Time Change

Time Change

Even the birds set
their clocks back
or ignore the clocks
all together and rise
together with the sun
no matter the time.

And so the trick
is to meet them where
they are, set your morning
meeting by their
calendar and then stand
and wait while they stand
and wait for you.

The cicadas' hum
is deafening, seeming to come
from every tree
together, all at once
and drowning out the squirrel chirping
as it nibbles its way to winter.

The hum grows louder
and I wonder how the air
can even hold it.
I wait for the air to burst,
to rupture and spill out the essence
of the universe over everything.

But the hum fades
and the osprey does not move,
has not moved,
does not care to move, to lift
a talon.  Instead it waits
and watches, the guard
of the watchtower, set high in the trees.