Once

Once

That time a part of the local woods
was stricken invisible

That time the weeping willow became
a harp

Once a man cast himself down onto the ground
between two trees
sobbing

The time a woodsman walked up to a tree
and could not raise his axe

When the river rose
and rushed through the pines
long hair through a comb

That acorn you slid on
bringing you to the cliff’s edge

That night it snowed and snowed
and you stood in the dim snowlight
where the woods felt warm

When, in the darkness, you felt
yourself being watched
by the beloved

The time you learned how to
participate in stillness