my treasures have hardly lasted –
but the scene changes –
a vaudeville carnival!

an old white house lumbers by

sharp-air porch
tired fire remnants
naked branches and
indecorous pine –
a salt lick for deer

those silent statues
emerge from twilight edges,
ephemeral with poised hooves
and find me restless now

there are no answers for
the brown season;
only silence from Mother and Father