Walking on the shore
alone
I drain my cup.

White light sizzles on dark waters.
This full moon brings the first frost
of the season.
My stiff fingers rub against each other
like dry reeds.

Rooting deep,
turning with the trees,
the gravity of my years
pulls at my weary eyes
and heart.

It’s late.
The lake birds have all flown.

I feel drunk with longing
and more
mortal
with each leaf that falls.

Jody Murad Curley is a Madison native, a Tai Chi and Chi Kung teacher, a retired dementia care specialist, a writer and poet, and an ordained minister within the Universal Sufi tradition. Her church is made of earth, sky, wind, water and woods.