Seasonal poems

swallowtail

must love the taste

of abelia blooms

~~~~

LEAH FROM KANSAS

Bevy 

of butterflies--

monarchs, to be exact,

each time I pass the calendar

photo.

~~~~

taut red skin

tart tang of yellow flesh

no wonder Wm Carlos Wms

couldn't help himself

from eating a plum

~~~~

Flying

by here faster

than the speed limit. Where's

a sheriff's deputy when you

need one?

~~~~

Blackcap

and cardinal

at the unusually-

ignored suet cake. Is something

amiss?

~~~~

Hedge-row

of yellow bell,

japonica, privet--

a neat hideaway for rabbits

and squirrels.

~~~~

Fenced out

by the neighbors

on the south needing tall

enclosure to keep their future

dogs in.

~~~~

After

last night's t-storm

the temps of early fall

are 70 degrees - very

welcome.

~~~~

c 2019 by PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR US

Poems for September 9, many years

                                          Cottonwoods and pine, autumn @ Dairy Hollow

SEPTEMBER 9

viewing the world
through one eyeglass lens
a cataract gone
--A Lamp to Work By, 2012

viewing the news
through an iPad
paper newspaper gone
--new poem, 9/9/'19

vehicle hauler,
along the interstate
six-car pile up
--Connecting Our Houses, 1997

CRITIQUE
Strange, the
paths our poems
take before coming out
of the woods near perfect, like our
children.
--September Cinquains, 2003

I stop
reading to watch
a hummingird drinking
...and drinking. Sated, it soon darts
away.
--September Cinquains, 2017

on the walking trail
city's truck driver, mower
ignoring their own signs
--A Patch of Yellow, 2005

new college provost--
my child in his daughter's
third-grade class
--a crisp brown leaf, 2015

onto the freeway~
a convoy of semis
already there
--just before dawn, 2006

c 2019, PL, dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

AUGUST cinquains: blogging

Blue jay
intimidates
the smaller wren, but not
for long. Then, hungry Woody pecks
his fill.

Drowning

out the 'chit-chit'

of the redbird, neighbor

decides to use the vacuum on

her car.

Robin

and brown thrasher

bathing together--fresh,

cool water. A high heat index

forecast.

Juvy

house finches stop

by the full, rain-freshened

birdbath as if to say, "Hey, you

go first."

Oh, my!

The mockingbird

in the nearby holly

is as loud as the panel truck

passing.

Mama

brown thrasher takes

time out from her brood, rests

a l-o-n-g time on the rim of the

birdbath.

Silly

young hummingbird

eschews the colored blooms

and hovers close to the resting

black cat.

c 2019, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

After a hiatus, July POEMS

                                                   Mom's begonia, still blooming


Catching
a squirrel eating
suet! I bang the glass
of the window; it scampered down,
away.
~ ~ ~ ~

Extreme
mid-day heat. Blue
jay rests in the leafy
shade close to the suet feeder.
("My turn?")
~ ~ ~ ~

Hanging
the suet cake
just right allows two birds
to eat at one time: cardinal,
sparrow.
~ ~ ~ ~

I walk
across kitchen
with a full cuppa joe
and--at 83--do not spill
a drop!
~ ~ ~ ~

Fighting
the petrified
peel of the sweet orange
sold in a bag of post-dated
apples.
~ ~ ~ ~

Redbird
on tricycle
handle. One flesh-and-blood,
the other a wrought-iron, outdoors
feature.
~ ~ ~ ~

c 2019, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Spring means graduations, flowers, yardwork: POEMS

                       Grandson in a crape myrtle years ago, graduated from high school last week.

a passing truck

painted like a zebra

--this quirky town

(Eureka Springs, '15) 

~ ~ ~ ~

                                                          Coreopsis and purple jew

QUATRAIN

Did Mama ever pray

when her children drove away 

"Dear Lord, they're yours now,

please keep them in your way."?

(April '11)

~ ~ ~ ~

                                                    Another grandson many years ago

the only thing

you will leave 

is what you create

(Tom Padgett on Wallace Stevens. Lucidity retreat, 2004)

~ ~ ~ ~

                       Older son with granddaughter who graduated from high school last week.

CINQUAIN

After

yesterday's wind

and rain, today's roadside

fields of mustard brighten the gray

landscape.

(Hwy 35 to Tull, April '19)

~ ~ ~ ~

                                                                  Google image.

THREE DAYS' PAPERS UNREAD

Resting

from yesterday's

frustrations, noggin-bump,

kin's graduation and a long

trip home.

(5. 17. '19)

~ ~ ~ ~

c 2019 PL, dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

A 6th mission trip and the poems they inspired

                                                    A collection of UMCOR shirts

gazebo

facing the bayou

--secrets

PL, 5.10.'19 in Baldwin, Louisiana

on a mission trip to UMCOR

~ ~ ~ ~

sugar cane

a foot high

oddly-layered clouds

PL, 2013 trip

~ ~ ~ ~

spikes on his hubcaps

must mean

"Keep your distance"

PL, 2013 trip

~ ~ ~ ~

we drive under

the helicopter

different directions

PL, 2013 trip

~ ~ ~ ~

the yellow one

in the long row of houses

--school on spring break

PL, 2013 trip

~ ~ ~ ~

                            Inside the UMCOR Depot: bolts of cloth for eventual school bags

Geretta unpacking toothpaste for health kids, UMCOR Depot, Baldwin, Louisiana, 2013

c 2019, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Spring: rain, birds --poems

Watching

the cardinal

casing the area

around the suet feeder. He

flies in.

~ ~ ~ ~

After

the ramp's laid,

I widen the flower

bed to include adjacent lawn,

dig grass.

~ ~ ~ ~

the old woman

wearing socks

with sandals

~ ~ ~ 

rain from the roofline

escaping

into the cellar

~ ~ ~ ~

Easter Monday

both our mailbox flags

are up

~ ~ ~ ~

a silent rain

droplets in the birdbath

the only clue

~ ~ ~ ~

                                                                   photo-C. Hoggard

untended

the leggy but leafing

hydrangea

~ ~ ~ ~

c 2019, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA