a single, brave bird
tries its winter-dormant voice:
spring-a-soon, spring's soon!
[from delicious fatigue, 1992]
~~
two feet of snow there
yet the geese fly northward--
early March dawn
[premier edition, Hermitage, Romania, 2004]
~~
in the median
black Lab
shivering
[from Measuring March, 2003,
published in Muse of Fire]
~~
ice storm--
a vine
without its host
[Measuring March, 2003]
~~
c lovepat press, 2014, PL
Friday, February 28, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Accelerando-- a poem
The new year's resolutions made,
in February's fabric fade.
Like each day's blue and rosy dawn,
another month has come and gone.
So many noble goals were set,
like cleaning oven, closet; yet,
a week passed by with every yawn!
Another month has come and gone.
The pundits say the way to gauge
time's flight is by advancing age.
Good reason why, though plans were drawn,
another month has come and gone.
~~A Kyrielle pattern
c 2014, PL, lovepat press
from variations, 1994
Thursday, February 13, 2014
(Google Image)
SATURDAY NIGHT DANCE
widows kiss
parking lot attendant--
maybe tonight. . .
Julliard-degreed
she does the two-step
with aplomb
out-of-state Reserves
sample local scene
moon chaperone
bold redneck
teaching dance instructor
a new step
popular band lures
woodsmen to town--
hounds in pickup
old men sit and smoke
dream of other nights
jitterbug
lonely in a crowd--
lovers cling
to saxophone wail
frogs croak louder
band sounds fainter--
going home early
~~
PL, from windfall persimmons, 1995, lovepat press
Thursday, February 6, 2014
In memory of Dr. Howard Nobles, poet, baseball fan, friend
Public domain baseball image from Google
Here are several pieces from the late Howard Nobles' (Benton AR) 2004 book, Poems From A Baseball Fan (Publish America/ Baltimore). He died December 5, 2013 at age 71. He was a long-time member of the Poets' Roundtable of Arkansas, serving a term as president, and active in the Saline County branch of PRA, serving as vice-president and president. He loved to make fun of politics and politicians as his limericks often showed. He also loved baseball.
NOW PLAYING WHERE?
Williams was with Boston.
Mantle was a Yank.
I once knew
who was who.
But today?
I must be frank.
I don't know
who is who,
Or what team
they're on.
About the time
I think I know
Is the time that
they are gone.
I do not really know
who is really who
For one day they're wearing red,
the next they're in the blue.
I liked it better when,
and, again, I must be frank,
I knew who was a Dodger,
a Tiger or a Yank.
[page 17]
~~
BASEBALL LIMERICKS
There once was a lad from St. Paul
Who could really whack a baseball.
He hit one with such force
That it killed a large horse
After crashing through a brick wall.
An error-prone shortstop named Neft
Admitted that he was not deft.
"I miss balls day and night
That are hit to my right.
I also miss balls to my left."
[p.84]
God rest Howard's soul and may his memory live forever. PL
~~
Labels:
baseball fan,
baseball poetry,
Howard Nobles,
limericks
Thursday, January 30, 2014
One-twelfth of the new year gone already
sweeping the rug
one long cat whisker
and then another
~~
before tonight's freeze
plucking four inch-high buds
of daffodils
~~
graveside service
momentarily halted
two geese fly over
~~
TANKA
5 degrees outside
55 inside, with ice
on the thin windows
layered and lap-robed
I watch birds out in the sun
~~
blackbirds in the yard
pecking among the crisp leaves
robins on the roof
~~
cat wiggling
through the barely-open door--
below freezing
~~
c 2014, PL lovepat press
one long cat whisker
and then another
~~
before tonight's freeze
plucking four inch-high buds
of daffodils
~~
graveside service
momentarily halted
two geese fly over
~~
TANKA
5 degrees outside
55 inside, with ice
on the thin windows
layered and lap-robed
I watch birds out in the sun
~~
blackbirds in the yard
pecking among the crisp leaves
robins on the roof
~~
cat wiggling
through the barely-open door--
below freezing
~~
c 2014, PL lovepat press
Labels:
blackbirds,
cat,
geese,
graveside,
inch-high daffodil buds,
robins
Thursday, January 23, 2014
soughing of the wind
hard rain
on the chimney cap--
the wind chime
~~
windstorm
rattling this old house--
my shallow breaths
~~
soughing of the wind
silenced . . . the rising roar
of the plane's passing
~~
up and down,
cats in, cats out--
I bang my heel
~~
no ice cream--
I try meditating
on haiku
[after Santoka Taneda, from Haiku Mind, by P. Donegan]
~~~~~~
c 2014, lovepat press, PL
on the chimney cap--
the wind chime
~~
windstorm
rattling this old house--
my shallow breaths
~~
soughing of the wind
silenced . . . the rising roar
of the plane's passing
~~
up and down,
cats in, cats out--
I bang my heel
~~
no ice cream--
I try meditating
on haiku
[after Santoka Taneda, from Haiku Mind, by P. Donegan]
~~~~~~
c 2014, lovepat press, PL
Labels:
"Haiku Mind" by P. Donegan,
cats,
Santoka Taneda,
winter haiku
Thursday, January 16, 2014
unheated attic --
window lace frosted inside,
icicle bars outdoors
--Dorothy McLaughlin, from
Connecting Our Houses, 1997
~~
mid-January
receiving the November-
December issue
~~
trapped
inside
her Ford Escape
~~
the clap of thunder--
a flock of starlings
where the robins were
~~
in a swollen river
a freighter and a pickup
which doesn't belong?
~~
winter sky
on the end of the high branch
a clump of leaves
~~
c 2014, lovepat press
window lace frosted inside,
icicle bars outdoors
--Dorothy McLaughlin, from
Connecting Our Houses, 1997
~~
mid-January
receiving the November-
December issue
~~
trapped
inside
her Ford Escape
~~
the clap of thunder--
a flock of starlings
where the robins were
~~
in a swollen river
a freighter and a pickup
which doesn't belong?
~~
winter sky
on the end of the high branch
a clump of leaves
~~
c 2014, lovepat press
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