l.k robinson lives in London and has had two poetry collections published in the UK. He was founder & director of tall-lighthouse press, retiring in 2011. He has recently returned to poetry, inspired by an endearing trans-atlantic correspondence.
(the frost place, franconia, new hampshire)
at dawn as light
eases down the darkness
you strain to listen
for movement outside
nothing stirs
so as the day passes
you go about your business
making notes in the soundscape
with copious shots of coffee
and later,
where evening closes in
you sit at the porch
then wait
eager for every sound
that drifts from the forest;
a bird rummaging undergrowth
the snap of a branch in the wind
the dry-rain symphony of falling leaves
but all of these are nothing
without a car passing on the road
and footsteps from the stony path
The weather
they warned of
arrived just before 1 a.m
so I went outside to stand beneath
the overhang of trees where raindrops
were sparse and heavy.
Next door’s dog started barking.
It was too dark for detail
so I came inside and as I dried myself
you called – let’s sleep, then wait
for morning, wait for available light,
to enter the garden together
to see what damage is done.