Billionaire bird

The hawk levels his malevolent stare 

At me from his perch on the bird feeder 

As if he owns the joint, and woe 

To all who dare to extract a single seed 

From his domain…

Fencing in or fencing out?

The cherry tree’s in bloom again; 

The apple trees are leafing out, 

And there’s blossoms on the plum: oh, my! 

It won’t be long before the deer 

Are dancing on their hind legs, 

Snacking on our fruit. 

(That fence our neighbors built 

To keep them out, instead 

Seems to trap them in…)

Echoes of the Sun

Daffodils blooming at the edge of the cliff: 

Bright spots of yellow echo the sun.

Dragged down

Dragged down by the accretions 

Of the past several months, 

We spread our arms in welcome 

To the bright awakening and warm breezes 

Of spring.

The power of light

Such is the power of the light: 

To single out that which is beautiful; 

That which is unique to us alone, 

And to bring it to the attention of those around us; 

To celebrate individuality and make it known.

 And so the attention we pay 

To others and our surroundings 

Acts as light, enlivening our darkened world.

High climbers

Like my cat, some humans seem to have an urge 

To ascend to the highest possible place: 

The Everest for Sir Edmund Hillary; 

The moon, for the astronauts of Artemis ll. 

For me, I am happy down here on the ground, 

Breathing the scents of Spring.

Glow brighter as the dark descends

Evening, and as the dark rolls in,

 Shrinking the light, 

The color intensifies to flame 

 Before winking out. 

I hope my life will do the same;

 That whatever gifts I have 

 Glow brighter as I age and dark descends…