I
Nestled under the
Olympic canopy of
Red cedar
Douglas and hemlock
So huge, so silent
(How can it be so silent?)
Splat
Breaks the silence.
Splot
Double-dares the tent
Splat, splat…
A timpani sounds a
Not-so-mere overture.
Wait for it.
Stentato
The sound of
Everything
The trees
And sky
And night
And earth
Have to say,
Now!
I silence myself
To the sound,
That living thing.
Cedar boughs bend
Waterfalling
waterfalling
On the sturdy tent
Ebbing
To intimacy:
Cadent drips and
Measured silences
II
Two
Reticent beings
Orbit a
Common center
At times,
Eclipse as
One
Falls into shadow;
Emerges again.
Tiny galaxies
Appear
And disappear
Nothing collides.
Poem and photograph by Heidi Juel
Heidi Juel is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and has an MA in English from the University of Texas at Austin. She has presented her poetry at regional conferences and enjoys the many opportunities for open-mic readings in Austin. Most recently, two of her poems were published in Boundless: The Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Anthology 2020. She is currently a Professor of English at Austin Community College where she teaches courses in Magical Realism and indigenous literatures of North America. Writing is her passion, second only to inspiring students to value the power of words as an expression of self and an outlet in times of need.