south to planktown

 drove down south some, we did.

decent day of sun, weather and all.

 saw no wagons this day.

 empty morning on the back-ways.

no rabbits out

not a one

even here at home they hid.

that's what we limitly saw, and what we did.

foremat

 some diet.  i am not eating meat

most of the time.  don't think about it.

once in a while at a rice place i have

some meat in a ground up sauce.

i wanted to call it our rice place.

we always go to the same one. 

there aren't many.

i thought i got turkey, but she said 

i had pork.  all the same to me,

whether i have it or not.

food is what i order.

the spicy i like.

not crazy spicy ... tasty.

flavor me, Babe

i'm cooperative. 

fall, the season

 fall is beginning.
let go of the heat.
 the weather remains comfortable.
look for apples.
when i think ahead i never want
to shed summertime, but my feeling
changes when the season begins.
also, i'm wearing a heavy shirt today
and am ready to wear socks.

our pal Blackie

 

beloved Blackie returned every summer for five years
we liked him, i think the feeling was mutual
his wings are flapping fast
not because he was crazy - he was a wild bird
and soon as he got his peanut he was leaving
 my October 29, 2007 post has his story

january emptied

making notes I am
sorting words, stacking cards
one dog barking

I look up at the dark blurs
some birds boring blindly
into running low grey clouds

above on the hill, the Gianicolo,
a cannon fires a puff of smoke into the chill
below, the city hears the signal, it Is noon

we board a bus of content silence
off for a bite of lunch, our own words blend,
weave and overlap with the others

then a little walking
through the crowds
a lot of talking

don’t hear what they’re saying
making plans I suppose,
some are gesturing, pointing,

laughing young women
heads together
recount social victories

no small children pulling against their mothers
today many little wrapped ones in blankets
lulled to silence on four-wheeled strollers

temperature is dropping
who is content?
there is some calm poised beyond complacency

after evening buses slow, then cease
overnight it is soundless
when imagination is the only border

deerful

 gathered close, light woods around

deerskin tan and markings white abound 

in quiet movement, together, shuffling

without sound. only the ambience of evening.

moonless sky. strong bodies, family,

in silence, light breathes, watching amid darkness.

numbers, they speak of time, we know hours

as they pass in dampness. they call numbers in hours.

we see paths, streams, short rivers we know.

living dreams. our numbers live with us.

wood sticks lightly kicked against leaves.

our group of deer move in near silence.

breathe in light puffs. aware around us.

poets 1

 

a crowd of poets is a sad thing

sure they're always holding hands

but they're crying.

working the best we can

every day we find chores
that need completing.
 you know how that goes.
not overly fatiguing.
we do the jobs we want to do first.
fortunately, we can secure trained agents to handle
the worst. if you pay they'll show up.

two school-age boys came by

to clean our already clean rain gutters.
we sent them away.
last winter we over-paid the same lads to shovel snow,
they did a lousy job and kept returning at every dusting of a few snowflakes.

here at our new home we're caught with the unfamiliar;
going to stores to buy the food 

people we've never seen put cans on shelves.
 

our new garden turned out unremarkable.

unannounced, another completion:  a baby rabbit was born,
hopped around our yard as a clumsy complete newcomer would.
 then it stormed heavy rain 24 hours.
 the baby washed well.

the newly born came out after the rain.
i saw three other rabbits as well.

today our  bunny came out,
ate grass and kept to itself
as rabbits tend to do.
we watched from inside.
don't know if it's a him or her
it's just our bunny.

we  know little.

booming

last night's forecast called for thunder,
they hit it on the bean,
 right on time, the crack of dawn . 
the clock said six.

  morning's light trapped in thunder clouds.
a strong boom shook the house .
pouring rain alternated with cold stillness.

i woke clearly and thought to write
good words, altogether so they blend.
a theme dedicated to this morning.

 found nowhere to scratch it.
forgot to sleep with a pen and paper.

had an idea, couldn't write it down.
 so i slipped into sleep again,
forgot my thoughts,
lost them in the rain.
a pleasant way to go.

trash

Wednesday is trash day.
not make it, pick it up.
put it out and a city truck comes by.
the cans are so big i can't handle them.
refuse is one, recycle the other
two to go automatically.
giant robot arms pick them up
and turn the cans over above the truck.
i can watch and write about them,
that's it.

Elec

workers again
come aboard  ...

i remove myself.
take a lunch break.


eLectricity, i had to say it.
two guys playing with wires
for hours ...

good for them i leak money.

so

so if so
then you see.
near to you,
near to me.
the big tree, some rocks, flowers and weeds.
play outa while
look around some
watch for seeds
take it easy on your walk
it's pretty out there
enjoy the time out of doors

waiting days

then rain and off, 
blowing heavy drops.
call it stormy with thunder;
including one exceptional strike,
you must have heard it, felt it;
from the inside. the strike occurred here.
only one other time in my life did i
happen to be where lightning exploded.
oh, yeah, too close; made me jump.

ring on will ya

my goodness,

just when all's trashed

seems some work

to dump big-time

our sweet land of liberty.

where're you headed?

of thee i sing.

let us be proud again,

something to cheer about

from every mountainside, streetside

parkingplace,

get going now

let freedom ring.

two leaves fell

 i saw two leaves
fall from a tree, one of our
trees, way early; this is august,
too soon, still summer.
not time for falling leaves
2020 continues to be
a year of strange.
it does seem that way.

