All At Once It Seems

Two goats in the sun;
Distant sound of kids playing;
Dogs bark mindlessly.









Buds and red berries:
Pine tree bursts out in the sun.
A car races by.








The crazy white dog
Has torn a hole in the screen.
Just what does he want?











Flowers have appeared
In fields, on the ends of limbs;
All at once, it seems.









The first lilacs bloom,
Bursting whiteness out of buds;
Quiet--soundlessly.











Small spray of yarrow
Pops up from bed of dead leaves.
Now it is in charge.









Spread between branches
A thick translucent white web--
Tent caterpillars.








Desiccated frog
Blends into the gray pavement,
Soon will disappear.

The insistent bird
Chirping over and over
Does not get tired.








The goose stands erect,
The Basset lies on his side--
Responses to spring.









Dandelions smile;
Sharp shadows on the railing;
Dogs go for a jaunt.

Even fir trees bud;
They survived the winter's freeze
To bloom in the spring.









Earth is in the air
Mixing with streams, leaves and sun--
A shifting perfume.

The quiet shadows
Fall soundlessly from the trees
And rest on the road.

My companion talks
As I sneak a longing glance
At dandelions.












"Vote change--Save Our Schools"--
Neon blue sign catches eyes
But explains nothing.

A New Form in the Woods

Clouds are on the earth;
Air is laden with moisture;
A soft wind whispers.

Ghosts are in the trees,
Swinging grayness in branches.
Look! A new flower!








Car lights in the gloom
Followed by swishing wet wheels--
Misty performance.









Bright yellow flowers
Shine as clear as car lights
In the dripping gloom.

Cluster of clover
Between the road and the woods--
A green gathering.

New form in the woods--
Brown, statue still and sentient.
We watch each other.

Precariously
Water drops hang from branches.
Will they ever fall?

She keeps her distance:
Hopping little brown ground bird.
We both want the road.

Rebirth Miracle

The slate walk is dark;
Baby goat bleats for something;
Rain smell in the air.

Drooping daffodils
Bow down in the moist thick air;
Gray blanket of sky.









Two sharp silhouettes:
Bird in tree against the sky.
Stream whispers softly.

Cars race to and fro;
Insistent crows call from the sky;
The woods are so still.

As it falls apart
Dead log wears coat of green life--
Rebirth miracle.

Bent as if to spring
Baby fiddlehead ferns wait
To pop into green.

Above: gray blanket;
Below: the dim quiet woods;
In my head: thoughts buzz.








My old dog buddy--
We grow older together
Yet we never touch.

Shaking the Shadows

Tiny white petals
Sprinkled all over the lawn
Sprouting new bushes.









Beneath the bushes
Weather beaten cellar door
Leads to mystery.









The large rock is still,
Beneath the clear running stream;
It sits in silence.









Now the lilacs bud--
Small green dots begin to swell;
Soon, a color burst.












Majestic tree stump
Circled by tall pine courtiers
Without its snow crown.

White heads in the woods:
Small flowers arrive today
Shyly in the shade.

Shining through the leaves
The sun's rays become transformed
To translucent green.

A breeze in the woods
Ripples the dead leaves on the rock
And shakes the shadows.

A Net of Leaf Shadows

It's one day from May;
The sky is blue as glass.
(Guilty Basset's loose).








Birds call and sun shines;
Stream rushes under blue sky.
Still, I wear my gloves.

Small orange monster
Faces me behind the fence.
Good thing he's in jail.

Almost out of sight
Small blue flowers dot the woods.
Are they illusions?









Spreading dark and blurred
A net of leaf shadows falls
Catching the road's light.

Small patches of light
Mark the path into the woods.
(There's no path at night).

Already they're puffs,
These April dandelions.
Did they ever bloom?









Lying on the leaves,
Red and white and bluminum.
"Where there's Bud, there's trash."

Such a Slender Branch

Forsythia glows
In the early morning light.
The world is yellow.

Sounds come from afar:
Barking dogs and chirping birds;
Yet, road is empty.









Lone dandelion
Overlooks the quiet stream
One dark, other bright.

Robin in the grass
Surveying the green landscape,
Still as a statue.

At the branch's tip
White flowers burst into bloom.
Such a slender branch.









Sitting by the road
The old black dog guards the Spring.
(Doing a good job).









Waiting for the sun
Little flowers bow their heads--
Silence reverence.

Dead leaf still holds on;
White and yellow flowers bloom;
Different rates of change.

Criss Crossing Shadows

Cow moos in the door;
Kid tries to hump his sister--
Morning in barnyard.

Basset in the yard
Thinking hard about something;
Thoughts don't come easy.









Smell of burning wood
Seems out of place this morning;
My stomach flip flops.

Geared up like space men
With coarse roaring instruments
They work on the lawn.








Criss crossing shadows
Curve with the bend in the road;
Cloudless sky is blue.

Wild daffodils
Grow in cluster near the marsh.
There's strength in numbers.

Hopping near the bush
The robin catches my eye
Like a rippling breeze.












Still in the tree's crotch
Phone book survives one more year
Numbers extinguished.