Blogging: Poems from December 11's haiku booklets/ calendar

From an earlier year

 

hidden under hosta/ till after the freeze/ --Easter egg -  Connecting Our Houses

took no hostess gift--/ she thanked me with a bottle/ of homemade wine - poems for December

blowing bubbles/ at primary school corner/ balding policeman - dynamic December

picking up/ everything on my list/ even without it - in front of the moon

a year later/ tossing the holiday card/ from a former friend - a branch of red leaves

a Greek connection/ 3 students die & 5 hurt/ over alcohol - rising to the top

one more comic strip/ has slipped into the archives/ Bill Keane's passing - where to set the tree

fall cleaning/ taking the rake/ to his room - breaking the ice

2020 one of two rooms with plants overwintering

c 2020, PL, dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Autumn: Theme and Variations - poems

THEME AND VARIATIONS

Theme
A TRAVELER'S MEDITATION
(Amphion pattern)

God's handiwork is all around:
        Bright red leaves,
        Wheat in sheaves,
Fertile farms where flock abound;
        Shaded cows
       chew and drowse;
Mountains' multi-colored dress;
        Thunderclouds
        draped in shrouds:
God's bounteous works are limitless.

Variation 1

        HIGHWAY 23 IN AUTUMN
                Neville pattern

God's handiwork is all around:
 in scarlet, yellow leaves
and golden wheat in sheaves.
Sun-burnished pasturelands abound;
leafy groves shading cows
that switch and chew and drowse.
God's goodness--in all life--profound.

Variation 2

        SAME TIME EACH YEAR
                Neville

The autumn beauty's everywhere--

magenta, scarlet leaves,
bronzed stands of wheat in sheaves;
sun-burnished pastures, fragrant air;
umbrellaed groves whose boughs
shade drowsy brindle cows--
creation's annual fall affair.

Variation 3

AUTUMN SONG (a Pantoum)

God's handiwork is all around,

Magenta, scarlet, yellow leaves;

sun-burnished pasturelands abound,

cut, ripened wheat stands bronzed in sheaves.

Magenta, scarlet, yellow leaves,

umbrella groves of sassafras,

cut, ripened wheat stands bronzed in sheaves--

a visual banquet unsurpassed.

Umbrella groves of sassafras,

a camouflage for brindle cows,

(a visual banquet unsurpassed)

which nonchalantly chew and drowse.

Like Garland's fresh-shaved stubble, gold,

sun-burnished pasturelands abound,

and I sing with the oriole,

"God's handiwork is all around."

Variation 4

AN AUTUMN MINUTE

Minute pattern

The autumn beauty's everywhere--

in fragrant air,

magenta leaves,

bronzed wheat in sheaves.

Sun-burnished pastures stubbled gold,

lone oriole,

umbrellaed groves

--bovine alcoves--

a visual banquet unsurpassed,

a rich repast.

All senses share

fall's love affair.

--poems from my book, Variations, 1994

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Blogging: Poems about nature's animal and bird beings

 Blackcap

the only one

to visit the feeder

while I'm sitting near by social

distanced.

~ ~ ~ ~

OH, NO YOU DON'T!

The long-

unseen chipmunk

accesses the steep steps

of the south porch. From the swing, I

dissuade.

~ ~ ~ ~

A squirrel

heads this way till

I call "nyah!" It turns back

and disappears, waiting till I

go in.

~ ~ ~ ~

When I

notice a bird

bathing, I smile. Living

with respect and care for nature's

beauties.

~ ~ ~ ~

a crow

carrying off

the thrown-out corncob

~ ~ ~ ~

WATCHING? WAITING?

Not quite

back in the house

from filling the feeder

when I see a gray chickadee

fly in.

~ ~ ~ ~

SLEEPY?

A long

time between sips--

What does the robin think,

see, wonder about, cogitate

over?

~ ~ ~ ~

Ah! Pool

all to myself.

Though it's cooler today

than it has been, it's okay, says

blackcap.

~ ~ ~ ~

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Already September? Where has this year gone? POEMS

Son's hanging pot of summer plants

IN COMES SEPTEMBER

Quiet--
inside and out,
cloudy, rainy, humid.
Early September; seasonal
changes.

Quiet
disturbed by sounds
of rain on gardenia
leaves outside the open window:
darkness.
~ ~ ~

opening
before my eyes--
pot of purslane
~ ~ ~

More of son's gardening results

A BATTLE

The fly

and I fighting:

it has speed & I have

a plastic, floppy flyswatter.

Fly wins.

