Correct by Chance
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Severe weather events
Flooding, blizzards, coating ice
Hurricanes, drought, pelting hail
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Welcome weather events
Heatwave break, thundersnow, gentle soaking rains
Thunderstorms, inches of powder, clear starry skies
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All of this happened … but not as you predicted
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(A Sevenling Poem)
Pawtuckaway Paddle
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Is there anything better than sunset
Viewed from a kayak on a quiet lake?
Not sure how much more lucky one gets
Being able to take this nature break.
Sunlight for exploring, there’s a ton yet
But people head in for their burgers and steak
Perhaps to care for a homebound fun pet
Leaving only me, the herons and drake.
Silhouettes and ripples and reflections
Take shape as the sun slowly yields to night
Bugs, frogs, and bird songs rise in perfection
And bat acrobatics start to delight.
It’s here I feel a natural connection
Made possible by the pending twilight.
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(A Sicilian Sonnet)
Impatiens glandulifera
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Tall plants with pink bloom sway in traffic breeze
As they colonize wet roadside ditches
Seem to fill ecological niches
A couple months before nature’s deep freeze.
After a quick u-turn to stop the car
To get a closer look at petal count and amount
I remain clueless as to what they are.
With digital pics we’re back on our way
He drives I dive in to field guide and keys
Eager to know this late summer display.
I expected to find the name with ease
But my assumptions led me stray
Fooled by sheer numbers and presence of bees.
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(A Byron’s Sonnet)
Little Sister’s Getting Hitched
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Little sister’s engaged, oh happy day!
The cheer in her heart transcends cell phone waves
Tears run down my face replace words I can’t say
Hope and happiness alternate in waves
They compliment each other brilliantly
In teamwork and laughter their love shines through
Each wonderful, and wonderful as two
Challenges they will face resiliently
He being something quite special to this clan
Sarcasm and loyalty undeterred
And responsibility undeferred
A smart hard working military man
Oh how I wish them nothing but their dreams
And knowledge that life’s as great as it seems
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(A Burns Sonnet)
Sweet Bait
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The candy is what they really want
Details don’t attract attention at all
Brochures just bore visitors to slumber
Advice is not why they made this jaunt
It’s sugar in forms of disc, bar and ball
That gets them towards my table to lumber
Like bait to attract what’s eating the hens
Saccharine gets them out of the woodwork
Otherwise they may never come to view
For sweets they’ll even bring their friends
Avoiding my eyes they grab with a smirk
Lots of candy gone, interactions few
I’m wondering if there’s a better way
To lure people in to hear what I say.
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(A Brisbane Sonnet attempt)
Fallen Fungus
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Oh dear the mushroom has been uprooted
Some careless walking has it uprooted
It sure looks like it’s been hiking-booted
The soft pine needle ground buffered its fall
It’s squat, short and stout with not far to fall
Do you think the person noticed it at all?
Amazingly for this organism
This is not death for this organism
Regardless of our own barbarism
Miles of mycelium supporting
Acres of hyphae supporting
Nearly immune to human cavorting
Mushrooms will thrive long after we are gone
As extinct as the great mastodon
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(A Blues Sonnet)
Hibiscus moscheutos
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Hibiscus flowers sparkle in the sun
Enormous blossoms undulate freely
Perennial and bold, astonishing
Like crepe, exquisite, splendid, delicate
Extraordinary and ordinary
Intensely colored designed for display
The bees can’t get enough pollen gold
And branches bend beneath the flowers’ heft
Each bloom’s display lasts only a day
But followed by another rapidly
The shriveled shuttlecock flowers tumble
To earth awaiting decomposition
As others take their places high above
Just filling the summer with amazing.
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Feathered Backyard Pets
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It’s hard when pets are companion to you
With chard they would be dinner for others
My yard is playpen for my feathered few
Regarded as farmyard to another
When one of my chicks has met her demise
The run no longer safe for happy hens
When fun has turned to tears escaping eyes
I’m done tamping the grave, sad once again
When wings and legs are menu selections
Crying over chickens is frowned upon
A thing to save for fuzzy affection
A sting allowed only when pets are gone
Adored as much as bowwow and meow
Therefore deserving of waterworks now.
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(A Beymorlin Sonnet)
Fuzzy Planning
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Road trip dreams post work-day reality
Planning the vacation but not too much
Where might we bike hike kayak camp and such
So grateful for our commonality.
Work week starts and vacation brain sets in
With each passing day focus is lacking
Mind wanders to long days of backpacking
We can’t wait until the journey begins.
The week will go by too fast we are sure
Dreaming and planning extend our short break
Thinking of it each moment we’re awake
Oh, how many more workdays to endure?
We have maps and guides but won’t let them reign
There’s just one plan: to avoid the mundane.
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Vicious Cycle
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This hamster wheel of steel needs attention
A look at the exhaust and suspension
Though I look under with apprehension
My goal is always breakdown prevention
This machine ensures my place in the race
That rat race I cannot fully embrace
Figuring out how to withdraw with grace
As I find the parts I need to replace
This great car gets me where I need to go
Through traffic and downpours and blowing snow
I know it will get me there tomorrow
I need the car to get to work, it’s true
I need to work to get the car, I knew
But it also lets me do what I want to do.
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(An Arabian Sonnet)
A Picture and a Poem 