Day 7

I am the forerunner and the background.

The blind spot you were never expecting to see

until I was four steps too close to your face.



My skin is a well worn cotton t-shirt and clay;

still soft and comfortable though fire

has burnt it enough to crack like the blood vessels of sleepless eyes



I am the last thing you think of on Easter

and the first thing you think of on fourth of July;

remember our fireworks...I guarantee you wont find their equal.



My neck is a young maple whose sap

is tart and sweet; choosing spring as her awakening season

and fall as a season of color blaze followed by naked and unashamed.



I am the first spark of light on the horizon

and the echo of thunder that makes your breath stop

tight in your belly before it comes back through your toes, legs, torso....



My feet are the traveling roots of the prairie grasses

moving miles but seeming to stand still; they sway in breezes

and gale storms alike but more than that; they dance in the rain.