November 14

Winter Woods

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They’re wondering about the shine out there

Mourning the fall on this frosty morning

Bare gray branches are more than they can bear

Warning us winter came without warning

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No other season questions what you know

Wait while dormant branches support snow’s weight

So strong as below acorns gray squirrels sow

Ate one, shared one, then buried the next eight

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I know winter’s magic astounds the eye

Piece of the woods covered in snow brings peace

Sky blue birds migrate past in the blue sky

Geese in their way in the v-shape of geese

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Right now’s so stunning makes me want to write

Site’s so lovely it really is a site

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(A Shadow Sonnet)

August 19

Vernonia noveboracensis

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Tall purple bloom of New York Ironweed

Perched atop towering stiff eight foot stalks

Up at the level where butterfly feed

Safe far above where the deer family walks

Providing so much that native bugs need

Putting small birds near the pathway of hawks.

Vernonia noveboracensis

Flower clouds loom over garden fences.

The perennial grows wild in fields

Flowering in late summer’s shortening days

Feeding migrating butterflies and birds

Pollen and nectar this native plant yields

And seeds upon which the songbirds will graze

Useful and pretty describe in two words.

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(An Italian Sonnet)