Kansas City

The red glow,
the bare branches, nexus
of winter resolve, twists
and turns that hold the seasons;
how can this beauty
ever be contained in words;
dark of the branches, clarity
of the early morning sky, below
a little wood frame house still
in shadow, the porch light on;
such simple things show us
our years.  It is by the real,
Victor Hugo says, that we exist;
it is by the ideal that we live.
Easter sunrise.

[Hugo quote inscribed into the outer wall

 of the Nelson-Atkins Gallery, Kansas City, Mo.]