Wind Unopposed

Saint Paul, 16 July 2006

in our backyard hut sheltered by Douglas fir and cedar

A cardinal soft-shoeing

on a yearling fir bough

is comparative evidence

nature may be interrogated

by forces of the faintest breeze

Yet wind unopposed

is near impossible to appraise

as only the rusty weather vane

of a family farm foreclosed

betrays its itinerary