A Giant Black Bear

As I leave for my twenty-fourth summer at Appel Farm Arts Camp, I leave my beloved Yerry Hill Road for two months. See you again at the end of August.


Cars swish through grayness;
Stella meows for more food.
I open the door.

A shadowless day;
Woodpecker thrums hollowly;
Hens cluck and complain.


Still is the water;
Subdued are the birds' chirps;
Thick is the blank sky.









Firewood in June;
Piled there since last Autumn.
So much has happened.

Last Yerry Hill walk
Until the end of summer--
Galaxies from now.









Decomposing log
Births a thousand new plants--
Reincarnation.

A car blinks its lights;
A mechanical hello;
Still makes me feel good.

A single deer fly;
Buzzing! Swirling! In! Around!
Can drive me crazy.

Loping down the road
Taking his very sweet time:
A giant black bear.

Another Summer

Shadows of daisies
Lie on my backyard walk,
Lazing in the sun.











Clustered in the shade
Goats continue their feasting.
They just never stop.


Even the rooster
Is unenthusiastic
In the sultry heat.

I walk my old road
Preparing to say good-bye--
Another summer.











Suddenly startled
A deer look up anxiously
And evaporates.

In late afternoon
Fairies come to this lawn
To lie in the cool.











Do they shout at me,
Tiger Lilies by the road?
I must turn towards them.

Drop of Water Hangs on Leaf Tip

Rhododendron flower
Has become a hollow shell;
Now without color.









After the rain fall
Leaves are scrubbed clean and shining;
Mist softens the trees.







Lying soft and gray
Web stretches across the grass;
Stickiness concealed.

Lone bird cries softly;
Drop of water hangs on leaf tip;
Honeysuckle smell.


Blanket of silence
Falls suddenly on the road;
Even bugs are still.












Ghostly pale beige leaf
Hanging among the green ones
Knows not its time's up.


Deer flies rule today.
I'm outnumbered, outclassed;
Time for a bug spray.

Crows caw in the fog,
Piercing the mist with their cries,
Preceding the sun.

Still The Sun Breaks Through

Cars still rushing by;
There's a grayness in the air
That mirrors my heart.

My mind is cluttered
With errands and things to do.
Still the sun breaks through.

Beyond picket fence
Goats graze as they always do.
Some things never change.









New purple flowers
Billowing out their blossoms
Call a single bee.

On his stump again
Chipmunk waits for me to move.
Which of us will do?

Leaves tremble and drip;
Breeze brings a second rain fall
Gentle pattering.












Singular white rose
Blooms in a bush in a marsh--
Singular beacon.

The stupid deer fly
Mistakes my hand for my head.
Wack! Splat! And goodbye!

Out of Place and Time

Daisies in the back;
Wild vines cling to the wall.
Nature takes my house.












Rooster keeps crowing;
Is their communication?
Bird on wire turns head.

Where has the fence gone?
Jungle of grass has sprung up
To reclaim the view.









Woodpecker knocks--
It is light and delicate--
Politely asking.

Deep basso thrum
From the sweet honeysuckle:
Thirsty hummingbird.

Still the old leaves hang
Like used paper bags or shells,
Containing nothing.

Pebble in sandal
Becomes boulder in my mine
'Til I shake it out.









In a sea of green
A forlorn blue bucket lies
Out of place and time.

Petals Line the Road

Rainfall into mist;
Grayness descends on the land;
My heart is sunlit.

Softened by the fog,
Barn and field are cloaked in clouds;
Petals line the road.

In the shrouded field
Yellow blooms, purple clover
Bring out the sun's light.













The trees are raining,
Yet the drops don't hit the road--
A world above me.

Rain has scrubbed the air;
Now the most smell of the woods
Rises from the earth.



Chipmunk magician
Stops and stares right at my eyes
Then pops out of sight.

Now there are asters--
Tiny cousins of daisies
To light up the road.










Suddenly it's dark;
Soon torrential rain will fall.
Will I make it home?

For the Time Being

Mid afternoon sun
Has canceled out the rain clouds
For the time being.

Snow shovel is gone;
Buddha still sits quietly,
Mindless of seasons.











Dandelion seeds
Still connected to the puff
Now desiccated.

The stream is so still
It forms a perfect mirror;
Then deer bolts away.









Loony quirky squirrel
Tried to avoid the machine;
Now lies in the shadows.









Bird shit on the road
From indeterminate height--
A random bombing.









Is it the shadows,
Or the leaves that are shaking,
As they do their dance?












Last year's Queen Anne's Lace--
Skeletal fingers pointing
Say, "As I am now..."

Rises With the Morning Light

Light is just breaking;
A faint pine smell in the air;
A distant warble.












The skeleton tree
Stark against the winter sky
Now bursts with flowers.












The first Queen Anne's Lace
Tight clusters of round whiteness--
Little flower fists.











A stark silhouette
In the middle of the road--
Motionless rabbit.












Shadows in the woods,
Dappling the trees and earth
Add to the silence.

Woodpecker's thrumming
Rises with the morning light;
Distant machine bangs.

Buzzing round my head:
Insistent fly distracts me.
I think murderous thoughts.

Why do they rush so--
Paneled trucks along the road?
The race for money.