An Hour Before Sunset

For W. S. Merwin

let me hear you flute your song
follow your notes
to remembered smiles
places lit by winter sunlight
or summer cheer
leave out regret
live just this bliss
when hummingbirds work
red blossom on vines 
forever twining upwards
where there’s blue sky 
but grey clouds billow
whitened edges
gleam in sunlight
what friends would mourn
a man so happy 

after his pipe

He’s gone to another world 
impulsive impatient driven by testosterone
he’s passive meditative thoughtful with 
his muse for she is there to 
enfold him in a world 
where even old
they are young
where minds grow larger while bodies shrink
they’re both on a trip to denial
he to his muse she to her trainer
he does gymnastics with her in mind
she does them with him in the gym


copyright (C) Richard M Russell
           Dick Russell