Patricia Coombs
SECONDARY LANDSCAPE
The cloud was humped and vague
Above the scene; yet by that
Vagueness and the way it hung
Slightly eastward of the tree,
It gave the scene a certainty
The sun, exhausted, must deny.
Imperfect as the light from
Which he flew, a blackbird sat
In judgment on a branch.
His eye, triangular at noon,
Fixed on an empty milk-weed pod.
An
hour passed; then two.
The cloud moved slightly
Northward of the tree until
The bird, whose voice was harsh,
Cried out with warning.
II
A man, entering the landscape
From another direction, examined
Various fungi on a stump: some
Were delicate and brown and
The under-sides white as fluted
Silk; others bore flecks of
Singular color, and all were
Gathered thick and soft as moths
Sleeping on a stick.
He left a patched coat hanging
Near the rock, and
if
he heard
The blackbird of distance
Crying out, he did not turn nor
