Seasonal Lighting

Clouds are moving in;

Leaves tremble on their branches.

Change is in the air.

Sudden sun breaks through;

Clouds have traveled somewhere else.

Morning is bright now.

Olivia's strange--

Mounts Collette--and they're both girls.

"Ought to be a law!"

Last short sleeved shirt walk

Until 2018.

(And late Spring at that.)

Kangaroo'd child

Asleep in her mother's shirt

Without a whimper.

Still white but dimming--

Puff flowers fade towards Autumn:

Seasonal lighting.

Ancient roadside pond

Is roadside pond no longer.

Water is missing.

Green ferns and brown ferns

Hang together side by side--

Their chronology.

 

Or Am I Stranger?

 Mushrooms on my lawn;

They're strangers in a strange land;

Or am I stranger?

Black eyed Susans spring

From just outside my back porch--

Unbidden bouquet.

Three crows sitting still

On top of the old bare tree;

Then one flies away.

First Fall fuzzy bear

Predicts a mild winter;

Second one the same.

Bright red berries hang

Shining brightly in the sun;

(Their only purpose.)

With a jaunty walk

She disappears round the bend.

Just her flavor stays.

Dappled dark shadows

Light up the familiar road

Pulling me towards home.

Red leaf, blue flower

Light up their patch of the road--

An Autumn instant.

Without a Whimper

 Stomach butterflies

On this glorious morning.

Yes, it's all inside.

Sunlight is silent--

It falls on the leaves and trees

Without a whimper.

Everyone is out

On this most welcoming day;

(Thought it was my road)

Jogger with her dog

Disappears on down the road,

Just to reappear.

Orange canopy

Alive in the morning sun;

(Even though it's dead)

Dragonfly wings shine

With bright nervous energy;

And then he's away.

No jogger, no dogs--

The road is silent again;

Only the woods sing.

Orange patch shimmers--

Alive in its own stillness:

Butterfly at rest.

Eternity Now!

Will it never end--

This luscious,warm Fall weather?

It seems eternal.

Twinkle in the sun--

Spider web strands shake and shine.

Never a spider.

Last green in the Spring;

Last turning orange in Fall.

Tree has its own time.

Lone crow walks the road

Just like a pedestrian;

(Until a car comes)

A delicate weave--

Slender, silver, fluffy strands:

Pampas tapestry.

Coal black and alone--

Rotten tree stump still standing--

Decay's dignity.

Three crows on a tree;

They sit still like black statues.

Then one flies away.

Suspended in air,

Leaf is caught by my camera:

Eternity now!

 

Is the Grass Greener?

A single brown leaf

Floating down past my window

Causes no ripples.

Dead leaf lying still

In rhododendron's embrace

Looks like its at home.

Collette cranes her neck

To other side of the fence.

(Is the grass greener?)

Pregnant milkweed pod

Opens in the bright sunlight

Revealing its child.

The road is silent--

Only a soft tuneless voice

Whispered by the woods.

Even sharp thistles

Become soft, white and silken

To send forth new life.

Shadows on the trees,

Sharper than the leaves, themselves,

Carve distinct darkness.

Soft tap tapping;

Distant thrum of unseen plane;

Then silence returns.