Weather beaten barn
In the strong morning sunlight;
Tree shadows on it.

Sky is endless blue;
A lone plane cuts its surface
Leaving sound behind.

Shadows on the stream
Make its surface a mirror.
The water is still.

Car from wealthy house
Splutters and farts as it leaves.
Must be a worker.

Three D woods today;
In two days I'll be in France;
Now there's just my road.

Wind calls all over;
An old branch creaks behind me;
Ahead the trees bow.

My four legged friend
Joins me without a mutter;
We each do our thing.

My friend walks slowly;
She waits for me to catch up
And then trots ahead.

The air smells so sweet;
The breeze brings a promise of Spring;
A jogger trots by.

Still water in stream;
There's not even a ripple.
Soon the flood will come.

The monochrome woods;
Thousand brown variations,
Green splashed against it.

The shadows appear
As the sun breaks through gray clouds
And then hides its face.

First sun, then clouds, then...
Each phase seems everlasting.
Now is forever.

A long, lone snow patch
Lies in the shade of the woods.
It just won't give up.

Clusters of white buds
Bob and weave in the soft breeze.
Now I know it's Spring.

Wire around the tree
Rusty encircling the trunk.
Tree has swallowed it.

Dead bird in forest
Lies stiff and gray on the ground.
Oh! It's just some wood.

Picking up garbage;
The sun is mild today.
There's an old beer can.

Lying on the grass,
Rotting, but not fast enough:
"Waste Management" sign.

The clouds are layered:
Puffy white, thin gray on blue.
Woodpecker rattles.

Robins in the field
Hop quickly in unison;
Don't seem to be worms.

The clouds are shifting;
In the sky there is motion;
Below, all is still.

Within the fenced woods
Some of the trees have red paint.
Marked doomed prisoners.

Even though it's cold
Unseen bird chirps cheerily
And lightens the air.

Three trees guard the woods
With signs that say "No Parking".
(Who parks in the woods?)

There, the stream is still:
No ice, no flow, no burbles.
Yet there are sparkles.

Lone snowflakes scatter;
Clouds and sun compete above--
The first day of Spring.

An insistent wind
Blows steadily and then dies;
A distant crow calls.

It's March twentieth;
Weatherman says Spring is here;
Why is it so cold?

Old filing cabinet
Brown and rusting in the woods.
Does it hold secrets?

Chubby little bird
Hopping quick from branch to branch
Pays me no mind.

Same old road curving;
Same hill twists up the mountain;
A surprise ahead.

Robin on the road
Lies motionless as asleep.
How did it get here?

My mind has wondered;
I conjure many worries.
Sun has come and gone.

Beer cans, plastic wrap,
Cigarette boxes, old bags.
The road, woods, are raped.

White specks float gently;
Gray clouds billow together;
Two days before Spring.

Chimney's lazy smoke
Swirls slowly without the wind,
And then it rises.

A pile of cut wood
Lies awkwardly on the ground;
The owners have left.

The sun is muted;
Soft shadows in the forest;
Poof! It's bright again.

The snow flakes have gone;
Gray has given way to blue.
Sun has won for now.

My four legged friend
Keeps me company today.
She stops at her house.

The wind pushes me;
Pine needles tremble and shake.
Clouds have won again.

First sun and then clouds,
A ping pong game in heaven.
I can only watch.

Rooster crows the sun
Splashed brightly on house and field.
How blue the sky is.

Cold, rough wind explodes
Splashing my face with its ice;
Then it whimpers down.

Black shadows are sharp;
They lie starkly on the ground;
Cold relentless sun.

Ticking woodpecker
Chitters in the ice cold morn.
Just a distant sound.

Sun shines through the woods
Pine needles glow and glimmer;
Dead brown leaves glisten.

Ladder in the woods;
Bright orange on the dead leaves.
Stepping to nowhere.

Lean, brown and shiny
The Schnauzer sits like a statue.
He's had a haircut.

A crisp March morning;
The crows caw above the barn;
Bird sits on a wire.

Smell of burning wood,
Then passing school bus fumes--
Two roadside perfumes.

Two old brown scuffed shoes
Skewed awkwardly near the fence
Waiting for some feet.

An open mail box:
Post man didn't shut its mouth;
Now it stands yawning.

In a frozen hunch
The black dog squeezes a poop
Then trots on its way.

Today's companion:
The black dog travels with me.
We go in silence.

Nose deep in the leaves
The dog studies a new scent
Then pisses again.

It's a moist gray day;
The woods are still and quiet.
Everything's waiting.

Snow on the tree's crotch
Autumn leaves hang from a limb;
Both signs of time passed.

Everything is still:
Brown woods, snow patches, gray sky;
Above--noiseless bird.

Orange cabin light
Gleams down the hill through the woods;
Gray morning beacon.

Fungus on dead tree
Sits high on the branches
Gleaming its whiteness.

A pregnant gray sky;
School bus flashes its red lights;
I feel a rain drop.

Birds twitter in sky
Gray and pregnant with moisture;
A dove coos softly.


A moist blue gray day;
Near the barn a woman rakes;
Birds cry in the sky.

Snow field's disappeared
Leaving a vast brown expanse.
Winter's really gone?

Woodpecker is back
Rat a tatting out of sight.
Unfortunate grubs.

My pen is long gone
Buried by fall and winter.
Still I look for it.

Dog shit in the road;
Beer can lies against oak tree.
Two animal's waste.

A chorus of geese
Fly unseen through the thick clouds;
Only their sounds moves.

Old dog licks himself;
Other one scratches his ear.
Doggie ablutions.

Softball in bushes
Across the road from football.
Two abandoned toys.

It's like a ghost town;
All the houses are quiet
Under the gray sky.

Dead squirrel on the road
Crushed like a flat gray pancake
Squirliness result.

Black wings on brown limbs;
The crow flies to the tree top
Sitting and cawing.

The stream is white now;
Birds flutter from its surface;
Sun does not melt it.

Ivy covered stump;
Tree's dead but ivy's alive.
Two states coexist.

Now all is frozen;
The gray snow slush forms statues.
Even clouds are still.

In poor people's yard
Cardinals flutter in bushes.
Nature knows no class.

Sun strikes the woods;
Shadows leap, fir trees shimmer.
Still the stream's frozen.

From the frozen stream
Tinkling, trickling of water;
Illusion of sound?

White cat in the field
Sits as still as a statue.
Crow jeers from tree top.