Seeing Red
_____________________________________
I explore the warm conservatory
With the goal of finding the color red
Scanning canopy and understory
Looking in containers and planting beds
Miss no detail below or overhead
This quick scavenger hunt opened my eyes
To wonders I may have missed otherwise
Can’t wait to go back and explore again
Looking closely to see the next surprise
It is not a matter of if but when.
_____________________________________
(A Dizain Poem)
6 Pack
_____________________________________
Opted to take home a six pack
My will power shut down
When I spied them
Then I tried them
For these they are renown
*
Better than any from my town
Lovingly deep-fried them
Each made from scratch
Batch after batch
Some with fruit inside them.
*
The icing identified them
I know there’s no match
Cooling on a rack
Worth a greenback
I’ll put them down the hatch.
*
My buckle I’ll have to detach
Oh please cut me some slack
Not a let down
I smile don’t frown
and know I will be back.
_____________________________________
(A Roundabout Poem)
Fagus grandifolia – An Elegy
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How tragic to see your current state
A fraction of your former self, age lines exposed
Your web of roots continuing to operate
Despite trunk, branches and sky being juxtaposed.
Your large beautiful being we did celebrate
You’d live forever we supposed
Your community contributions did motivate
And to your untimely death we were opposed.
As the value of your life we contemplate
We know another could never duplicate
You will never cease to fascinate
More of you we will try to cultivate.
_____________________________________
(An Elegy)
Fagus grandifolia – An Epitaph
_____________________________________
Here lies an American Beech
Who cleaned our water and scrubbed our air,
Kept animals safe from predators’ reach
And to wildlife, her beechnuts did share.
*
In her community she played a large part
And though her absence will be profound
Generations will continue, thanks to her heart
For now where she was, the sun hits the ground.
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(An Epitaph)
No worries, I Have Big Shoes
_____________________________________
Why would someone use that old phrase
about having big shoes to fill?
Just boggles the mind even still.
Who uses that statement these days?
*
I’ll set you straight with no delays,
see these size 12s are filled with skill.
Why would someone use that old phrase
About having big shoes to fill?
*
So how about sharing praise,
don’t talk of people’s shoes to fill,
and explain to me, if you will,
why someone would use that old phrase.
____________________________________
(A Rondel Poem)
For the second night in a row
I can’t sleep thinking about you.
This has happened before since
We’ve spoken, these butterflies keeping
Me up all night.
*
But the past two evenings
Are quite different
Causing nervousness in a different way
Tonight you told me your deepest darkest
Secret, family doesn’t know only
Former spouse, who became former because of it, this secret, this past.
*
This heartache you experienced this
Loss of innocence has changed you
I will never know the person you
May have been had this never
Happened to you, but I know you’re
A pretty great person now.
*
Insomnia comes with the weight
Of being told something of such
Gravity in confidence but it
Must not compare to the
struggles you have endured
As you walked your path
dealing with this.
*
I hardly know you – do you
have a middle name? Were
you named for a family
member? Do you have a
Favorite color? Yet, now
I know this about you.
*
My heart is heavy
My brain is spinning
My soul is sad for you
*
But because I am me
Because I have never experienced
Anything like this
Because no one else has ever told
Me anything of such gravity and I
Don’t know what’s possible
Or impossible
*
I have hope. I am full
Of optimism. I see happy days.
I see healthy days. You
already seem so well-adjusted
It’s just this one thing, one
Enormous thing.
*
I don’t know how to help
I can only listen, without judgement
And hope you know I am
Here for you, to help you
sleep if you need, to help you
Find words if they’re lost. To help
You quiet your mind. To help
You lighten your heart.
*
I am here. You are
Wonderful, amazing
Strong, caring, kind, loving.
Winter Aconite
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Wearing ruffled scarves in the green of spring
at once an army of flowers emerge
though it’s cold and there may even be snow.
The troops have quickly spanned, naturalizing,
longer, warmer days causing the upsurge
from small brown tubers submerged deep below.
In gold cup-shaped helmets these soldiers spread.
Platoons March around the garden to merge
head to head, creating a glow
through which no other would be so bold to tread
but slow.
_____________________________________
(A Curtal Sonnet)
A Walk Around the Conservatory
_____________________________________
Ornate patterns unconstrained
Marvelous textures galore
Feeling, touching, entertained
Leaves bring joy as I explore.
_____________________________________
(An Ae Freislighe Poem)
Crocus
_____________________________________
The calendar whispers,
“it is still winter here
in the northern hemisphere.”
*
The warm air envelopes
encouraging the soft hum of bees buzzing
hinting to something otherwise.
*
Countless bright purple crocus rise
to scream loudly
“spring is on the way!”
_____________________________________
(A Triversen Poem)
The Slipper Orchids
Phragmapedium
Paphiopedilum
Cypripedium
——————————————————–
Insect attractor
Attention grabber
Wall flower
Shoe bloom
Clever co-evolver
Illusion creator
Terrestrial trickster
Embellished epiphyte
——————————————————–
(A Kenning Poem – or more specifically a poem of Kennings)
A Picture and a Poem 