For John Pruitt

I walk into the black heart of a winter sun.

Lying sons and daughters laugh

with innocent thunder

calling the names of seasons as if

they were catcher’s mitts,

the smell of sawdust and

summer rain

swirling ‘round my memory as

I walk along the leaf-strewn path.

His presence felt in the barren trees

and greying sky,

pale and clear like salmon swimming

upstream.