"Can you guide the stars at their proper times,
lead the Bear with her cubs?" —Job 38:32
Raindrops start life as snowflakes,
so the old ones say, starting life
in the cold beyond clouds
where the Hunter rises in dark
wounding the Great Bear of Stars.
Bear bleeds earth autumn red
baptizing sumac, sugar maple
and sourwood trees in flame-colored
taper-tipped leaves
healing the night to the bright
converting the cold to the light
changing snow to rain, like water
to wine, redeeming the fall.
Bear anoints her cubs, planting a relic
of heaven in the memory of trees.