Totem

Standing guard 
at lakeside, totem 
for whoever 
noticed, carved
by time and weather, 
perch for tired snowbirds
who escaped just in 
the nick of time,
a giant's cane for 
doing soft shoe with
grey thunder 
in the background,
startling the resting 
mortal on the grass below 
but offering a respite 
from the brightness
of the sun.



(c) Ellen Gillette, 2015