Poems from other Decembers, from other poets, too

laden cedar branches
made silent by the snow
nothing at all to hear

[from the late Dion O'Donnol's every day living, 1997]
~~

Christmas shoppers;
into the blind beggar's cup
a silent snowflake

[Dorothy McLaughlin, from our flip calendar, connecting our houses, 1997]
~~

looking up
from my Christmas reading~
thicker icicles

[PL - from Poems for December, 2002]
~~

the full kettle's
garbled whistle~
twenty-two degrees

[PL - from Dynamic December, 2003]
~~

last of the pound cake
I baked for two parties
is now my breakfast

[PL - from rising to the top, 2012]
~~

Auntie's first Christmas
   not only an orphan
   but now a widow

[PL - from a branch of red leaves, 2005]
~~~
~~~

pittypatter: Advent 2014

~Advent Wreath-Google images~

 

 

Advent: 2014

(an Octo sequence)

It’s Advent—twenty-fourteen now--

too many years since last I wrote.

 

I fill my time with handbells, choir

 

--requiring diligence--and bills

 

and cats and house and med refills.

I fill my time with handbells, choir.

Too many years since last I wrote,

 

it’s Advent—twenty-fourteen now.

~~

I used to write an Advent verse

each year, till life got in the way--

 

especially after I retired.

 

I penned one novel, then one more.

 

Activities came to the fore,

especially after I retired.

Each year, till life got in the way,

I used to write an Advent verse.

~~



I hereby vow to take more time

to celebrate the Advent Child,

to live expectantly each day

 

as if the second-coming’s near;

 

make ready, leave no room for fear.

To live expectantly each day,

to celebrate the Advent Child,

 

I hereby vow to take more time.

 

PL - 2014

 

 

December poems

street signs
at Frozen and Geyer
growing icicles
~~
muzzling a Magi--
they set up the frat lawn's
Nativity scene
~~
blue-glass mobile
chiming in December wind--
student in short sleeves
~~
second
son's
fifty-
second
birthday
~~
Hal Borland:
"December's the price
we pay for June"
~~
filling the feeder
and knocking holes in the ice
the bluebirds return
~~
~~
PL - dba lovepat press

Posthumously: a poem

 

 

Posthumously
 

 Three months
after Mom’s death,
we five siblings went through
box after box of greeting cards,
letters,

 

diaries,
journals, brittle
clippings of her mother’s
that had been bequeathed to Mom as
eldest.

 

Weekends
are for yard sales,
so we planned one when five
of us seven children could be
present.

 

Pie pans,
cookbooks, blankets,
mismatched silverware, odd
purses, sweaters, glassware, aprons
and more,

found new
homes in exchange
for one dollar, or two.
Neighbors dropped by for a look-see,
chatted,

picked up
tiny trinkets
so they would have something
of “dear Ms. Anna Pearl’s” that they
could keep.

Packing
unsold clothing,
a daughter found something
in her mom’s black velvet jacket:
dried bread,

too large
at the time for
her to swallow during
Holy Communion many months
ago.

[PL - written in July of 2006]

Rain? Sleet? Mix? Snow? poems

 

From the Kitchen Table, I see...

droplets
of last night's rain
converging on roof's edge,
pausing a moment, then sparkling,
falling.
~~

the old house gone
petunias' final bloom
before the frost
~~

first frost
the coarse-weave blanket
holding my warmth
~~

the late dusk sky
backlighting the pine trees
a full day of rain
~~

autumn evening
a flock of geese honks
above the light rain
~~

two days later
a midnight rain
re-leafs my lawn

Chorales in cinquains

chorale - a simple hymn tune

She Surprised Herself

 

After

only one week

in the Ozarks, our friend--

a writer from Ontario--

said 'y'all.'

PL~~~

 

After

the pear harvest,

the south winds wrestle one

recalcitrant fruit to the ground.

My treat!

PL~~~

 

Andy Rooney 1919-2011

 

Though he

had two machines

in his office--to press

pants and shine shoes--he always looked

rumpled.
PL, from the news~~~

In the Mountains

I sell
two of my books--
$30. I spend
thirty-five shopping at thrift stores
for "fleas."
PL~~~

Creation?

Fish grease
and olive oil
mix on the sheet of foil,
create shapes like islands before
my eyes.
PL~~~

Be Careful What You Ask For

She called
out for added
singers in the Advent
program. A dozen teenaged boys
showed up.
PL~~~

Autumn's Fallen

Four leaves--
maple, dogwood,
tulip poplar, sweet gum--
two red, two yellow, now grace my
table.
PL~~~



Post-election poems

two tails
with lives of their own
she-cats facing off

[PL- from November Nuggets, 2003]
~~

rush to early church
my watch on upside down
and unmatched earrings

[PL - from before the frost, 2005]
~~

library visit
the child in awe of how quiet
grown-ups can be

[PL - from at the sound of geese, 2006]
~~

sassafras grove
adding fieriness
to the fall sunrise

[PL - from the last windfall pear, 2011]
~~

DST again
as the light wanes early
insect songs begin

[PL - from apples into swans, 2012]
~~

oh, no!
seeing results
of Tuesday's election

[PL - still in journal, 2014]
~~~~
~~~~