Lawnmower Musings

lawnmower circling

the mailbox

humming resonance

of summer

summer...

that pause

between spring’s beginnings

verdant green and pastel profusion

the scent of the new adrift

on anything-is-possible breezes

and the murmurings of the tender

fresh

and fall

a falling down into the inward gaze

of nature rediscovering its

roots

as the bear lumbers toward

his cave of

hibernation

his subterranean

dreams

primordial and lifting

across glacial winter landscapes

oscillating at frozen speeds

which quickens as earth’s heartbeat

reverberates up from the depths

toward the ascending birdsong

of spring

followed by summer

flourishing and abundant

heat rendering leisure

credible and worthy

as the earth bakes in the warmth

to emerge again in warmth’s own melodic

timing

a meter in keeping with

the stars and solar systems and constellations

and galaxies

pulsing and spiraling

to the same

drummer

and did you ever imagine

a sounding lawnmower

could inspire

so much?!..

Annie Kiyonaga

2002