Meditation

Gainesville, November 2022

I sit rocking on my patio beside 
the lake, legs resting on a footstool.

My two drowsy Burmese cats gaze
at the hanging plants: an aging jade,

a faltering spider with one offshoot,
a new pothos, and a Christmas cactus.

Spanish moss swings loose on
looping oaks, the trees still fully leafed.

Soft rain now saturates all surfaces,
releasing deeper hues of green

as if celestial watercolorists are
practicing a wet-on-dry technique.

Remote thunder rumbles quietly
and darkening clouds impend;

the water mirrors their descending gray.