Passage

The train whistles

as the boys fight invisible enemies with gusto and plastic swords

forcing sound effects from their mouths with every thrust.

The conductor calls the stop

as the warrior knights fight each other. 

A few rays of the falling sun press between the nearby houses

to run glowing fingers through the boys' hair

as they join forces to scale castle battlements.

The train pulls away

as the boys swing together in the twilight.

I wish they could stay, defying gravity and the globe's motion,

forever entertained with swords and swings.

But the lights of the train are dim now and its rumblings distant

and it's time for us to go. 

DesPlaines River at Twilight

The geese at river's edge silently make way

for a queen.

When her neck bends to drink

I know a surfeit of wonder. 

But the moment grows. She steps into the water

till all is gone save a lovely, determined head.

Emerging, her hooves find a man-made bank

and its green reward.

(The deer in the above poem came out of the area near the clump of bushes on the right, swam/walked across the river to the cement bank appearing below the buildings on the left/center and began to eat the foliage seen there. This occurred about 45 minutes after this photo was taken).