Seasonal poems

swallowtail

must love the taste

of abelia blooms

~~~~

LEAH FROM KANSAS

Bevy 

of butterflies--

monarchs, to be exact,

each time I pass the calendar

photo.

~~~~

taut red skin

tart tang of yellow flesh

no wonder Wm Carlos Wms

couldn't help himself

from eating a plum

~~~~

Flying

by here faster

than the speed limit. Where's

a sheriff's deputy when you

need one?

~~~~

Blackcap

and cardinal

at the unusually-

ignored suet cake. Is something

amiss?

~~~~

Hedge-row

of yellow bell,

japonica, privet--

a neat hideaway for rabbits

and squirrels.

~~~~

Fenced out

by the neighbors

on the south needing tall

enclosure to keep their future

dogs in.

~~~~

After

last night's t-storm

the temps of early fall

are 70 degrees - very

welcome.

~~~~

c 2019 by PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR US

After a hiatus, July POEMS

                                                   Mom's begonia, still blooming


Catching
a squirrel eating
suet! I bang the glass
of the window; it scampered down,
away.
~ ~ ~ ~

Extreme
mid-day heat. Blue
jay rests in the leafy
shade close to the suet feeder.
("My turn?")
~ ~ ~ ~

Hanging
the suet cake
just right allows two birds
to eat at one time: cardinal,
sparrow.
~ ~ ~ ~

I walk
across kitchen
with a full cuppa joe
and--at 83--do not spill
a drop!
~ ~ ~ ~

Fighting
the petrified
peel of the sweet orange
sold in a bag of post-dated
apples.
~ ~ ~ ~

Redbird
on tricycle
handle. One flesh-and-blood,
the other a wrought-iron, outdoors
feature.
~ ~ ~ ~

c 2019, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Spring means graduations, flowers, yardwork: POEMS

                       Grandson in a crape myrtle years ago, graduated from high school last week.

a passing truck

painted like a zebra

--this quirky town

(Eureka Springs, '15) 

~ ~ ~ ~

                                                          Coreopsis and purple jew

QUATRAIN

Did Mama ever pray

when her children drove away 

"Dear Lord, they're yours now,

please keep them in your way."?

(April '11)

~ ~ ~ ~

                                                    Another grandson many years ago

the only thing

you will leave 

is what you create

(Tom Padgett on Wallace Stevens. Lucidity retreat, 2004)

~ ~ ~ ~

                       Older son with granddaughter who graduated from high school last week.

CINQUAIN

After

yesterday's wind

and rain, today's roadside

fields of mustard brighten the gray

landscape.

(Hwy 35 to Tull, April '19)

~ ~ ~ ~

                                                                  Google image.

THREE DAYS' PAPERS UNREAD

Resting

from yesterday's

frustrations, noggin-bump,

kin's graduation and a long

trip home.

(5. 17. '19)

~ ~ ~ ~

c 2019 PL, dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Spring: rain, birds --poems

Watching

the cardinal

casing the area

around the suet feeder. He

flies in.

~ ~ ~ ~

After

the ramp's laid,

I widen the flower

bed to include adjacent lawn,

dig grass.

~ ~ ~ ~

the old woman

wearing socks

with sandals

~ ~ ~ 

rain from the roofline

escaping

into the cellar

~ ~ ~ ~

Easter Monday

both our mailbox flags

are up

~ ~ ~ ~

a silent rain

droplets in the birdbath

the only clue

~ ~ ~ ~

                                                                   photo-C. Hoggard

untended

the leggy but leafing

hydrangea

~ ~ ~ ~

c 2019, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Cinquains by Pat and friends--Ted Badger & the late Lew Taylor

BIOGRAPHY
His dog
walked him to school,
and many years later,
one lay beside his bed until
he died.
--PL, from an obit
~ ~ ~ ~

BLIP ON THE SCREN
Life is
transitory--
a wisp of smoke soon gone.
Best then focus energies to
seek love.
--Ted O. Badger
~ ~ ~ ~

BREAKING WRITERS BLOCK
Write poems
like you pick plums.
Glean all that come to you.
Sort out the ones with flaws and worms
later.
--Lew Taylor
~ ~ ~ ~

CAROUSEL
Shuffling
the wooden herd
between storage spaces
resulted in the loss of one
pony.
---PL
~ ~ ~ ~

DOMINANT TRAIT
Science
can't abolish
our fallibility
because human nature always
prevails.
--TB
~ ~ ~ ~

DR. JOHNNY WINK, OBU
Satchel
in his right hand
paper in the other,
he walked to class memorizing
poems.
--PL
~ ~ ~ ~

EVOLUTION CONTINUES
Early
worms sometimes meet
birds, becoming breakfasts.
Some day hence all worms will be late
sleepers.
--LT
~ ~ ~ ~

c 2018, PL d/b/a/ lovepat press, Benton AR

WORKING IN THE YARD IN EARLY SPRING

Trusty tools

dianthus

no wind
yet the yard swing’s moving
with two cats on it

~ ~ ~ ~

The old
spirea blooms
only on the branch ends.
I cut away much undergrowth.
Perhaps

next year,
blooms will suffuse
the end of the hedge row.
Now to set the clippers to new
privet.

