August 5

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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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(An Australian Sonnet)

August 2

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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)

August 13

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Surprise Snack

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Our for a paddle finding wild fruit

Kayak hulls knock against rocky shoreline

When we see the shrubs we make a beeline

Summer adventure with a snack to boot

Everything tastes better fresh from the source

And these small sweet dark berries hit the spot

It’s difficult not to grab the whole lot

Have to remember they’re all the birds’ got

One for us three for them without remorse

St. George Lake offers scenery for days

And many small islands to circumvent

Didn’t even need insect repellent

On Maine’s water with fruit we are content

Until the next time we paddle and graze

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(An American Sonnet)

August 1

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True Story

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Again postponing morning’s stale routine

To reach the end of the chapters last line

I’ve quietly fallen into pages rapt.

Removing myself from this fictional scene

A task that feels impossible this time

In this real-feeling, fake story I’m wrapped.

The day is getting brighter here I lay

Departure time has come and gone, I stay

Ignoring alarms, foregoing caffeine

Avoiding clock faces, lunch is unmade.

This time is luxurious and obscene

My arrival at work will be delayed

Avoiding the academic machine

Entrenched deeply in fiction unafraid.

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(An Alfred Dorn Sonnet)

July 31

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Stoneleigh

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A large gray mansion built of Wissahickon schist

With 45 rooms embellished in wood grain

Is more impressive when the details aren’t missed.

Easy to be distracted by size insane

In the small details the real wonder exists

The charm of stone flowers is hard to explain

The home’s grandeur is the point some may insist

It’s these small stone blooms that keep it from mundane

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(A Sicilian Octave Poem)

July 30

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Daucus carota

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What is the spot in the middle

Of the delicate Queen Anne’s Lace?

Surrounded by snowy white blooms

It certainly seems out of place.

*

They say Queen Anne was making lace

And tatting the designs by hand

When the needle caught her finger

A stain on the lace did expand

*

Now the flowers cover the land

Thriving in forgotten places

Far from what people call nature

Despite the life in these spaces

*

From afar all you see is white

Flowers waving across the field

It’s not until you get up close

That the colorful is revealed

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(A Redondilla Poem)

(A Serventesio Poem)

July 29

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Intricacies

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The beauty of lichens up close

As lovely as a coral reef

Tightly bound and crust-like – crustose

Diversity beyond belief

Pebble-like, clustered – squamulose

No need for SCUBA and debrief

The beauty of lichens up close

As lovely as a coral reef

*

Flat sheets and leaf-like – foliose

Closely explored in disbelief

Free-standing, branching – fruticose

A terra-firma reef motif

The beauty of lichens up close

As lovely as a coral reef

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(A Rondel Prime Poem)

July 28

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Second Life

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I can imagine

The gentle clatter

This leaf made when it

Tumbled to the ground

Brown paper bag stiff

The softest of sound

Tapping the gravel

Becoming earthbound

*

The softening starts

Rain penetrating

Intricate patterns

Of complex leaf parts

Wearing down that which

Is root counterpart

Though the leaf is downed

New life it has found

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(An Octameter Poem)

July 27

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Long Distance Hug #2

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My mom made me a hug of wool

To comfort me when she could not

Some sad days it gets used a lot

*

Embraced when the world seems so cruel

Or I can’t face the rat race

Or for woes that seem minuscule

*

Love disguised as stuffing and knots

Mom crocheted me a hug of wool

*

Dear Mom crafted a hug of wool

Dream a better gift I cannot

Beats any from a shopping spot

*

More treasured than any fine jewel

This striped tail, arrived in the mail

In a box on the vestibule

*

When I’m down I have this upshot

The best mom made a hug of wool

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(A High Octain Poem)

July 26

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Long Distance Hug

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My mom made me a hug of wool

To comfort me when she could not

Some sad days it gets used a lot

*

Embraced when the world seems so cruel

Or I can’t face the rat race

Or for woes that seem minuscule

*

Love disguised as stuffing and knots

Mom crocheted me a hug of wool

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(An Octain Refrain)