evening poem

the earth
was in her brown eyes
for they were the color
of the soil
after his abuelo
plowed the ground
in the first days
of spring

the trees
were in her brown eyes
for they were the color
of bark
in the soft light
of the sunrise and sunset

the sea
was in her brown eyes
for they were the color
of the water
as it turned with sand and shells
in the broken waves
along the shore

he loved the plowed earth,
walking through the cool dirt
with bare feet

he loved the bark of the trees,
climbing the smooth branches
in the heat of the day

he loved the sea,
floating naked
in the gently rocking waters
of the evening tide

she was the earth,
the trees,
the sea

- Trevor Scott Barton, poems for a brown-eyed girl, 2020