Saturday, July 19, 2025

A fond farewell


As I say farewell to this special place, 
I take a photograph of these, 
The first of its flowers to greet me 
And the last to see me go, 
Knowing, as one does, with photos, 
That I’ll catch sight of them 
When I’m scrolling through the memories 
And smile, remembering the birds nest 
That was there when last I came: 
Each time, a gift, as if to say 
That we are always welcome here, 
And the house is as happy to have us 
As we are to rest within its walls. 
Can’t wait to come again!

Friday, July 18, 2025

Morning after blues


Lying in bed in the morning 
Remembering dinner the night before, 
Worrying… 
Does everyone do this? 
Analyze the subtle cues 
We may have missed in last night’s gathering? 
Wonder if we talked too much or too little, 
Said something wrong or laughed too loud 
Or failed to include someone in the conversation… 
As light slowly fills the room I raise the blinds. 
The haze that drifts over the mountain 
Has already faded away by the end of this poem, 
But the unease lingers.

Thursday, July 17, 2025

I wish I knew


I wish I knew 
Where good paintings come from; 
Could tap automatically into that source — 
Not because I hope to have something to sell, 
But because it would be nice to trust 
That when I put my brush to canvas 
The results will make me smile…

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

The course of history


Like this stellars jay, 
Examining the lawn for potential food, 
We look back over our past, 
Hoping to find the roots of our behaviors, 
Both personal and communal: 
The mistakes our parents may have made, 
The choices we made, raising our kids, 
Historical events that might — or should — 
Have been handled differently; 
Rules we should have made 
Or shouldn’t have broken — 
All the things that brought us here, 
To Now, this moment, where we sit, 
Staring out at nothing, 
Worried about what’s going down 
 And wondering how to change
The course of history.

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Denied access


Inside, looking out at the gift of a beautiful day, 
My heart aches for all the people 
 Who are outside, looking in; 
Unwelcome and excluded; 
Denied access to the life every human deserves 
By circumstances not of their own making.

Monday, July 14, 2025

Brief celebrity


The amaranthine campion blossoms, 
Gleaming unexpectedly in the afternoon sun 
Call out from across the broad expanse of lawn, 
And I creep closer, like paparazzi 
 Hoping to catch them drinking 
Or maybe dancing in the light 
Before their evanescent celebrity fades.

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Forgetting


Over time I have forgotten 
That daisies come in several different varieties, 
Some tall, some really short; 
Some that bloom earlier, or later, 
Or show off lots more petals or larger centers 
Than the ones that now are languishing 
Beneath my plum tree 
(Is this their natural cycle, 
To grow brown and lie down, 
As if their backs all hurt too much to stand, 
Or are they dying because I forgot to water them?) 
I’ve forgotten other things as well, 
But would rather have forgotten 
The things that wake me, 
Or still can make me cry: 
Man’s inhumanity to man, woman, and child; 
The yips of the coyotes as they feast;
The shrieks of the forest as it burns…