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile,
the burn pile grows
higher and higher. When
will someone come to help me burn
safely?

(Rhetorical question: my sons will burn it this summer.)

c  2018, PL, dba as lovepat press, Benton AR

March Musings - poems

Late winter - 2018

I sit

outside, waiting

for the t-storm forecast

on Code Red. Rumbles & raindrops

were all. . .

~ ~ ~ ~

I WANT TO ROOT THEM!

Pruning

Knockout roses--

as my bother insists--

breaks my heart to see all the limbs

destroyed.

~ ~ ~ ~

HOW CAN THAT BE?

One more

day gone without

pruning the roses "for

many more summer blooms." How can

that be?

~ ~ ~

BATHING

First day

of spring. My first

look outside (from inside)

offers the sight of a thrasher

and finch.

~ ~ ~

Before

the second storm,

Sir Robin takes a bath

in the chock-full-from-the-first-storm

basin.

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

c 2018, PL

Deep into Autumn: POEMS

# 315
While I
make coffee, Greye
sits apace staring at
his food dish--patiently--still as
marble.
~~~

#317
I watch
as a goldfinch
takes a long bath in fresh
water. Nearby, yellow maples
drop leaves.
~~~

#320
No birds
singing; so still,
the far-off highway drone
is audible--till a pickup
passes.
~~~

#323
Spider
webs everywhere
there're two objects to start
and end with. In one, two perfect
circles.
Builders
spun while I slept,
designed webs CD-sized
or old 45s--too fine to
capture
photos;
too sunny to
get close. What industry!
Examples of Mother Nature's
beauty.
~~~

c 2017 PL dba lovepat press

More summer poems cat, heat, drought

Greye Laster cat

IT'S COOLER DOWN HERE

smart cat!

Rather than rest

in the attic's heat, he

spends his afternoon nap on the

fourth stair.

~~

STRANGE ONE

Strange one

at the birdbath:

stretched out, a foot long, eyes

checking the water. Finally,

he laps.

~~

A FIRST!

After

all these years, Greye

jumped up on the loveseat

in the space between my paper

and me.

Never

has he done such

as that. He reclined in

the small spot, put a gray paw on

my leg.

~~

Storm building in Fairfield Glade, TN on sisters' trip

smelling

rain, but the sun's

shining

~~

ALL THINGS IN THEIR TIMES

Every

time I looked up

at graying clouds, I prayed,

"Please rain. Please rain." Hours later,

spitting.
~~

Yellow

pansy hanging

out of the pot. Could I

hear it gasping, "Too hot! Water!

Water!"?

~~

parched ground somewhere

c 2017 PL dba lovepat press

Poems from the Past - Cinquains

1996 - ETHICS
"I know
it's not allowed."
Ruth stretches out her trunk
to fenced-out docent. "Goobers taste
so good!"
~~
1998 - DANGER!
My son's
experiment--
the glint in brittle leaves
is sun's reflection through the glass.
"No, NO!"
~~

2003 - FOUND IN AN OLD JOURNAL
I crave
ice cream after
two weeks' deprivation,
and he walks in with a bag of
corn chips.
~~

2005 - OUT OF THE COUNTRY
"Goodnight
for the last time
in 13 days," my boy
says before his school trip to Greece
and Rome.
~~

2006 - 101 DEGREES
Robins,
redbird and squirrel
glean from the shady yard
in grass that is drying up from
the heat.
~~

2009 - TOO BIG
Huge brown
thrasher wobbles
on the column feeder
eating seeds that the smaller birds
ignore.
~~

2012 - SO HOT FOR SO LONG
ACs
turned on at eight-
fifteen a. m. Nearly
80 degrees already this
morning.
~~

2015 - WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Five days
after seeing
"Oklahoma," I'm still
mind-singing "People will say we're
in love."
~~

2016 - IF THAT'S ALL WE HAD TO DO
Counting
the unmarked mute
swans on the Thames each year
for their owner, the Queen. What a
great job!
~~

2017 - SOUNDS
Music
of the wind chimes,
drone of the airplane, swish
and hum of passing cars . . . so far,
peace reigns.
~~
~~
PL, posted July 7, 2017

Just in the past few days. . . poems/ photos

First day

of summer, yet

the pansies, though leggy,

still show off their multicolored

faces.

~ ~ ~

Purple
jew coexists
with coreopsis, cone
flower, dianthus, oxalis,
stone crop.
~ ~ ~ ~

Close up
of bronzy 'mums
blooming for the second
year in Mom's ancient concrete porch
planter.
~ ~ ~

c 2017 PL

Still winter, but hints of spring already: poems

C. Hoggard photo

Three found poems:

IN THE NEWS

Thirteen

Burmese pythons

captured during one week

at a Key Largo refuge. How

scary!

~~

Lifetime

bus pass and two

new canes for the man who

broke his cane defending the bus

driver.