~ ~ ~

Cooler

outside than in

this fifth of September,

even in the sun on the swing.

Quiet.

~ ~ ~

c 2020, PL, dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

NOTE: A September Cinquain monthly booklet is now available. If you want one, IM your mailing address.

Poems: Untitled Cinquains for August

Shadows of Summer

At dusk,

a firefly joins

me on the porch as I

cool off from yardwork. Is it a 

"Peace!" sign?

~ ~ ~

A squirrel

chirrs forlornly--

its nesting tree was trimmed

and its life-long homeplace was hauled

away.

~ ~ ~ 

Branches

of the "shoe tree"

cut back to lose burden

now that the roadside has a new

owner.

~ ~ ~ 

Foliage

shades the rocky

roads to the riverbank.

A cold spring feeds the swimming hole:

childhood.

~ ~ ~

Impressed

or chagrined that

I gave the right answer

to a riddle the collegian

offered?

~ ~ ~

Grandpa

shows his grandson

an old-timey shoe horn.

"Can you play me something on it,

Grandpa?"

Slight breeze--

slight tinkles from

wind chimes this cool morning

in early August. Has summer

broken?

c 2020, PL, dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

poems - after a long time away - blogging

Pears almost ready

park walking trail

solitude--except for

the butterflies

--PL, from connecting our houses, 1995

~ ~ ~ ~

leaving row of holes

where it paws out earthworms

a small raccoon

--Dion O'Donnel, another day, 2001

~ ~ ~ ~

warm afternoon--

even maple leaves seem

too tired to move

--Edward J. Rielly, Maine,

from Timepieces, 1995

~ ~ ~ ~

drenching rain

lightning playing where the clouds

touch the earth

--Dion O'Donnel, everyday living, 1997

~ ~ ~ ~

By dusty roadside . . . 

  a tiny brook tugging hard

     at wild watercress

--Gertrude Morris, NYC,

from Timepieces, 1997

~ ~ ~ ~

on building's facade

the wind-tousled palms appear

almost debonair

--Dion O'Donnel, from daily walk, 1999

~ ~ ~ ~

"on the groom's side, please"

a woman veiled and in black

attends our wedding

--PL, from So Hot For So Long, 2012

~ ~ ~ ~

coreopsis blooms

lofty pedestrian bridge

slowly taking shape

--PL, from the taste of summer, 2005

juvy cardinal

'chits' and forages for seeds

thrown in the driveway

PL, unpublished 

~ ~ ~ ~

from deep down inside

the bee putting on pollen

from the pink flower

--PL, unpublished

~ ~ ~ ~

All of these poems are dated July 24.

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

June poems from different years

down-the-hill neighbor
when I returned from errands
he had mowed my yard
          2005-Couch Street, Benton
~ ~ ~ ~

picking up the pace
airplane and thunder above
the trail in late June
         2001- Arkadelphia
~ ~ ~ ~

Group Living clients
out for daily exercise
on the walking trail
          2001-Arkadelphia
~ ~ ~ ~

teenager gloating
"I've had no bath for a month
but I've gone swimming!"
          2005 - Benton
~ ~ ~ ~

two wrens
the color
of suet
         2018 - Couchwood
~ ~ ~ ~

a mockingbird

walking-flying the dorm steps

early June morning

         1998 - Arkadelphia

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Birds and squirrels ---and a snake!

SITTING GUARD
A squirrel
co-opts fallen
seeds, scaring the young birds
in their foraging. I'm here to
umpire.
(5.9.'20)

DISCOVERY
Little
wrens can stretch for
suet and they don't raise
their heads as some birds do when they
swallow.
(5.1.'20)

AT LEAST THERE'S A CHOICE
Blackcap
at the dwindling
suet cake tries and tries
to access it; goes to the seed
feeder.
(5.8.'20)

RECOGNITION
I hear
her 'chits' before
I see mama redbird
fly to the branch with the suet
feeder.
(5.6.'20)

AND I WAS SOCK-FOOTED!

Prepping

to sit on swing

and read, I spy a grown

mockingbird chipping at a large-

bore snake,

the first

I've seen since I've

lived here (one month shy of

fourteen years). And then while I stewed,

it crawled

a ways

on the ramp. I

threw a gee-gaw at it,

it retreated to the ground or

under

the ramp.

I ran in for

my tablet for proof, but

by that time, it had disappeared.

Oh, dear!

Now, each

step I take must

be monitored for black

and long and slithering before

I move.

