CHIPMUNK ON ROCK EATING photograph by capturingcrestedbutte.com. All rights reserved

knee-high oat grass
parts graciously
without whisper of complaint
sun sits fat and red on horizon
poised to shimmy up
into waking sky
night lingers in narrow crevices
where creatures of day
hide in lifeless slumber

no rock calls out to me
sit here
no log bids me settle on
cushion of silvery moss
their lips sealed
as surely as my own

camp rule
no talking before breakfast
nigh impossible task
for girl thirteen
bursting at seams
with news of latest crush

a giggle rises
to betray me
I swallow it back down
even my goosebumps
obey the rule
erupting in a quiet rush
up sunburned arms
circling knobby knees

the universe
bends to the rule
forest howls mute
falcon wings tuck under
chipmunks freeze
in furry poses

a matin spoken
with hearts not tongue
rises to a God
who needs no words