Aurora

haunting, magical play of lights

i’ve seen twice now—three times

actually, as the second encounter spread

over two nights in August

a treasure experienced in Alaska

watching in shoulder-hugging awe

even knowing that solar flares

had sent particles to collide

with Earth’s magnetic field

science explains the colors and swaying

curtains of light, but not the depth

of feelings of the primitive within me

near worship of the vastness

of the universe of which i am less

than a speck flickering in time

country dweller

“Weren’t you afraid?”

the city man asked

i squinted, trying to remember

”No, not afraid. Awed.

I smiled and whispered

to him, ‘You are beautiful,’

and the bobcat, not twenty

feet from me, preened. He

knew I was an admirer, not

an enemy.”

not the first or last time

i’ve seen a wild creature

eye-to-eye