Thursday, July 26, 2012

A goal for 2012 is to paint all kitchen and back-hall cabinets & drawer fronts (now chocolate) and shelves (yellow)--to beige. This picture shows both an unpainted section and three of the painted ones. It's already July; I'd better get busy on the rest.


Poems about the old homestead

first-time homeowner
at age 71
--a heady feeling
~~~

"So It Goes"
I work
the whole morning
in the brush & brambles
with not one scratch on old, thin skin
of arms.

Inside,
I scrape my arm
on the countertop edge,
gouging the skin. Blood spurts beneath,
on top,

like blood
does when aspirin
(low dosage but daily)
is consumed. (Doctor's order!) Quick!
 Band Aids!
~~~

trash hauler's motor
vibrating the thin windows
of this old, old house
~~~

living here 6 years
before ripping out
the old shelf paper
~~~

through the bare window
of the old house on the hill
a computer screen
~~~

"It's About Time"
Painting--
 finally--the
faded-to-gray mailbox
flag with red, sparkly fingernail
polish.
~~~

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press





Thursday, July 19, 2012

SO HOT FOR SO LONG

Grandson Billy wetting down the oaks before burning the massive brush pile earlier this year


A few poems for the dry and hot season the nation is currently in.

so hot for so long
the beautyberry leaves
curl and brown
~~~

electric meter's
unending circle's
this summer
~~~

mid-summer heat
dairy cattle udder deep
in the stock pond
~~~

hellphase of summer
incandescent skies
forcing me indoors
(from Arkansas Times)
~~~

Weather
determines my
day's schedule in some ways:
No rain? I water the plants; too
much sun?

I move
out of the swing
to the shade. Too hot? I
retreat inside to the AC's
comfort.
~~~

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press

Thursday, July 12, 2012

While vacationing in Tennessee and on the way home to Arkansas


 Cherokee Village AR woods, but very well could be those at Fairfield Glade TN


sleeveless in summer
the skin on my upper arms
really my mother's
~~~
After
3-digit days,
the welcome cold front drops
 the early morning temps to the
sixties!
~~~

when does a sapling
become a tree and a creek
become a river?
~~~

bare upper branches
along the wooded roadsides
makes me wonder
~~~

child's question: more trees
or more people? Tennessee
gives trees an edge
~~~

spiky trunks
bared by an earlier storm~
green fields of milo
~~~

a patch of brown leaves
on the tree's small branches
its first summer
~~~

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press







































































































































































































Saturday, July 7, 2012

Observations from Fairfield Glade TN - sisters' trip

Three of the four sisters on last year's trip to north central Arkansas.
 L.to R.: Carolyn, Barbara, Pat


This week ends the Couch sisters' 13th annual summer trip. Our adventures began in 1999 on the Cumberland Plateau out of Crab Orchard. This year, we revisited Tennessee in the same general area. Some poems written during the week follow.

a resort condo
in the Tennessee forest
bird and insect song
~~~

nature's
ambience marred
by ACs' drone
~~~

"Cream-a-holic sister"
Using
all four creamers
from the motel's breakfast
in one cup of coffee, she drives
for more.
~~~

"For once, a cool morning"
Far off
thunder during
the night. Somewhere, perhaps,
a respite from prolonged heat of
summer.

Bluejay
sounding puny
against the crow's raucous
call, but with the cool temp and breeze,
who cares?
~~~

"Seeing moss on a tree knob"
Needing
directional
assistance, one of us
remembered that moss grows on the
north side.
~~~

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press