blogging: poems of mid-October

CONTEST WINNER
Can you
imagine a
two-thousand, five-hundred-
twenty-eight pound pumpkin? How would
it taste?
~ ~ ~ ~ from ADG's News in brief, 10.1.'18

NEARLY THAT TIME AGAIN
HAMMER,
FARMER, BAPTIST
among election signs
along the highways in Saline
County.
~ ~ ~ ~

woodpecker eating

the rest of the abandoned

suet cake

~ ~ ~ ~

A LEAF AND A SPIDER WEB

Oak leaf

caught in a web

dances without a net

or puppet strings. It's a brown bird

flying.

After

a gust of wind

both the leaf and the web

that held it flew off, never to

return.

~ ~ ~ ~

Hearing,

then seeing, a

flock of geese flying west

on this early, first cold snap of

autumn.

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

A spring day in cinquains-March 30 '17

Lenten Roses - photo by Uncle Norval Ziegler, Oak Ridge, TN

I. I hear

doves from across

the road. Cardinals--from

behind me--chitter. Cool after

the storm.

II. & III. Mocker

eats from the new

suet cake on a limb

of the still-bare beautyberry.

Red bird

against

the blue metal

feeder has trouble with

perching peg. I need to fill both

feeders.

IV. A large

red-headed wood-

pecker at the suet

cake until I moved to take a

photo.

V. Pink bloom

of azalea

falls onto the growing

hosta's heart. They nestle nicely.

I smile.

VI. "Please God, no fatalities"

Siren

sounding frantic

on vehicle headed

west on the freeway. Now, the air

is still.

VII. "Cloudy, but bright"

No lights

in the sky, but

plenty around. Grounded

nightlights abundant in neighbors'

acres.

VIII. "Easy to read"

With two

floodlight bulbs, my

"patio" area

is bathed in enough light that I

can write.

IX. "Contentment"

I sit

outside at night.

The yard light shows a red

bougainvillea newly blossomed.

I sigh.

THE END

Bird life in October - poems

HAIKU
cardinal
'chits' from the far end
of the porch
~~~

robin
at the birdbath
but only for a drink
~~~

mockingbird
chasing a robin
from the birdbath
~~~

red-headed woodpecker--
its morning drink
where I can see                                 
~~~

TANKA
bluejay
squawking
from a beautyberry limb--
   calling kin to water
   or warning foes away?

A poetic bow to the birds

CINQUAIN

Bright blue
wings flutter from
wire to the greening grass.
It's rare to see a bluebird, so
I watch.
~~~

HAIKU

male cardinal bathes
in the fresh water ... three ... four
sparrows join him
~~~

CINQUAIN

Between
the noise of cars,
I hear a woodpecker,
spring peepers and a gentle wind-
chime tone.
~~~

CINQUAIN

Mocker
at the birdbath;
flies two feet to the bush
of beautyberries. Inside, my
nose drips.
~~~

HAIKU

college's spring break
only a team of robins
on the baseball field
(published in Haiku Headlines, 2003)
~~~

HAIKU

the flock of blackbirds
down the street just yesterday
now in my backyard
(published in the Premier edition of Hermitage [Romania] 2004)
~~~

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press