Treads

dirt

Gnarly barefoot trails recede
in due course with shy
counterpoint when the soggy
dirt settles in to inhabit
its old comfortable form that sucks
and swallows imprints blending
the sole smudges dormant
in the muck.

sidewalk

Worn leather meets concrete slabs
where toes fanned out
from skin to urban ground
touch base with the dusty cement
that promises deafness
to the dance of flesh and blood
and nothing more than
to bear the weight of transport.

snow

Vagabond squeaks crunch
their songs by sinking
grooves into the virgin snow.
They blemish the fine
powder with lumpy ice and blurred
tracks on the shivering slate
of bitter news born in
the white silence of
the fallen world.

(2011)