Beauty in Plainness

 Ugly Spider Plant

Now hosts possible flower--

Beauty surprises!

Spider Plant and pot:

Two orphans on the front porch

Doing their own thing.

Beige Timothy grass

Sways gently in the breezes--

Beauty in plainness.

Single abandoned

Tiny shoe in the driveway---

Too many questions.

Dog's hollow barking

Fills the air, but is unseen;

It then disappears.

Busy pile of flies

Buzzes around a dead thing;

No sound, but fury.

A sea of faint green

Rolls in the sunless forest;

Its waves are silent.

Patient, the ivy

That crawls up the giant tree

Doesn't need to rush.

Portrait in Stillness

Sunny leaf nimbus

Hangs in my kitchen window;

Dark woods lie beyond. 

The patient inch worm

Suspended from his high branch

Just waits in the breeze.

Olivia stares

From her dark and shady barn,

Just munching her hay.

Absorbed in her book

Susan sits on her front lawn:

Portrait in stillness.

Hanging over trees

Puff clouds seem ready to fall;

(But they never do.)

Looking to my left--

The sun has not reached it yet;

Two levels of light.

Bright Sun Will Prevail

Gleaming water drops

Cling to the welcoming leaves.

Bright sun will prevail.

World is born anew--

Last night's rainfall has brought life

To thirsty grass blades.

With a golden shine

Plant glistens in the sun.

(Touched by King Midas?)

Winter is long gone,

Yet the firewood still stands--

Wall to keep out cold.

These red berries glow

And sing a song of sadness

Mixed with the sunlight.

Rustle of the leaves

Mixed with the chirping of birds

In the deep lush woods.

All rain has ended,

Yet drops continue to fall

From the forest leaves.

Pregnant milkweed pods

Appear on the floral stalks;

Soon to bring forth silk.

Two Gentle Beings

 Beast in its corral

Waits patiently in the shade;

Its time will come soon.

It's threatening rain;

It's also threatening sun.

(Which way the wind blows.)

Mop lies on railing;

Doesn't look too comfortable;

(But I'm projecting.)

Chicory and stump

Seem to be joined in shadows;

Very strange marriage.

Chicory shadows

Lie motionless on the road.

They've no place to go.

Mailbox is threatened;

Soon leaves will overtake it.

Then--everything green.

Forest is dark green;

Birds are chirping deep within;

Leaves glow in the sun.

Two gentle beings

Regard me regard them.

(There is much regard).

In the wild again,

St. Francis in the grass

Surrounded by green.

They Have No Borders

This new summer day

Flooded with sunshine and warmth;

Asking me to come.

Green translucent leaves

Shimmer in the morning light;

Plants are all growing.

Plants invade darkness

Creeping up on the shadows;

They have no borders.

From chicory bloom

Another plant is springing

With no sound at all.

Stream water is still;

Just the shadows move on it.

(They're always restless.)

Empty trampoline

Sits on top of a shadow.

Nothing is bouncing.

Endless Shades of Green

Eleven days left

And then I will leave my home

For a Jersey plain.

Endless shades of green,

Luminescent and opaque,

Outside my window.

Forest wilderness

Sitting right next to my house

As if it belongs.

Butterflies collide

In the middle of the air,

To find the right mate.

Away from the road

The empty field looks foreign--

Thousand miles away.

Slowly sinking down,

Covered with new foliage,

Log returns to earth.