New Year's Eve Brunch

The last drop of tea amber globed

quavers 

on the red rose teapot’s spout

drops 

nestles 

into the creamy cupful

hesitates

surrenders

to the new reality.

Opportunistic

White plastic shopping bag

ballooning against the frosty 

roadside weed stalks.

Just the thing!

Along the lane it fills -

flattened soda cans

ragged paper plates

tangled baling twine

a broken green Frisbee.

The Only Thing Not Frozen Out Here

Amber liquid in the shoulder 

of the whisky bottle sprawled 

face down in the fence line.

November's End

Gray gauze tangles in tree tops 

on the valley bottom I swim through

almost-droplets air.

Overcast

Gray ice vapor lid 

clamped all round 

the rim of this earth bowl

sun is a nickel of iridescence

low in the southeast.

Walking

tup - hard boot heel landing

sqwiiiitch - forefoot rotating on wet gravel

tup...sqwiiitch, tup...sqwiiitch

tup...sqwiiitch, tup...sqwiiitch

and while one foot is tup...sqwiiitch-ing

the other foot and leg swing, swing

forward and... down, tup...sqwiiitch

remember to breath, no - breeeath!

remember to let the arms swing

tup...sqwiiitch, tup...sqwiiitch, tup...sqwiiitch, tup...sqwiiitch

Shadow Theater

Against white snow

silhouette doe step steps

between paper cutout pines.

Snuggle

Black kitten’s weight in my left hand

rumble against my ribcage

angora softness - his head 

tucked under my chin.

Purring fades, head drops -

sleeping kitten is no easier to put down.

Layers Before the Sun

Skating above the ridge

swift pearl gray cloud rags

high beyond, still, ominous

steel gray cumulous.

Except

An hour ago the sun 

rolled over the ridge

melting frosted fields

except 

downbeam of the  ponderosa

where every amber stalk

stands crystal cased.

Mosaic

Angular gray stones 

mortared in the puddle basin 

with drying sepia mud.

Western Bluebird

Three gray lumps on the fence wire

burst together into whirring lapis.

Autumn Onset

The season’s turned 

a cool wet corner,

across the pasture 

the aspen grove 

is starting to rust.

Mid-Morning Cuppa

Lift the round bowled yellow mug

down from the high sink shelf.

Reach four more times piling 

graduated brown powders

into the white ceramic interior -

light cocoa, yellow brown maca

umber lumps of instant decafe

bare sprinkle of terra cotta chipotle.

Now the steaming kettle and the 

spinning spoon.  Now the first sip.

Rain Song

Morning mizzle kisses the umbrella silently

our boots crunch...crunch...crunch lane gravel

a pine we pass beneath interjects a riff of

fat drum drops plop plopping on taunt nylon.

A Prosperous Year for Daddy Longlegs

A brand new six story prey cafe

has sprung up overnight in my

dining room’s southeast corner,

the patient proprietor waiting inverted

beneath the third floor parlor scattered 

with crumbs of previous patrons.

Draining Pickles

Thin dill slices, bits of garlic and

black peppercorns swirl clockwise

below the dripping plastic fork.

September Hawthorn

Amongst the inch long thorns

California quail tchuck and forage 

black wrinkled berry like fruits -

brown seeds in a pea sized skin 

of slightly sweet fruit leather.

September Wheat Fields

Amber corduroy stubble.

Where Ginger Tea Tingles

Back middle on top of tongue

along edge and tip of tongue

roof of mouth at the rear

opening of the throat all round.

Poppy Seed

Snip, snip, just below

the pale brown globes 

place them in the pail 

dangling from my arm -

I’ve harvested a half gallon 

of miniature maracas! 

Micro-Jungle

Self seeded cosmos grows thick,

towering along the lawn edge,

canopy scatter crowned

with white, with orchid pink 

palm sized radial blossoms,

understory thick with side stalks

branching at ferny forty-fives.

On the shaded soil floor domestic

tabbies dream of forest primeval.

The day Begins to Cool at Last

After the sun disappears 

behind the shielding ridge

walking to the mailbox reveals

a map of micro-climates -

cooling across the open pasture  

cooler among the aspens creekside

warm under the sweet ponderosa.

Green Grapes

Bursting firm warm globes

sweetly mild - except 

for occasional small squint

inducing tart ones!

In the Dishpan

A raft of bubbles moored alongside

a red Seattle’s Best Coffee mug

reclining half submerged atop

a sunken stack of yellow plates.

Whose Livery?

Unmistakably a ladybird beetle

but it bears a creamy yellow elytra

not the common crimson and

black horizontal bars replace

the standard issue buttons.

elytra: wing case

Blanched

Holding the peach in my hand

fingers broad spread

slowly closing my grasp

the fuzzy jacket slips off

revealing glimmery slick

yellow orange red succulence.

Nightlight

Sneaking under the closed blind
a splash of moonlight
reflecting on the glass desktop.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie

Hot sweet nutty fragrance,

soft insides spotted with gooey

brown goodness stretching 

between broken halves,

crisp crunchy bottom crust.

Avian Propwash

Purple petunias flailing

like a trailing scarf

evidence the turbulence of

hummingbird’s hover.

Night Feedings

Yet again the kitten wakes me

after a couple short hour’s sleep,

when his tiny belly is eye-droppered full

we sit on the floor in the first sunlight.

