Texas haybarn at sunset

falling through tree limbs
pieces of the sunset,
flitting amid the leaves
pale yellow fragments
filtered by leafy growth
changing moment to moment,
this is life
the occurrence of now
being at one
with the ivy as it
grows ever slowly
beside the lichen-mottled
stonework foundation,
one breath follows another
heartbeat by heartbeat,
sitting quietly
watching shadows move. . .
December 5, 1993