cedar lace

 cedar lace-filtered sunbeam

delicate pattern of filigreed shadow

on my palm as i capture

master artist’s light creation

before it reaches the forest floor

            Van Duzer corridor

Kelley’s Island bonfire

Kelley’s Island in Lake Erie

primitive cabin with electricity that went off and came on

as it would decades ago

but plenty of driftwood drying on the lawn until ready

visiting extended family built a bonfire on the rocky shore

neighbors and strangers from up and down the coast

came to the leaping orange of the flames and spitting sparks

as we sang The Cannibal King and Swing Low Sweet Chariot

with my sister beside to hold me i let my toddler self be gleefully frightened

of the flitting firelight and shadow playing terrifying angles

on even familiar faces