A Season's Lyric

Then there was blood from the beet,
heart of palm,
tails of oxen.
Salt from the cave,
sweat from the mine.
Clay from the lake,
Hail from the storm.
Honey from the comb,
sap from the tree.
Coals from the fire,
dew on the grass.
Songs from the birds,
a cry from the loon.
Death on the table,
life in the fields.
Diamonds.
War.
Buds.
Blooms bent in prayer.
Seeds.
Rebirth.
Kings buried in sand.
Bones bleached by the sun.
Dust on the sill.
Scales catching light in the sea.
Wings in air,
breath on lips.
A snake coiled on shale.
Molting.
Sleep.
A barrel full of pork.
A shed hung with tobacco.
A fiddle with waxed string.
A ballad.
A lily.
Bread.
Butter.
A stand of maple.
A bog of tannin.
A grove of citrus.
A tale.
A whisper.
A seat to sit.
A swallow at dusk.