love keeps the world
Rio Chama, Monastery of Christ in the Desert
an ebb in the river
my mind wanders
in the call and response
of a yellow-rumped warbler
silence
whirls in an eddy, unmoored
from the frenetic flow
of the steady center
always
moving
never
resting
cupped in bloodied palms
of sandstone, alabaster peaks
weep scarlet tears
stream to river
river to ocean
ocean to sky
sky to stone
stone to stream
untamed
from the clasp
of anxious hurry
love
works gently
eddies
flows
and comes again
and keeps the world
John McMeans is a transplant to the Texas Panhandle, where he resides with his wife and sons. He received a degree in Geography and works for Refugee Language Project (refugeelanguage.org). His writing has appeared in Texas Poetry Assignment and an anthology published by the High Plains Poetry Project.
Amethyst Review 