Coming in

   Rain came. Fog out of the slough and horses
   asleep in the barn. In the field, sparrow hawks
   glittered through the morning clouds.

   No dreamers knew the rain. Wind ruffled quills
   in the mongrel's nose. He sighed cautiously,
   kicked further beneath the weathered shed and slept.

  

  


  Belonging, welcome,
  loveswept verses by
  the native at home.

  They step into the
  room again, absent
  breath, returning.

  











James Welch
1940 - 2003
Riding the Earthboy 40
  Day after chasing porcupines
  fragment
  1971
  Tony Stromberg 
    photo
  Jennifer Neupauer 
    cover design
Penguin Poets, 2004©

Zachary Ayotte
  photography