In Cool of Dawn

Backyard leaves
of myrtle
crackle
under robin's beak,
upper sweetgum
branches stir
in scented breeze.

Giant maples
line a nearby street
with emerald leaves,
their undersides
lipsticked:
peachy creme
maroon and bronze.

In shaded woods
the yellow hickory,
reds and oranges
of black-oaks
flame against
pine and cedars'
bottle green.

c lovepat press
[revised ala Haymaker IV, October 30, 2013]

Poems for late October

curbside black
garbage sack: three
invisible crows
~~~~
beach sunset--
hungry sandpipers
in gold-dust sand
~~~~
plants in for winter
the Christmas cactus budding
in late October
~~~~
bright jack o' lantern
guiding goblins' paths ... alas,
rainy Halloween
~~~~
among the pumpkins
the fallen toddler
crying for Mama
~~~~
an owl's whoawh
breaking the morning silence
over the deer stand
~~~~
c lovepat press, 2013

Poems from past Octobers

1995
in broad daylight
a lot of naked ladies
(lycoris lilies)
~~~~

1997
'possum on the porch
looking for an easy meal
cat merely watches
~~~~

1998
trash on the neat lawn
no, bread for the birds ...no
mowed-over toadstools
~~~~

2001
red smudge
on the magazine
a lamp-drawn insect
~~~~

2003
the hairless hatchling
sprawls across the 3 eggs
still in the nest
~~~~

2010
road traffic
drowning out the sound
of the airplane
~~~~
c lovepat press

Shadows - Four poems

red lanterns

stringing shadows

in the spook house

~~~~

end of the trail—

tupelos in shallows

wildflowers in shadows

~~~~

the receding wave

seagulls waiting

in their own shadows

~~~~

waiting

I walk in ankle-deep leaves

and overturn stumps

   puffy clouds shadow the sun

   and the buzzard rises

~~~~

PL---from 28 poems submitted to M. Suddiqui for consideration in his 2013 issue of SEASON'S GREETING LETTERS.

'Tis the Season...

Google image of Rita, 2005

 

September 12, 1998

 

rain ... remnants

of ebbing tropical storm--

child fears tornado

~~~~

 

GEORGES - late September, 1998

 

palm and pine collapse

under the hurricane's eye

silence

~~~~

 

hurricane-spawned flood

thrashing the muddy rice stalks

against a rock

~~~~

 

mounds

of white gravel

where the town once stood

~~~~

 

FLOYD - September, 1999

 

wider

than Florida

Hurricane Floyd

~~~~

 

RITA - mid-September, 2005

 

home floating ... now lodged

against a willow oak

hurricane-made lake

~~~~

 

KAREN - early October, 2013

 

What will I write

about incoming Karen?

she spoiled our beach trip?

 

c PL, lovepat press