"listening with bison..."

she tiptoes
towards him
on a gentle path
of whispered
silences and loving
intent...

her heart is all
he hears
as the perfume of her
kindness
wafts
across the snow-strewn
grasses
of
a western winter
near the
great salt
lake

he feels her
awe,
he senses her
respect for his stories of
running with
the wind,
and grazing under
a silent sun
amid the
song of cottonwoods and
the drumming of a thousand wild
ponies'
hooves pounding
the earth as Ute and
Arapaho maidens
cross the plains and
find their way
toward water, and
corn,
and the
soft summer promise of
a prairie
full of fireflies
under a blanket
of south dakota stars...

he hears her
coming,

he stands still...

willing
her to come closer...

to listen
with him
to the
ancient
echoing
songs of the
Navajo,
and
the laughter
of a warm
wind
through
tall
grass in
winter....


inspired by the above photo of Trina King on Antelope Island next to Utah's Great Salt Lake.