Suddenly September

nearing Labor Day
the Encore azalea blooms
and a gardenia!
~~~

still, breeze-wise
but lots of noisy pickups
on the way to work
~~~

not seven a.m.
the school bus stopping for kids
interrupts traffic
~~~

"Cool Mornings"
If I
didn't insist
on reading the paper
the first thing each day, I could do
yard work.
~~~

the first failure
in 44 supply hauls
the Soyuz shuttle
~~~

Two days
into the school
year, the principal shot
and killed. Even private schools not
immune.
~~~

Chatting
about football
and Gatorade flavors,
soldiers photograph Arlington
grave sites.
~~~

the governor
who eased car-tag renewal?
his license expired
~~~

c August 31 2011 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press

Adieu to August--a potpourri

"'Morning"
the only human word
on the trail
~~~

quiet, 3-block street
a short cut used for
dirt-hauling dump trucks
~~~

on the last page
of my journal ... flagging
story ideas
~~~

riddle: a yard full
of dogs, but none bark
or bite? (plaster casts)
~~~

first love ...
the way a new book's pages
crackle
~~~

a fine line:
being there for someone
and being used
~~~

Eureka Springs:
the tolerant town that lives
on tourism
~~~

Alzheimer's victim
murdered for the Cadillac
she couldn't drive
~~~

c 2011 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press

A respite from the dog-days of August

"Debt Default"
at the last minute--
as everyone knew it would--
DC inked a deal
~~~

reading the paper
behind the porch post, away
from morning's sun rays
~~~

library:
monument to stubborn faith
in word power
~~~

clili for breakfast
the 16-year-old
who stayed up all night
~~~

60th birthday
his goal: running from Ola
to Little Rock
~~~

since yesterday's rain
the dove calls more often~
roar of a bike
~~~

dewy grass
at the edge of the porch
stops the cat
~~~
c 2011 Pat Laster dba lovepat press

Poems amid the heat of August-'eleven

a lone yellow zinnia
that came up from last year's seed
perky in the heat
~~~

humidity climbed
as the mercury dipped
Dow Jones plummeted
~~~

"Presidential Easing"

Punching
holes in Arctic
seabed by drilling wells
granted conditionally to
Dutch Shell.
~~~

"Polygamist"

Creaking
wooden benches
brimming with spectators
the only noise in the courtroom
when Jeffs,

silent,
was convicted
of assaulting two young
girl brides and "teaching" them how to
"please God."
~~~

Ironing
board, brought down from
the attic, held a shock:
a crease in the foam padding hid
mouse pills.
~~~

Smoking
on one section
of a Provence beach banned.
Scofflaws risk a fifty-dollar
fining.
~~~

only three blooms
but two-dozen pink buds
on the birthday plant

c August 2011 by Pat Laster
dba lovepat press
See Amazon.com or B&N for my first novel,
A Journey of Choice

WARNING: The last post jumped off my screen before I finished or corrected it

Don't ask me how or why? I edited it after I discovered it, but the PUBLISH bar ignored me. When I finally got to the VIEW BLOG, it was NOT the corrected version ("ealy" instead of "early," "drom" instead of "dorm," )etc. I couldn't figure out how to erase the darn thing. So here is a disclaimer. I DO know how to spell. pat laster

August poems

fireflies
punching holes
in the darkness
(from a sermon
by Tom Frase)
~~~~

an August cool snap
sitting outside for the first
time since ealy June
~~~~

a cool snap~
robins on the crispy lawn
searching? finding?
~~~~

demolishing
the drom rather than clean out
the modly AC
~~~~

"Irony"
dove hunting for sport
the universal symbol
for peace . . .
(from Tad Bartimus)