the aspens

standing in the glacial till
where the river rocks drift
along the slow seasons

illuminated by vine and leaf
consecrated of root and berry
practicing mindfulness again

and after hard years of becoming
there’s a sad feeling of being
simply awkward and old

but the communion with silence
evokes the quietest of sounds
touchingly and achingly clear

the linen white boles of aspens
spring green leaves
trembling

Donald E. Gasperson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Washington and a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. He has worked primarily with the chronically mentally ill population. He has previously had poems published in the Five Willows Literary Review and is scheduled to be published in Poetry Pacific.