Everything Changes

The corner of the garden was a bare tree

sullen empty grape vine stalks

browning lawn

wimpy broken leafed iris

Next time we go there together 

there will be flowers

oak leaves the size of your hand

hollyhocks blushing and blooming 

endless budding spires

What of grief you might ask

does it ever change

or does it too have its seasons

dense and ripe when it drenches you 

sharper than medieval swords it pierces you

never going away it transmutes

it is an alchemy

later than you can possibly think

grief releases its thousand secrets 

as it teaches your spirit to fly

#NaPoWriMo

#griefjourney

Ode to the Oak, the Garden Oak

New oak leaves beginning their stretch 

in the first light of true day

with blushing tips

clusters like ferns

they assert themselves as crowns of the garden

kingly oak

less common in the corridor of cottonwoods 

marking the riparian borders 

imagine its long arms shielding the rhododendron 

mimosa grateful for dappled sunlight

hung with bird houses for traveling finches

light drenched canopy 

coming into mightiness

#NaPoWriMo

#mightyoak

Earth Day 2023

 Because I am here now 

on this sun drenched sphere 

awash in seas

hosting life and consciousness 

recycling every breath

I believe being is eternal

not a flash through select moments 

nor the vanishing sense of hereness

but partaking in forever

time being water 

ever slaking thirst

it is what I feel in the shadow of trees

scent of orchids and wisteria 

expanding leaves of the spring oak

hear my celebration of our planet

roll on the grass with me and my dog

find the beings described by clouds

feel the light winds

one day we will dance into the waves

swim like ocean denizens

breathe water like air 

taking in time itself 

as we and earth and sky are one 

#NaPoWriMo

#EarthDay

Plant Sense

When the garden happens inside the house

euphorbia is a live sculpture 

so sensitive it sighs to feel your breath

trembles slightly when misted 

changes color with shifting light

plants around it grow visibly overnight

flower out of season

I wish I could hear its music

you know it is there

but not for our ears 

#NaPoWriMo

#indoorgarden

Dog Sense

My dog and I survey the day

his radio telescope ears shift with sounds only he can hear

his nostrils taste the air by the spoonful

winds are coming into this stillness 

to shake petals loose 

bend all trees in supplication 

send elm seeds ascatter like snowflakes

There is a chill to the dry air

my dog pushes aside the gate 

it being a mere suggestion 

he will patrol now

collect the daily information 

I wonder 

does he sense the newest leaves

hear the earthworms casting underfoot

what do the pending winds tell him

he sits patiently collecting in all his finely tuned senses

becoming ready

in tune with this place 

#NaPoWriMo

#mydog

#Winds

Transformative Vision

The unattractive back corners of life itself 

are open to redemption 

broken hearts or back pain

abandoned dogs or stacks of rubble

are waiting for a better offer

They said the aspen would die 

that it could not grow

the aspen knew better 

perhaps the companion crimson clover

sweetens the environment 

borage from last summer draws honeybees

this is but the beginning 

Summers to come will show the rest of the experiment

figs will ripen

raspberries and blackberries clambering upon one wall

grapes overhanging another 

tent of poles and peas

within my imagining more aspen 

a veritable grove 

with a hollowed stone bath for the birds 

the ones who nest in the trembling leaves

This is the greening city

urban transformation alley by alley 

dioramas 

oases 

butterfly secrets in the gardens 

of intention

#NaPoWriMo

#urbangarden

#Transformation

A Pause in a Hammock in the Forest

What is camping in the woods

but an adventure in hammocking 

a world apart 

grove of fragrant forest

to lie suspended 

face turned to the sky 

voices of birds 

book of poems in hand to stir the mind

here is what happens

you return to your life between walls

of necessity and time frames

you bring it with you 

peace of the forest

you remember

what your soul said as you gently swung 

replenishing the goblet 

water of life 

#NaPoWriMo

#forestbathing

#feedyoursoul

Seen Before and Now Again

Deja Vu

Daily they visit the bird spa 

the white doves 

a pair, they arrive as one 

I am inside the house

alerted to their presence by flashes of white

We humans have chosen these birds

to represent peace

cooperative solutions

acceptance of that which is inevitable 

Acceptance has always been that high step

