The Coons and The Jewel Boxes

Over two days and two nights
   while trust and innocence lay together in dreamy
      slumber
   as the warming breath of air started to take on
      the fragrance of the season
   a rogue tide arrived un-announced from the Sabine
   like a band of mischief-merry coons
   stealing un-apprehended through liquid shadows
   slipping with their mad-hat tricks
   past the knees and elbows of faithful sentinels
   to claim my treasured jewel boxes
   from my wooded wardrobe.

They were surrounded you know
   quickly
   before anyone could have known
   even the hounds
   to do anything to stop the deft,
   masked thieves from their well-laid plans.

The door latches did not deter from dexterity
   nor boarded walls
   snug drawers
   raised floors
   tight jambs
   or the brave faces of mirrored windows reflecting to
      go back, back
   while they were dreadfully taken
   before our eyes as we clutched our coffee cups
   and sipped on disbelief and resignation
   while the steam rose.

But the thieves though they took what they wanted
   and left behind their mark and wake
   did not find after all
   the golden key to the more deeply hidden magic
   and joyfulness of seeded spirit
   embedded, untouched
   verily protected and secreted away
   by memory, heart and soul
   into the marrow and bone of our time and place here.

While through transcendent shadows
   and amongst the tender and embracing arms,
      arthritic elbows
   knobby knees and spreading feet of my still-standing
      and leafy friends
   we held hands together in solidarity
   as we waited for Lady Spring and her tending
      nymphs
   to decorate our hallways with garlands of brightness
      and rainbows
   so that we could be reborn
   to rise up high
   one more time.