(5. 18. '20)

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Now that National Poetry Month is history, here are more springs poems and photos: Blogging

just like my mother's

my kitchen windowsills full

of starter plants

~ ~ ~ ~

first blooms

on the daughter-shared

lily

~ ~ ~ ~

STAY HOME TIME

For some

reason, I take

time to fold a fitted

sheet that's now lying as flat as

top sheets.

~ ~ ~ ~

PESTS UNTIL THEY BLOOM

Privet,

honeysuckle,

hated most of the year,

are spring-welcome; their aroma

sublime.

~ ~ ~ ~

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Various poems and spring photos

Sis Carolyn's photo

HAIKU

the clear creek’s coldness

rustling over gravel bar

a sassafras leaf
~ ~ ~ ~

the scent of kudzu

along the walking trail

a pair of redbirds
~ ~ ~ ~

A GLOSS ON THIRTEEN

The white-haired woman

way older than 13

 ---seven decades older--schleps

book bag and computer valise

with one hand, pulls

herself forward with the other that holds

onto the railing, up

13 wooden steps

to the landing; she rests a beat,

takes 13 more steps to the main floor,

rests another beat, then shifts bags

to one-per-hand, walks

13 steps to Number Three, tries

13 keys before one fits. In her room––

newly-decorated—she counts 13

Safari-themed artifacts:

framed prints, wall hanging,

statuette, candles,

desk lamp with elephant base.

She was the first of 13 siblings.

When hepatitis surged through

the family, the doctor visited

13 times in as many days.

 She’s lived in 13 rent houses,

Thirteen new homes now abide

on the once-family-owned hayfield.

Thirteen pieces of cobalt blue

glass shine from her south windows.

She was born on the 13.^th Perhaps

when she dies the family will wait

till the next 13^th rolls around to

see her buried.

[PUBLISHED IN 2019 MSPS GRIST] 

c PL, dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Mother Nature waffling: winter or spring?

mockingbird
atop the pear tree
storm brewing
~~~~

late winter cold front

the empty yard swing moving

in the northwest wind

~~~~

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

house going up

in tornado's aftermath

old patch of jonquils

~~~~

warm winter dusk
the sounds of children outside
spawning memories
~~~~

losing track of time
researching woodchuck/ groundhog
after a goof-up
~~~~

a piece of leaf

in my snow ice cream

February's end

~~~~

before Leap Day's gone

recording 3 days' poem

output: eighty lines

~~~~

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA 

Between winter and spring: poems

                                                  Last year's roadside flowers

FEBRUARY 7 2020

After

last night, no more

lows in the 20s, at

least for the next week. I'm ready

for spring.

~ ~ ~ ~

long roll of thunder

two birds keep eating

from the suet

~ ~ ~ ~

male cardinal

sitting on abelia branch

next to quince blooms

~ ~ ~ ~

AFTER TODAY, 11 MORE MONTHS

Last day

of the first month

a young tufted titmouse

enjoying a full "bathtub" plus

the sun.

~ ~ ~ ~

TO THE SQUIRRELS

Popcorn

with sea salt tastes

old. I find the "Best used

by" date. No wonder! July of

last year!

~ ~ ~ ~

gentle rain 

mockingbird drinking

from the half-filled birdbath

~ ~ ~ ~

three crows

finding the refused

canned cat food

~ ~ ~ ~

tight buds on short stems

brought inside to force blooms

yellowed, but no flowers

These ARE in bloom in 2020

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

And all of a sudden it's February! - Poems

placing the helmet
upside down
for the wren
~ ~ ~ ~

new snow
on japonica blooms
Groundhog Day
~ ~ ~ ~

a dove calls
close by
but out of sight
~ ~ ~ ~

oh, wow!
the sweetness of the apple
from the sale carousel
~ ~ ~ ~

before dawn
the long freight
coming . . . and going
~ ~ ~ ~

driving after dark
a running length of gray fur
stopped by my tire
~ ~ ~ ~

spring cleaning
on the warm winter day
early daffodils
~ ~ ~ ~

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

POEMS WRITTEN DURING JANUARYS/JANUARIES

the incessant sound

from a dining room wall

traced to attic vent

(2010)

~ ~ ~ ~

snowman coffee mug

but no sign of snow so far

this January

(2012)

~ ~ ~ ~

"... not bitterly cold..."

15 degrees feeling 

bitter to me

(2001)

~ ~ ~ ~

kick-standing bike

still on the porch

house gone*

one payment shy

the fellowship hall

now gone*

the school scattered

beyond the wall

bearing its name**

(1999)

~ ~ ~ ~

* from Andrea Harter, AD-G

** from J. Slivka, AD-G

c 2020, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA