Richard Dinges

Containers

Roots form trees.
Trees form leaves.
Leaves form shadows
that hold memories
I wade through
with no path out.
Sunlight dapples
and rays blind.
I thrash through
brush to awaken
at grove’s edge,
look out across
a hay field, at pond’s
calm surface,
another pool
of secrets to wade into
when I reach
water’s edge.

Between Secrets

A short walk from
tree’s darkness to
pond’s shore, I stand
a giant at water’s
edge.  Waves slap
a furious rhythm,
my toes barely
damp, my body
a tower that throws
a long shadow
back toward woods.
I contemplate
another deep mystery,
wait for water
to calm and reflect
my own countenance
toward an empty sky.

Richard Dinges earned an MA in literary studies from University of Iowa, and manages information systems risk at an insurance company.  Home Planet News, Oddball Magazine, Studio One, North Dakota Quarterly, and Gravel hold his most recently published poems.