Reminding ourselves
to capture
first light
before the dog days
along weathered trees
are swollen with pine nuts
tangled leaves
and Autumn’s brightness,
when a hundred nests
of squirrels and hornets
hide their first hours
in the dry meadows
on greensward grass
at day break
keeping us quiet
under a solitary sun
by a stammering wind
off the sea coast
as gulls swirl
in the sky’s blue veils.