Amber and Copper

the old moon at night, butterflies by day

I watched the old moon rising swiftly above the mountains. The bright crescent and the pale, dark, shadowed side were both clearly visible.

Moonrise

The crescent moon is like a cup.
At first the amber tip was there
Just where the mountains touch the air,
And then the whole moon leaping up
With curve of light and curve of shade,
With horns of gold and disc of black
Now high above the mountains' back.
With gilded silver overlaid
And dusky ebony alight,
Its brilliant saffron sheen belies
The furtive stars of distant skies
That fade across the summer night.

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Love Sonnet of Butterflies

It is the end of August, and the air
Grows bright and dim and bright as the clouds pass;
And like a mirror, so the seeding grass
Grows green and grey and green, while in its flare
And shade a second green and silver’s there
Created by the wind—another glass
Of heaven’s passing moods. So titan’s mass
Of sun and wind sway slender grass stems, where
Above their gentle play of stem and seed,
Their whirl and flicker as they tip and rise,
Two butterflies on copper wings keep flight
Within their own small vortex, little heed
The mighty currents of the giant skies
But only their small loves. And this is right.

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The ocotillo looks very lush right, thanks all the rain. It is drought-deciduous and can be just a cluster of dry grey branches for much of the year. But at present those branches are well-leafed out. Ocotillo sends up brilliant red blooms in late winter, but at present there is only the foliage. I watched a Queen butterfly circle its stems briefly before flying on.

Green ocotillo
and a copper butterfly
that twirls round its head.

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A casual observation from looking at the sky at night. Is it only true of my eyes?

It's curious:
each star grows bigger when one
looks away from it.

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