the dead branch fell

from the butternut

 

I understood

the storm

a thump in the dark yard

 

summer unsettling

the leaves beginning to drop in June

maybe thirst

maybe illness

 

each day on my walk

I see a family of geese

four adults and eight goslings

near the pier

 

then seven

then six

 

I have a feeling of circling

waiting for a clearing

so I can touch down

 

I watch a lone white egret

waiting in the shallows

 

yesterday a woman told me

she doesn’t want to live

 

freedom is confusing

all that uninterrupted space

in the sky

 

my brother did not want to live

and now he doesn’t

 

while the egret waits

the goslings grow

 

being important and

being unimportant

I have always wanted

 

to live

and I do