i feel mildly uncomfortable
as if i am wearing

wool socks
on a warm day.

it is a need
to create

but beginnings
are hard –

it is difficult
to find

words for my feelings.
trying to compose

it is as though
my legs are as rigid

as stone
and timber.

i fall into a rhythm
and words begin

to fly –
forming stanzas

and it is
like watching saplings

become trees
forming from

the unconscious
darkened underbrush.

with pencil
i paint

a drift of
snow white blossoms

of the orange tree.
words dry

like watermarks
and are a miniature sun.

Rick Davis lives in the Chicago area, USA.  He is married to Marianne. Marianne has five children, and twenty-four grand & great-grandchildren.  They have a loved cat & dog.  Rick graduated from Northeastern Illinois University, and several graduate schools.  He’s has worked in market research and other positions.  He has worked as a volunteer pastoral counselor at Blind Service Association in Chicago, and at the University of Illinois Hospital at Chicago.  He is an ordained minister and interfaith Rabbi.