February 28 - various years, two authors

1997
late February
windows open all night
but snow's forecast
[PL - Connecting Our Houses]
with Dorothy McLaughlin
~~~~

2003
editor's illness
I read his final issue
as a eulogy
[PL - February's Fallout]
~~~~

2004
quiet pond
mirroring perfection
of all things
[the late Dion O'Donnol,
daily moments]
~~~~

2005
chinese jade tree
alabaster lotus bowl
drinkers of the wind
[Dion O'Donnol,
best of days]
~~~~
swinging on a branch
between the dogwood clusters
a mockingbird
[PL - winter's loose ends]
~~~~

2006
unexpected snow
sending students to Hastings
instead of high school
[PL - hearing puffs of snow]
~~~~

2013
resigning
his second day on the job
at the Pentagon
that makes my 7-week stint
seem like an eon
[PL - drop by drop]
# # # #

February's (Rain) Fallout

Poems by Pat

ice pellets
brighten the valleys
of the roof
~~~

icicles--
yet it's thundering
this morning
~~~

Morning
turns dark as dusk.
Ominous thunder warns
of more bad weather to come: rain,
then ice.
~~~

During
the thunderstorm
the four cats are nowhere
to be seen. I wonder if they're
praying.
~~~

"Jon Nichols' photo, AR TIMES-2/14/13"

Today
a robin, wings
upstretched, feet unflexed, seemed
to hover, like a hummingbird,
before

sumac's
clusters of red
seeds. Just one second more,
and the bird would have grasped the stalk
and dined.
###

What else? Valentine's Day sentiments

"Frosty morning in Pasadena 2013, Winter"

by Thurman E. Couch

 

by Pat Couch Laster

 

 

"The Answer"

 

"Are you

meowing 'Happy

Valentine's Day' to me,

or do you want out?"... He walks toward

the door.

~~~~

 

Valentine's Day--

a bouquet of spirea

forced to bloom inside;

add to it five daffodils,

a sprig of japonica

 

---from my monthly booklet

Drop by Drop,

published February 2013

~~~~

 

Valentine's Day--

on their anniversary

he files for divorce

 

---February's Fallout

2003

~~~~

 

after a walk

Valentine-candy breakfast

melting in my hand

 

---W inter's Loose Ends

February 2005

~~~~

 

lacking the courage

to ask a widower out

on Valentine's

 

---hearing puffs of snow

February 2006

~~~~

 

GUEST SENRYU

 

what to give a love

allergic to flowers

and chocolate

 

---by Dorothy McLaughlin,

Somerset, New Jersey

published in our flip calendar

Connecting Our Houses

1997

~~~~

~~~~

 

 



Other parts of our world--found poems

by Pat Laster

bungee jumping
in Australia on her
80th birthday
[from an obit]
~~~~

sun rises
in Barrow--more than two months
after it set
[pic by Stu Ostro, FAA]
~~~~

Pictures
from satellite
show vibrant swirls of green--
abstract artwork suitable for
framing.
[Naval Research Laboratory, NexSat]
~~~~

"West of Europe"
Shadings
in black and white
show how deep the cyclone
was, provide us with a 3-D
effect.
[University of Bern]
~~~~

"More Abstract Art"
Deformed,
red-onion shape
and color showing waves
to a height of 50 feet near
Ireland.
[Meteorological pics of Jan.'13]
~~~~
#