On the Porch
9 AM July 10, 2022
the squirrel’s twitchy tail tip
signals like a furry flag
from the birch tree’s
forked limbs
bright-eyed head
from round the trunk’s base
pauses trembling alive
goes to ground to forage
long, soft tail spikes
groomed, tailored, symmetrical
bristle from
rat-tentacle core
illumined dull blood red
by the morning sun.
On the Porch
6 PM July 8, 2022
pansies soft yellow
like lemonade
face away from the porch
towards the light of the yard
yellow petals thinned
by sunlight are
cradled by
deep green starfish
atop slender stems
amidst a vibrant jostle of leaves.
day lilies flame orange
cluster spatter everywhere
strain sunwards in unison
wide mouthed supplicants
drink god’s gold
before the final closing
and the mildest of deaths.
On the Porch
July 6, 2022
the cloud is
a bunny doing the backstroke
at dinner a baby bunny
lounged in the grass
beside the hydrangeas
oblivious to the hawk strike
of two weeks ago
and to the squirrel proof
bird feeder dangling above
mourning doves arrive
feather sheen softest brown
black pearl eyes flick
sparks of the sun
one ponders entering
the garden’s lush wall
where beaked aside
seeds have fallen
but backs out unsure
when I scratch my head
a chipmunk reconnoitres
harmless and small
though a bully to bunnies
a startled flutter of feathers
that chirp on the downstroke
and the doves are gone.
On The Porch
6:57 PM May 18 2022
in the sky is a soccer player
running flat out kicking an
oblong rain cloud ball
the lilacs to my left
once towered,
now trunks as thick as
a ballerina’s thigh
are mere stubs
truncated arms
reaching from earth to nothing
roots loose
they make good firewood.
from their midst
(stems like dancers’ upraised arms)
a new lilac bouquet
brandishes sturdy young blooms
which emanate beam
sweet scented whiteness
through my
seated seduced head
and
broadcast love
to distressed bees
everywhere.
