Clarity

Shimmering under the June sun
The unfailing visitation of wind
Heavy with dust
With the suddenness of a meadow lark’s song

Geese flew overhead
Their far-off calls drifting down
Sun streamed through the chinks in the Caragana leaves
Two butterflies in lifting falling flight
Briefly together, briefly apart
Every grass-blade and leaf and flower
Seemed to be breathing
The poplars along the road shook light from their leaves
   
A tin can rolled down the street
Loose dust lifted
Shadows lengthen
sunlight fades from cloud to cloud

The prairie bathes in mellower, yellower light
Sinking sun becomes a low and golden
Glowing on the prairie’s edge

A man walks homeward from the fields
Softness down the prairie sky
Is clear against the evening hush
                            the stubble cracks; a killdeer calls.