wild possums fight
in the middle of the night
dogwood spines tingle and shake
the grasses bend, the stars spin
shrieks splatter the stillness
sharp pellets
sharp pellets
and echoing howls
“did you hear them?” my neighbor asks in the morning,
new shadows made in the days sunlight
patch a pattern over his face
like a melody
in a minor key
the furies subside, leaving
a wordless question
a wordless question
a silent answer
young helen keller
played by Patty Duke
throwing food screaming
pounding the table
then one day a word
penetrates the dark
giving a form where only
infinite puzzlement came before
natural developments
ferns and fibonaccios
and the skeining of
silk threads