a change

summer heat slipped away.
so quickly.
were you expecting cooler weather?
i hadn't thought of a change.

then a week went by
other events distracted me;
i turned my head
 and now fall approaches.

blue jay

that blue jay is tough as an eagle

well, not quite, but thinks he is.

no matter who's on our bird feeder

blue jay will fly in when he wants to.

i'll smile again

never get closer than thirty feet
to that rabbit, we call ours,
we must be a blur
of large people
that live nearby
and are never focused on;
while in our hearts we're
kind and gentle although
the only thing we do is provide
undisturbed tall grasses and plants
for the rabbit to live in and chew on
and we keep out of the way.
sounds like bunny love, doesn't it.

workmen

two workmen have been here
 a week.  they are finishing
today putting in windows
and insulation.  i imagine
the job will be done well.

 what we've seen is good work.

when they're gone we'll have a
closer look and wonder why
we didn't notice a particular

while they were here. i think what we'll notice

for sure is that we prefer to have our space 

to ourselves without them in it.

opening round

on the grey start of this summer day,
when i got my coffee, took it easy ...
to the table. looked away
she was already sitting there, hair brushed. Looking

proper. i got our toast and butter. She asked for jelly.
then the house shook ... and a second time.
quickly. nothing to see.
why so booming?

thunder rocked us ... unaccountably.
no explanation
seems clouds had been building
then we got the boom

the buffalo

some rainy, foggy, chilly midweek

when secretaries call in sick
and postmen wear goulashes
go to the zoo and take in what’s left

splash along the water-covered concrete
past occasional trees bent, looking away
from the wind’s lick

see the muddy, mucky, peanut-shelled patch
where there stands the buffalo
knee-deep, with dirty, unkempt, matted hair
his eyelids closing out the drizzle
shoulders that held up america

clothed the indians in a montana mountain snow
fed starving wagoneers not quite to the promised land
mark of the plains
symbol of an era

it is fitting that he be visited
for his eyelids are closing now, america

ringing

my ears ring in the quiet.
i have to think to notice.
you'd say it is not possible
to hear what isn't.

i must occur to me
before i notice the space;
the lack of audio.
that's ear ringing.

now, where are the tapping woodpeckers.
there is wood enough.
perhaps it is a season when they tap more.
this is worth a lifetime of study.

Deer gone

didn't wake in time to see them.
no doubt they're here.
 quiet day. Worked some.
Giacomo called. Good to hear from him.
he's going to notorcycle to Switzerland.
what a wonderful breath of fresh air.
good views and great chocolate.
chocolate there is better.
you can taste the difference.
here we've rain a little.
it is accurate to say it that way.
fairly warm, quiet as usual.
i'm going to have
to go out a little.
to check it out.

tension

Indians baseball wrings tension out of me,
now i've less to worry about.
we're not paying to see
the indians on tv.

all my life i could see a game on tv, now they want an extra forty bucks a nonth.
the players get several million a year, and they want the fans to cough up the extra bucks and cheer for the tribe. they're asking a lot.
i can hardly stand it, drives me nuts.

new boy

all right, we're heading home.
enough tough play,
settle in with good manners.
hurray, we're happy, ole', ole'

now change to let feeling
into your heart.
i'm thinking.
do you want some ice cream?

sitting back in the sunshine,
keep an eye on how the day goes.
put on your favorite clothes.
time to be happy again.
.

bison

So, a lady in a national park

is running away from a bison;

falls down and has to lie still

and get sniffed by the bison.

Water will fall

there may be rain this afternoon.
yesterday i saw it forecast.
low nineties, a temperature leap.
remembering water all around
yes, the old days. takes me to Sausalito,
home amid boats. the bay is ours.
phone talking to my daughter in california.
good to hear her voice.
out the window, a blue jay in a bush
falls down and rolls on the ground.
looked like a hard fall. oh, the things
i see out the window.

now a truck is out front ready to pull
out a pole and put in a new one.
movement between lunches
and naps. the city goes on.
i hope it's a good thunderstorm.

all in

drove by to see how life happens
in Grafton and Shilo
drive-by towns unknown to most,
 even if you live close.

plus parts outside, beyond the regular.
people walked on the street.
we are nearby and busy
as we could be.

park & amp; ride,
clouds above, she cried.
press to operate,
she stepped off the curb, go 

meri thinks the new doctor
shouldn't dress like
the weather girl.
well, honey, "you

were always on my mind."
Willie Nelson sings for me.
i'll eat those sugarless candies
and move on down the line.

courage doc, please.

Microsoft Edge has invited itself into my computer.

looking around i found it.

i am supposed to care if large companies battle.

now the great computer edge in the sky

has jammed itself into my computer

at no additional cost,

want a cup of coffee while i tell you?

in my computer, you must move lightly, okay?

outside i take hours of flowers blooming, 

presuming i'm ready

to flower up again, when i've been

steady in the rain, searching

for dream ideas in bunches

and sunshine.

just shoot across the still pond

in your canoe

paddle lightly, with breeze anointing

you'll zip along.

i'll meet you there...where i'm pointing.

The rabbit's life

heat's up
better to stay indoors and look out
to the world racing by.
what a fine day this is.
for one, the rabbit came back
to lay around in the overgrown yard.
here it is hot and evidently, he
doesn't drink much, just eats greens.
that's healthy.
takes his liquid from plants.
we put a ceramic dish of water out,
hope he finds it.
anyway, it is good to see
the rabbit.