Morningstar and birdsong call her awake
To walk along dry lanes known since childhood,
Eyes drinking thistlepod and cactusflower,
Flora whose lineages neighbor her own.
Beau follows by running ahead,
Glancing back to read inclinations,
Assessing, then leaping strange cattleguards.
She visits gardens tended by daughter and friend,
Harvesting recollections that feed
Ideas still forming years after their conception,
Juanita makes use of a summer day’s best hours.
(Original Date: August 2000)
