Oregon Beaked Moss - Google Image
Oregon Beaked Moss softly feathers over black rock
And cradles brittle white patches of Reindeer Lichen
Liverwort crescents trace drip-lines of shore pines
Rising from mossy hollows of the moist green ground
There are only a few species of trees that grow here
Arbutus and shore pine can survive in small hollows
But all the trees here are shallow rooted under moss
Trees can thrive trough winter dampness in this place
But mossy ground will crunch summer dry all around them
And on that dry summer day these trees may just wonder
Why they ever picked this silent place to struggle in
Deer have walked through here I can tell
They have browsed on the few low shrubs
And left smooth round brown droppings
Along the trails that cross the land
Trails that lead away to somewhere else
Trails that lead to here from somewhere else
I can’t say for sure how these trails were made
Or where each of these bare earth ribbons lead
And I have never seen a deer on a trail here
But the deer are here and so are trails
I've just never seen the two together
Not like in my garden below that hill
Where I have watched deer walk both ways
Very early or late in the day’s light
Into and out of our planted garden
Along steep and narrow rock pathways
That cross the hill behind our home
All leading toward the wind-blown sea
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The sun's coming and going
The clouds toing and froing
Both have readied us for change
Showing nothing stays the same
Yesterdays light was a gift to sight
Viewing across the afternoon light
Sparkles bright bounce off the Bay
Soft thin cloud patched in the way
Blown by wind and turned by earth
Trees and mountains shadow dirt
All these things can beat their drum
As sparkles ride and ripples run
Steady wind seemed newly made
Wave-less water filled the Bay
All I watched was dimpled sea
Reflecting sunlight back to me
Shivered light across green sea
Looked transparent in front of me
And sparkled sun bounced my way
No matter where I stood that day
But now the sea seems different
Its bright light is harsh arranged
So squinting tight I turn my back
To shield my eyes with a wool hat
Today the sea is darkly raked
Streaked with foam chased by wake
Ripples on the waves aren't kind
Harsh reflections of sun can blind
Sunlight is always changing
And it makes every day amazing
Although we never peek for fun
Somehow we know it comes from sun
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The world loves life that lives
Seeds and leaves both borrowed
By all life that lives embodied
In this generous place that gives
Freely bodies and their beauty
Sensing the silence in change
The world expects every bit back
Changed only by its vision
