HOLE
No sharp-shinned hawk perches
on the roof rack of his car and scans
for song birds; the reddening ivy
along a stone wall deepens in hue;
when he picks a sun-gold tomato
in the garden and savors
the burst in his mouth, he catches
a mock orange spray in the air;
and as he relights the pilot
to a water heater, checks thermostats,
the sound of water at a fountain
is prayer; earlier in the summer,
he watched a hummingbird land,
sip water, and douse its wings,
but, now, a widening hole gnaws
at that time; and, glancing
at a spotted towhee nest on a lintel,
he aches at how hunting chanterelles
at the ski basin and savoring
them at dinner is light years away.
Author’s Bio
ARTHUR SZE is the author of nine books of poetry, including Compass Rose (2014) and The Ginkgo Light (2009) from Copper Canyon Press. He is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.