~~

Stopping

the bridge upgrade

after finding an egg

in a hummingbird nest. "Resume

when hatched."

~~

Staring

at a bare oak,

I notice a giant

quarter-rest symbol: a "Z" with

a "C"!

~~

Honey-

bees on the pink

quince blossoms, excited

--it seems--with their new food source, warm

weather.

 I, too,

delight, exult,

and work outside: dig up

monkey grass, trim yarrow and clip

hedgerow.

~~

Robin

flew to the rim,

waded around the rock,

dipped its beak a couple of time,

then flew.

~~

japonica

seems more lush

more pink this year

~~

Fluid,

interactive

art: watching the circles

made by raindrops in the birdbath

water.

~~

Who needs

a Valentine

when leftover fudge squares

are as close as the door of the

freezer?

Poems for the waning year

ANIMALS HAVE IT RIGHT
Sleeping
winter away
not a bad idea--
even for older folks in cold
houses.
~ ~ ~ 12. 20. '16

PRE-CHRISTMAS DILEMMA
No room
at the table
to eat my evening meal:
wrapping paper, gift boxes, stamps
and cards.
~ ~ ~ 12. 22. '16

MIRACLE? MAGIC? HAPPENSTANCE?
I swear,
around bedtime
on Christmas, I heard strains
of "Silent Night" from the largest
wind chime.
~ ~ ~ 12. 26. '16

70 degrees
on an early winter day
a mockingbird bathes
~ ~ ~ 12. 26. '16

in the bare oak tree
one leafy branch still hangs
moving in the wind
~ ~ ~ 12. 26. '16

summer-like Christmas --
a juvenile squirrel climbing
the wet-barked oak tree
~ ~ ~ 12. 26. '16

CINQUAINS FOR THE SEASON

ROOSEVELT & CHURCHILL LIGHTING THE NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE IN 1941
"Under
a rind of moon
in a time of war, they
gazed up & were bathed in Christmas"
grandeur.
--Leonard Pitts Jr. 12. 11. '11

BAPTISM
After
posting the mail
I stop, notice oak leaves
furling down. And then one lands on
my head.

GOTTA BE OVER 18, SIR

Grandpa--
Christmas shopping
with a clerk for his 5
grandchildren--has to sign for a
movie.

MID-DECEMBER
After
this week, the Pope
will be as old as I
am. Lo! the discrepancy in
careers.

LAST BIO
"Known by
many, liked by
some, disliked by others,

gone to a better place." (Dick O.
Poyen)

FOR A FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD
What is
more powerful
than TV, DVDs,
Harry Potter on computer?
It's SNOW!!

~~~
~~~

Though it's not yet fall, folks are calling September "autumn" - poems

Couchwood in autumn, PL

DELICIOUS FATIGUE

Falling

into the bed

without nightly reading--

bushed from two days of minding a

toddler.

LEGACY

Out of

fifty tulips

he gave her before he

died, the pink one lasted until

Easter.

OH, NO!

After

company left,

I sat down to relax,

saw a dryer sheet peek from my

pant leg.

HAIKU
while I'm reading

a crisp brown leaf

sails onto my journal
~~
white spaces
in the haiku journal
ideal for my own
~~
at the last minute
the singer changing his song
to "Amazing Grace."

~~

c 2016, PL dba lovepat press. First 3 poems from "September Cinquains," 2003; haiku from "a lamp to work by," 2012

Fickle February: poems

 

CINQUAINS

 

A warm

winter day. I

bring four smallish houseplants

outside for a spate of fresh air.

Me, too.

 

 

Doves call,

dogs bark and folks

pass, returning from work.

Nearby, a robin chitters. Oh,

such peace.

 



Perfect

as a flower-

show speciman, except

the iris blossoms several months

early.

 

 

Heater

warming the cats,

while I use a lap robe--

gift from my son last Christmas--to

keep warm.

 

 

Racket

in the dining

room--small gray legs climbing

the screen until I rap the loose

window.

 

 

The whump

of the blackbirds

leaving. Another whump

when they returned. The airplane adds

a drone.

 



Cinquains and Tanka for early November

BEWARE
First day
of deer season . . .
not a good day to drive
the narrow, wooded mountainous

highway.
~~~

WHAT NOW? OR WHO?
Again,
an ambulance
screams by, lights flashing. In
this rural milieu, where does it
end up?
~~~


TIME CHANGE
The sixth
of November--
warm enough to sit out,
but too dark (Central Standard Time)
to see.
~~~

IN TWO-THOUSAND-TWELVE
Absent
for 10 days; when
I return from the trip,
the Encore azaleas are still
in bloom,

the mums
still radiant,
but the moss rose? Leggy.
The feral cats I left unfed?
Still here.
~~~

TANKA
leaf-vacuum truck
whooshes up the fallen leaves
from this mountain street
but by this afternoon
twice as many will be down
~~~

SHADOWY
Cat walks
across a strip
of sunshine on the floor--
shadow he makes as large as a
tiger.
~~~