a mist rising from water
drifts grey over green
a slow mist of willows
billowing clouds of hills
beneath reflected trees and hills
where a mallard pushes an arc
of light into darkness
a body of water slips away
mist is gathered by leaves
to fall as rain beneath the trees
with a sound that will not carry
beyond the edge of the wood
a bedraggled vole
runs out over floating leaves
where the fall of a leaf
can redistribute meaning
after the shower
it goes on raining
gently on the pond
under the willow
the water as it slows
through watercress discovers
the calm of a completed form
to ripple away from
this stillness is around
stillness like a wall
and I must break through
this stillness to be still
a few worn steps
lead down into an orchard
where it is already late
beneath the laden boughs
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