Sisters of the Riverbank

 

I see them in winter
Now the light is lowering the sky
To a glow of late days

Their fingertips: bony, leaves lost
Entwined in solidarity
Holding hands at the river’s edge
Waiting out the rising winter floods

 

I see them in spring
Now the light is lifting the sky
Above the silver frosts

Singing a green song; dancing
Along the racing riverbank
Filling the air with pollen and bees
Waltzing with the breeze

 

I see them in the summer
Now the light is a vast blue echo
Of blazing sunshine

Their limbs laden: green shawls
Draped over slow summer waters
A picnic of sheep and swallows
And soft summer talk

 

I see them in autumn
Now the light is burnishing
Fruit and grain to gold

Sisters of the riverbank
Counting their leaves as they fall
These memories they’ve grown
They share a rich harvest now