A CAREFUL TIME

"Country Corral", oil, by Laurel Daniel

He heard a bird calling in sad sounds
from a tree somewhere,
and kids were coming down the hall
holding their thoughts quietly.
It was a careful time for the earth,
a time for rivers and falling rain
to find comfort in flowing and falling,
a time for a tired teacher
to find his feelings thoughtfully
folded up and placed
under the shade of a tree.

There are trees
like lives with open arms.
He found a few of those
that day.