A dog barks scaring the finch away from the feeder just as I let the smallest hurdle keep me from seizing what I really want and limping away in another direction looking for something big and safe instead of tiny and precious but each time I go for safe my heart is chipped away just a little bit more becoming an empty space for dogs to bark or birds to feed with a lock on the gate to keep out everything else.

mulberry tree…
swimming in a pool
of dead leaves.

Lafcadio