Season of Changes

                     by Le Hinton

only if your ears manage to maneuver

at high frequencies will you taste

the major and minor transformations that fly

through micro-seconds

and the mini revolutions of the heart

nearly invisible to the fully clad eye.

it is never simply one change

it is never solely one season

a Christmas toy soldier found face down

in the mud in October

shares the same genetic fears

with orphaned marshmallow bunnies

who somehow survived small game season

they miss their mommies

Grandpa read every word

in eight different Bibles

in five different states

grace wasn’t one of them

simple he said

every word that cousin Matthew

sings

rings right

even for the left-handed non-believers

with attention deficit disorders of the soul

5 and 6 are all one needs to know

the rest of the alphabet is superfluous

but if you read the great literature

from the bottom up or

across a couple continents

you will learn

that neither Helen nor Beatrice

is the girl for you

and despite the good and plenty in the Good Book,

God is not the woman of your dreams either

but that saint you kissed last week

while the yellow leaves swirled all around

may be the one to help you avoid annulment

in this winter of white ice roses

but remember the last holy kisses

from the preceding consecrated lips

broke your crystal spirit in three places

before you had a chance to open

any presents of your own

so perhaps hibernating

in a snow bank built for one

is the last best option

so sleep in heavenly peace