TheBanyanTree: south wind

[Mike Pingleton]

on the porch asprawl,
darwin and daisy, fauna
and flo, plucky and I,
turtles and turtle man bask
in the low-slung light, a
day of south winds pushing
winter from yard and mind.
cats crowd the warm orange
rhomb inside the storm door,
addled ladybugs scuttle in
surprised dances over porch boards.
in a warm sun circle turtles
mangle a mango; coddling
a pipe I am lost in a moment
of smoke offered to the lost wind,
a green gulf blow that can only
curdle against the compass, 
in obeyance of ellipse.
comes the star from its low shell;
the gift of this day's sun the 
whispered promise of a high arc
and a long fire in the turnings ahead.