How Can I Complain

How can I complain

When the day dawns

Gold and blue

A child's red bicycle

On the sidewalk

A mother in pink

Walking behind

A black lab

Led 

On a green leash

How can I complain

When my eyes are

Fed

By such things

As these

 

 

Sole Sugar Maple

When our yard

Was planned

It was not planned big

On variety

Come autumn

Ir is entirely 

Gold

Thank goodness

For today's gray sheet

Of rain

And the sole 

Sugar maple

Burning orange and red

Across

The street

Simple Floral Arrangement

I try to write one poem

A day

Some days

The creative juices

Flow 

Through someone else's veins 

It comes out their fingers

Their voices

Their paintbrushes

Sometimes it's

A simple

Floral arrangement

Two orange gerbera daisies 

A sprig of baby's breath

One small leather leaf

Fern

Why Would I Ever

Why would I ever wonder

Where's

Who's

How's

The particular

When it will all

Come clear

Eventually 

The muddle which is often

My brain

Says

It is so

 

 

Excuse My Dust

She spent years

In a file cabinet

Until she was found

Then buried 

As directed

Her estate left

To Martin Luther King

Then to the NAACP

They had never heard of her

Surprise

Surprise

Surprise

A woman with passion

Toward your cause

Speaks from the grave 

Her royalties

Are yours

She was one of wit

Dorothy Parker 

Her gravestone reads

Excuse my dust

What shall I write

I walk down the stairs

Every morning

Know what I shall write

Awaits me

In the living room chair

If I sit long enough

Hold  the coffee

Warm in my hands

How do you decide

What to write

They ask me

It's there

It's there

It's there

Sometime the good

Strains through

Sometimes it takes

Another cup

Of coffee

 

I Know It's Morning

I know it's morning

But in the dark

It's hard to tell

We near the time

To gain an extra hour

It will be easier

To know 

Then

Hint of the Season

So glad

To wake up 

To sunlight

Through the redbud

Gold in autumn

White in winter

Purple in spring

Green in summer

I can look out

Know

What to expect

When I open the window

A hint of the season

FOX

The neighborhood call

Goes out

As if this

Is a threat

To everyone

Perhaps a squirrel

Or someone

With a very tiny dog

The foxes in our backyard

Eat crab apples

With all the other

Animals

FOX

Send him over here

We have crab apples

For everyone

Ephod

Aaron was commanded

To wear two onyx stones 

Six tribes each 

Then four rows

Row one

Carnelian, Chrysolite, Emerald

Row two

Turquoise, Sapphire, Moonstone

Row three

Jacinth, Agate. Amethyst

Row four

Beryl, Onyx, Jasper

All set in gold filigree

Not to mention 

The embroidery 

Such was the ephod

Urim and Thummim

Urim and Thummim

 

Stones kept close

To the heart

In case innocence 

And guilt

Did not

Pronounce themselves

Clearly

As was often

The case

Pocket full of stones

We never know

When a stone

Will be required

To mark a visit

Hence

We must keep

Our pockets full

Of stones

So we are never caught

Stone-less

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs lay a trail

Still

Not one which lasts

They are subject

To consumption

By birds

Stones last longer

Stones may be piled

In cairns

Left for generations

To wonder why

They are there

Stones may be left

To gleam

In the moonlight

For Hansel and  Gretel

To find their way home