“Wondering When the Strings Will Snap” poem:“The marigolds herald autumn’s colors alreadyIn their sun-shrine faces, iconographicFloral worship of their distant deity -- yet theyDie at the first touch of frost, unlike chrysanthemums,The true flowers of fall.”

“Campfire Companions” poem:“What a longing they touched in me! Ah,would that I could lose myself in the wilderness,become a ghost of smoke and shadow,moving so subtly through the lucid moonlightthat all my edges wore away.”

“Twilight Surprise” poem:“The sky burns down,A rim of coals glowing gold and red,Limned with orange againAnd kissed with hints of pink.The clouds reflect tangerine and plum,Overshadowing the silent glory.Darkness and light,Balanced upon this equinox,Dance together like old lovers …… and beget beauty.”

“Alpenglow”:“Even the rainbow never dreamed of this:The touch of lastlight on snowy shoulders,The kiss of dawn on crystal lips,A rush of rarest red welling up to fill the mighty skyWith splendor.”

“From the book From Nature’s Patient Hands by Elizabeth Barrette (“The Nature of Poetry, and Vice Versa” section):” Walk as if nothing is chasing you. Watch as if nothing is afraid of you. Write as if you have nothing else in the universe to do.”

“A Tangible Reminder”:“Underfoot rustling unsilent leavesCrackle electric ecstasySpice the autumn air,A tangible reminderThat death can be a glory.”

“Water in the Desert”:“No desolation is so totalthat it cannot contain somewhere,concealed and singing,a drop of life.”