Today the winds have them,
violent and beautiful,
La Danse Apache
pulled and pushed
from side to side
purple spikes bend
twist, pitch, roll.
Emerald branches reach out
like spurned lovers
that beg forgiveness,
shake birds’ nests,
bend towards the ground
where no forgiveness is needed.
I watch them amazed
at the fullness,
at the strength,
at the grace
to acquiesce to the winds
and return upright,
undamaged.
They stand exuberant
and begin the dance again-
a child twirling to music
on the dance floor at a wedding
oblivious of the spectacle
unaware of me watching, smiling
filled with gratitude, awed that this year
without rain they did not die.
Poem by Charlene Moskal
I am a Teaching Artist with The Alzheimer’s Poetry Project under the auspices of the Poetry Promise Organization of Las Vegas. I am published in numerous anthologies, magazines, and online, My first chapbook is “One Bare Foot” (Zeitgeist Press) ), with a second, “Leavings from My Table”, forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2022.