A range of colors

I think it’s the range of colors 

That’s so incredibly satisfying,

 Not just among the trees, 

But among the folks who’ve been elected 

This time around: A celebration of diversity!

Moving forward

It’s going to take some creative thinking 

To get us back on track, 

But I’m thinking that we have what it takes 

To get us moving forward again: 

Courage, imagination, and a willingness 

To think outside the box!

Autumnal color

I have always loved autumn. 

Everywhere I look, such beautiful colors; 

That last hurrah before the winter grays 

Leach all color from the landscape…

What can we do to help?

Here we sit, 

At the brink of a new day; 

A new adventure. 

What’s our most important task, 

And how can we best proceed,

 In a way that betters the lives 

Of all who are struggling — 

Not just to thrive, but to survive?

Bridging the gaps

And now it’s time to start reaching out; 

To make a concerted effort to bridge the gaps 

Between red and blue, black and white, 

Between rich and poor, male and female 

Between old and new, fear and hope;

Between what has been and what could be 

Better, kinder, more thoughtful, 

More honest, and more egalitarian.

On the fence

Like this gull, we’ll all be watching today, 

Whichever party we follow: 

Hoping for good news, 

Fearing the bad news, 

And feeling like we’re standing on the fence 

Between now and a brighter — 

Or darker — tomorrow.

What’s Not Evergreen

As for me, I continue to prefer 

The evergreens that grow in my yard 

To the ships that pass on the nearby sea…

Rested up for what’s to come

Even the deer enjoyed 

That extra hour of sleep 

We all received last night, 

But now it’s time to set our clocks back 

And prepare for the winter ahead.

As skies grow gray

As skies grow gray and the winds grow cold, 

We seek other ways to fill our lives 

With warmth and color...

Let goodness shine

Awakening late this morning 

After a night of troubled sleep,

 I wander into the kitchen for coffee 

And see the mountain,

 Glowing in the distance 

Despite the cloud cover and the rain, 

Inspiring hope in my troubled breast.

 Let goodness shine like the mountain, 

Cries my heart: 

Let goodness shine!

Dark clouds ahead

How many of us lie awake at night 

Worrying about the coming storms? 

So many warnings come throughout the day— 

Of weather, war, of risk, and retributions… 

The clouds ahead are dark, and thickening fast, 

But still we trust, and continue to move forward.

Something loftier

No matter what we’ve planted or built, 

The sky can always offer 

A magnificent counterpoint to the scene: 

A gentle reminder 

There’s always something loftier 

Than our immediate concerns…

Gossip

When word spreads there’s something to munch on, 

The gulls come flying in, just as 

When word spreads of misbehavior 

The gossips and press come flying in, 

Clamoring for the juiciest bits. 

Isn’t it amusing — and occasionally disturbing — 

How like the animals we are; 

How far we’ve come, yet still so close…

Lessons from a fawn

This image, of a fawn 

Attempting to chew a fig leaf, 

Triggers that phrase my mom used to use: 

Don’t bite off more than you can chew! 

Eventually she dropped the leaf 

And scurried away, leaving me wondering: 

What huge problems I can’t solve 

Could be broken down into more manageable pieces?

The Decisive Moment

Awakened in a bedroom awash with moonlight 

After a night of incessant rain,

 I rush downstairs to photograph the moon, 

 Now tucked between the clouds 

And blushing from the sun’s slow rise 

But first I must feed demanding cats, 

And by the time I’m done

The clouds have almost completely hidden 

The orb I’d hoped to capture 

And here’s all that’s left to see:

 Bresson’s Decisive Moment, gone again.

Autumn

Autumn, 

And the sunsets seem more subtle, 

Now the sun is disappearing behind the trees.

 We’ve moved on, and so has the sun,

 Stepping apart for a season or two; 

We’ll find some other source of heat 

To keep us warm til the sun returns 

Full strength again. 

Others may follow her south to warmer climes, 

But we’ll stay cool…

Keep holding on

I look at this old tree, 

Gritting its teeth and holding on, 

Supporting all those glorious branches, 

And am inspired: we can do this. 

We can — and will — keep holding on, 

Keep supporting those who need us to be strong, 

Gritting our teeth and powering through 

Despite whatever losses we’ve endured.

A network of dependencies

Each of us is carried through this life 

By a support system, 

 Though it may be virtually invisible 

To those whom it carries: 

There’s so much we depend upon — 

Water, electricity, 

 Our food, our fuel, the internet, 

Our roads, and the way the traffic moves — 

All built, delivered, or established 

By group efforts of folks we rarely see or know, 

Working together to meet the needs of many; 

A network of dependencies.

Rhetoric

I wonder if rhetoric works a bit like fog; 

Takes something that’s is actually 

 Untidy and disorganized 

And casts a light upon it 

That makes it seem somehow 

Rational and appealing…

Resistance

I wish I had the resistance of this leaf; 

That the disappointments in the daily news 

Would not infect my mood, 

But simply roll off, 

Like beads of water on a waxy leaf. 

But that, of course, would mean 

I could not feel — not just the pain of others 

But the joy of parental love, 

Of sunsets and shadows, 

Of creating and embracing; 

Of watching nature evolve through the seasons…