Francis Hicks: 2 poems

once a star

or at least stardust
a product of fusion
cosmic confusion
fell to earth
grew tall
a redwood reaching
for a star

the sun

in time
one life ended
from great height descended
to lay at rest
on the forest floor
a sliver
of a once mighty trunk

content

for even
beneath 
the tallest tree
the sun
a star
penetrates
generates

new life

Brevity

Ten beats of a hummingbird’s wings—
not long, not long.
The search for clarity—
too long, too long.
Life from no-moment to moment,
to no-moment again—
too quick, too quick.
One human earth-life in the span of the universe—
brevity.

_{Francis Hicks moved to the Oregon coast a while back, which to him is heaven. He walks on the beach most days (sometimes when it’s raining) and thinks (sometimes dark thoughts). He has a Chihuahua named Che who came with his wife. His writing has appeared in Emerge Magazine, Ariel Chart Magazine, and several anthologies including Dairy Hollow Echo, The Way The Light Slants, and Life Is A Journey.}