the stretch past comfort

yet peace suggests attainment of spirit

We relax into a concept

ideology of oneness

person anchored souls transmuted 

awareness become universal

freedom of pure being

#NaPoWriMo

#peace

#whitedove

A place for Artificial Intelligence

The imaginary good

it does not take the place of substance

nor fill the yearning 

but fuels the imaginings

brings us steps closer 

we can make the vision real

not only as to the garden

All around us there is healing

as elusive as paths to wellness might be

the well wielded machete does the finding

our minds do the rest 

Today my focus is wellness

we will come back to the garden

dig out the pond

there will be falling water

rather than tropical foliage 

weeping pussy willow

winter red barked maple with lacy leaves

there is no picture of it as yet

hence this facsimile stand in 

bringing its own peaceful joy 

part of the path to wellness 

#NaPoWriMo

#pond

#backyard

What is Forgiveness

Drawn to water 

we rarely gaze at our reflection there

seeing instead the line of trees in duplicate

along the farther shore

seeing the stars removed from the sky

to a tableau of sparkling gems 

upon which we float 

The world shows us 

at any moment

even on moonless nights

where to uncover its secrets

It is at the close of day

the tailings

our cocktail hour

where we tally up what was accomplished 

share our bounty

remember why we laugh 

set aside worldly woes 

forgive all shortcomings 

including our own

#NaPoWriMo

Some Days

Some Days, seemingly all the days

There is perfection in the grass

golden light vanishing into blue

pale sky 

touch of wind

no hint of humans

no fences

nor power lines

there are distant cities

somewhere people fighting someone’s war

a boy secreting his father’s shot gun

because it is there

some other child’s parents will cry out

“When will it ever end?”

behind another hill

a solitary woman prepares herbs

wolves find solace together 

black widow spider from last year

makes herself at home on my porch

somehow we are safe together 

#NaPoWriMo

Romance of Place

There are places that make my heart glad

life allows me to return to them

time over time across the span of a life 

San Francisco from a distance 

was to my child’s eyes a city pretending to be a crystal matrix 

in those days all the buildings were squared off on top

in a geologic symmetry 

Be they ferries or houseboats

restaurants rising out of the bay

the allure of being over top of the water

elevates all moods

Sausalito my townish friend

where on the cusp of adulthood

I came in rolled black skirt and poet blouse

girl singing on stage whiskey in hand

I had sloe gin held to no curfew

my girl friends and I out in the night 

held in check by only the ropes of needing these times to go on and on 

In these times there is a we

an us

as two we meet with daughters and friends

we traipse in the falling rain

recognize we need to return

there is a tether here

we need these times to go on and on

#NaPoWriMo

#sausalito

Yearnings and Shadows

Shadows of other lives

creep alongside my path like faithful dogs

in that way of fatigue visions

they appear in the periphery 

not vaguely as you might imagine 

but solemnly insistent

There is a smell of smoke in the air

passing over my face 

a river with snags and mud

impossibly strong current

Does the mind present such visions

for no reason

stray figments of fatal disasters 

the opposite side of the fresh leaves pushing daily out of the ground 

adorning once bare branches

 

The spring garden is a place of yearning

where I wonder why the Bartlett pear

has fifty blossoms and the Anjou none

and the Johnny jump up ripped and eaten all winter by the puppy

remains a plump pillow of blossoms

 

Resilience is key in everything 

hear that, honey crisp apple branch

be like the Fuji

find your blossoms 

dress for the summer that is on the way 

#NaPoWriMo

#dejavu

#lilacsinbloom

They Who Live in the Long Ago

They gather in vivid memory

family of yore

wearing their youth like street clothes 

there were no family pets in that time

maybe a vague cat but 

allergies had their rules

There was no music 

my own sound track

played on a silver transistor radio

Interrupted by the bad news of the day

The agile mind perches precariously 

peering across the chasm of decades

brought back in time by falling water

long fountain droplets

coffee of morning 

rich foamy cup barely sweetened 

taste of home 

gladdened by dogs eager for the fancy blue sky

music playing titled

“Not enough memories”

