From Saturday Morning IV

Through an upstairs window on the southeast side
of the house, you could see the last

of the tree's maroon leaves
had found its own peace

impaled among thorns or flat
on the lowest ground. Finally made

bare, the valley beyond
appeared, balanced between drained light

and shadow
on the banks of the hidden, slow-

turning Avon. The short day grown late
reveals you in your gloam:

still life of a man with bathtub and sink
as seen through dusk-blind glass, pen and ink.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Commonweal Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning