNING RITUALS
Dawn breaks the resolve
of night with a quick gallop
over a ridge where everything
is painted orange:
valley, sheds, the herds.
A rancher, awake since stars shut
their twinkling eyes,
pauses near a creek and whistles
for his favourite Blue Healer.
Together, they flank the meadows,
to the kitchen where the Missus
is busy with bacon, fried potatoes & eggs;
and a pot of hot coffee sits on the table
where the rancher settles in for morning
benediction and conversation between a man
unsure of his place in the world and a woman
whose assurance is his resurrection.
FAIR SHARE
Late at night
when addicts fall
from lofty perches
of their lives,
lost in agony
they cannot share,
the moon and stars
clasp hands
above rippling streets
and shiver
in the cold wind,
and cries of remorse
echo against
empty buildings
that line alleys
lit only by anger
that seeps from cracked windows
of lofts where thieves
gather
to smoke and argue
about their share
of the dark.
After S.C. Flynn’s Their Share of the Dark
The pseudonymous Dr. Charles A. Stone (born in Green Bay, Wisconsin) holds doctoral degrees from Marquette University and Johns Hopkins University. He has authored more than 150 scientific articles and contributed to two dozen medical textbooks. His poetry has appeared in poetry journals, anthologies, and other publications. He has also edited six poetry anthologies and served on the Board of the Austin International Poetry Festival. This father of two and grandfather of seven, lives in San Antonio with his alter ego and wife of more than 50 years.
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