Now,
in the Julian Valley,
beams of sunlight spread
on each branch of the old tree.

How deep and clear
is the soul of the leaves

that they become so reddened
by the burning lips of love,
lit by the beams of starlight.

The silent language of the trees
is dyed in red forever, though
the trees themselves last momentarily.

The skies are ripened with frost.
The dusk descends upon
the darkness.

Memories silently pile up
in the uneven footsteps of a
crippled woman’s walk.


*Julian Valley is a beautiful apple hill in San Diego’s Palomar Mountain.