all this makes me think on shapes of clouds like earthly things

here on the cusp of the day 

#NaPoWriMo

Fields of Flowers

Morning belongs to the dogs 

they claim it before there is light in the sky

today it is the back yard they choose

it is a quieter place 

there is furniture and a hiding place

Signs of spring resurrection 

in this garden

put on hold by April freeze

we remind ourselves the oak

becomes mighty through perseverance 

the cottonwoods wait for some sustained warmth

The relentless passing time slows a few moments

I remember trying years past

to plant the seeds of faith and belonging 

for my little girls

like much in life experience 

they come upon their own cradle of welcoming spirit 

entire fields of poppies and lupine 

trembling masses of wild mustard

heads of red clover and dandelion 

celebrate the snow and rain 

I thought I saw a pileated woodpecker

red crest and white throat 

but they do not come here

sometimes I have mistaken finches

for cedar waxwings 

The world tends to brighten between my eyes and my knowing 

not as brilliant as some

for whom any hazard has its repair in the offing

nature takes its course 

we celebrate

#NaPoWriMo

Tetons

 The tales of long ago

from when there was magic upon the earth

come this way with dragon breath

laying thick fog upon the byways 

to obscure the path

mermaid’s pearls on silver strings 

lay beneath the reflections on the sea

treasure meant for those few who meet the challenge laid out 

in their moment of conception 

here you see

the spine of the dragon itself

sleeping these past centuries 

until some day its roar will awaken the 

guardians 

of the chalice of being

#NaPoWriMo

Moon Rising

 What we do around here

Today I counted catkins on the aspens in the front of the house

sat on the front porch with my dog

doing a credible imitation of an old person 

decided what I need is a pair of rocking chairs

a wider porch 

and ukulele lessons

The hostas have reappeared in the back 

under the trellis

awaiting the burst of wisteria 

you know those things are going to race off like the mad vines they are

year three they say

I believe it

Tonight is half planned out

Spanish music 

pan fried corn tortillas 

left over Iberian pork bits

Amy’s green chile refried beans

lanterns and string lights

in the outdoor room

tequila and worm salt on orange slices

Sitting outside gets better as the seasons roll into the hot weather

after the hanging baskets are renewed

wildflowers burst out of the naked ground

Tonight is the Pink Moon on the rise

blooming full flower moon anticipates those pale sunset hues 

it comes to me that growing into the eighth decade

is accurately the time of the spirit

joining with the cycles of the seasons

stepping to the tune of the planet

for if we don’t know her by now

do you think we will ever ever know her

#fullmoon

#NaPoWriMo 

#bonus

Song for a Spring Morning

 

                          A C D Em G Bm B

                          pear in blossom 

                          promise of lilacs

                          music in my head and heart

When still a child 

I mourned having been born outside 

the age of miracles

But slowly the elixir of the undaunted spirit

seeped back in

it is expressed in these chords

tender as fresh new leaves

yearning into warming sunlight

tendrils reaching out to my friend

I may never sit on her porch 

suffused with the golden light

that always bathed her

hearing her sweet tea phrases birthed of small southern towns

if there are miracles in the wings

though

I will surely find my way there

we will sip whiskey

throw back our heads 

laugh until every wild bird

joins in the raucous cacophony 

major and minor within calamity

uncertainty in b flat

unbound in grace notes

#NaPoWriMo

#43things

#friendsforever

Dog power

 We have been out already this morning

She, I, and her quasi sibling brother dog

There was the appalling pre-dawn bark fest

there was outing redux 

once is never enough

Now back in the cozy bed

back in the barely awake room

she brings live wire energy 

right to my face 

lest I contemplate too long 

the brevity of being

the parade of souls marching out of my life

she brings full life force directly to the foreground

she keeps me in these moments 

acquiescing now to a respite of peacefulness 

her low throaty compliant sounds

express contentment with simply being 

here with us

#NaPoWriMo

#loveofdogs

Still dreaming of discovery

There is a sandy crescent with happy ocean waves

greenish ever moving seas

grassy dunes

it was there the summers before I grew up

rolled out their promises 

In the spaces between not quite cold beers

between sunburns 

diving into the cresting swells

I might imagine a typewriter in New York City

pages of a novel stacked nearby 

cigarette balanced on a glass ashtray that said Monte Carlo

first rejection letter framed above the dresser 

it would be a studio somewhere 

amongst other writers 

some struggling not yet famous artist’s work upon the wall

How odd that crescent beaches dotted the years to swiftly pass

no Monte Carlo ashtray

New York City turned out to be that place where words stand in line

elevators eat up your imagination 

even the wealthy frown and struggle

Here, in an undefined stretch of time

I thought yesterday of Lillian Hellman who tore leaves of courage from her own pages and handed them to me

today, the goodbyes to a friend whose journey is completing in a moment

love for a friend who survived heart surgery 

had he not, the loss would have been deeper than that ocean 

Rather than a sandy crescent

here is a sinuous meandering sandy riverbank

no curling waves

nor grassy dunes

rather the towering cottonwoods 

wearing their riparian chartreuse spring foliage

No Algonquin round table but something else

torn notebook pages limned with the courage of individual truth

sandy moonlike beaches and turquoise seas 

beneath our fingers

our community of the screen 

longing for the room 

the circle where the alchemy happens

#NaPoWriMo

#chartreusemusings

#bigislandwriters

#southwestwriters

Spring at home

The dogs have busied themselves in the slant light garden of early day

daffodils still upright while the organic treat of freshly dug grass shows itself irresistible 

Each tree has been examined for fresh signs of spring

magnolia flowers nearly spent 

pear and apple in bud

fuzzy oak twig ends

lilac tips showing their petal colors

lone finch flies food to fountain

Home awaits with comforting arms open to receive the weary travelers

jazz piano and saxophone 

here in the mid morning 

my shoulders suggest more sleep would be just the thing

There is a secret I had learned but tucked too deeply away

it is this

we are a part of the garden 

in the winter down time our homes are our earth 

holding us inside 

awaiting the full faced sunlight

the fast growing green grass

honeyed cascades of jasmine

meadow lark canticle 

fleshy fig silken rose 

I see a pair of goldfinches 

shaking their feathers 

the season is preparing its dandelion apothecary 

I am ready

#NaPoWriMo

#springtralala

What can we do

 They took their prayers and made them visible

a million bright flags of silken wishes

of course the lost children came through

angry wanting to be seen too

wanting to be heard 

eager to be acknowledged 

in a flurrious fury of winds 

they lifted splintery roofs

overturned school buses

grown ups scurried to reclaim the pieces 

marked themselves safe

some howled in defeat

thrusting flowers into gun barrels

there was silent laughter

somewhere

in the profound despair

#NaPoWriMo

#endgunviolencetogether