Mona Lisa 1:1 Reproduction

Over and over, your serene bemused face

but never have I noticed the mountains

sea, roadways and arching bridge!

(Viewed at The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, Washington, USA as part of the Leonardo DaVinci - Man, Inventor, Genius exhibit.)

Breadseed Poppy

Atop the silver green seedpod globe

grows an amber lined compass rose,

a crimson and black lady bird beetle

rests in the center plotting it’s course. 

Yellow

Honey bee working, one after the other,

tiny florets in the brown sunflower face, 

all her foreparts caked in brilliant pollen 

quoting the color of the showy outer rays.

Sun's Up

The scrabbling outside the window is Sunrise,

she's hanging amid the scarlet runner bean's

orange blossoms halfway up the trellis,

a scolding hummingbird just out of reach.

(Sunrise: a year old tabby cat)

Rinse

Sunlight and hot water fall together

bubbling onto dandelion yellow plates

stacked in the old white ceramic sink.

Highland Games Pipe Band Competition

Three smartly kilted pipers 

from the head of the column

marches an enthusiastic drummer

with a most un-martial bounce.

Dots

Drying elderberry florets

scattered like creamy confetti

over green hammock stripes.

Loosen Up

Orange daylily quick sketched 

on the edge of a paper

where it doesn’t matter 

touched up with colored pencil.

Hey - not bad!

All That Is Left of the Foxgloves

Fistfulls of bells at the long stalk tops -

cream and orchid torches.

Writing at Nightfall

Eyes lift from typing,

the window sneers blackly. 

Lower the shade - stop the night

from swallowing my words!

Popular Poppies

A dozen breadseed poppies

blossoms pink and lavender

amid the blue green foliage and 

bumpy round unripe seedpods.

At the center of each blossom 

a fat chartreuse button

wears an Elizabethan ruff of 

creamy stamens buzzing

with two or three, or even four, 

golden honey bees per flower.

View from the Hammock

Clouds of elderberry blossoms,

creamy sun splashed tops

lemony shadowed undersides,

against bright cerulean sky.

Khon

Orange day lilies arc 

like traditional Thai dancers

before purple robed petunia courtiers.

Plan Bee

“Oh!  There is a bumblebee on the floor!”

She slides it onto a plastic gift card,

and covers it with a juice glass.

Six legs wave weakly in the air,

she tips the glass, tumbles the bee upright,

it lists sideways, a foreleg raised wardingly

and buzzes feebly, one wing barely moving.

“I wonder if the cats got it.

Should I just put it out of it’s misery?”

“Can you?   I couldn’t.”

“I’ll just take it outside.”

“Wait.”  I squeeze out a glob of honey. 

The bee is oblivious with exhaustion.

She maneuvers it to face the amber bump - 

a long proboscis lunges into the sweetness, 

frantically pumps up the ready nourishment.

We gather round exclaiming, peering, 

running for magnifiers (which don’t help much)

and then she takes the bee in it’s prison

to the picnic table and sets the glass aside.

An hour later, there is only the sticky card.

The Other Side of the Fence

The white blanket appaloosa stallion

stands at the fence nearest the green pasture

where the mares and foals graze amid daisies.

His head droops, tail swishes periodically,

eventually he turns and plods to the far 

corner of the trammeled bare corral. 

Cool Summer Greenhouse

A mossy archipelago is emerging

on the sepia sea of dirt floor

islands of bright apple green bounded

along their fjorded coastlines

by graduations of olive and marine.

Eggsperimenting

Teaching the ten year old 

to separate eggs 

we decided to experiment with 

the spaghetti server.

It is a failure - 

the yolk is safely cupped 

while the glistening white 

hangs grotesquely from the holes 

and metal fingers but 

never lets go -

he fizzes with laughter, 

“It looks so cool!”

Honey Hero

The plastic bear is up to his neck again 

in dark amber sweet viscosity.

He wears his pointed blue cap smartly

but hunches noticeably to the left

his right shoulder and ear lobe gone

lost in a microwave incident,

and he leans unnaturally far forward 

his feet shrunken toward his belly

from simmering angled in hot water,

honorable scars received in the line of duty

in the War on Crystallization.

Carcass of a fallen rose

shriveled, trodden

stains decking pink.

Ripping out pigweed, johnny-jump-up, dandelion,

spiders and beetles scurry every direction -
this is their rainforest I’m devastating.

Hawk repeatedly shrieking 

like a boy with a new whistle.

Cooling ginger tea tingles 

along the side edges, 

on the bottom tip of my tongue.

Midnight on the Porch

Among the purring shadows

two tiny dark spots waddle - 

Apples has brought her kittens! 

Another Rescue

All night the rain pattered whispering,

weighting the foliage like snowfall

flattening tall grasses in herringbone 

bending lilac boughs to kiss the ground.

Young son ventures through the drops half-clad

to save the towering foxgloves spires

gently shaking each precious stalk

releasing a fresh and horizontal shower.

Summer Rain

Air ion fragrant, garden laden, forest kissed

cool-warm drops blessing face, hands, bare toes.

Hallelujah for the pillow and book on the swing

that the leaf pattering dared me to rescue!

Ladybird Mystery

Translucent amber dotted in black

the convex teardrop carapace 

lies abandoned on cool tile.

Stooping to Pull Weeds

Bright yellow spider

abseils off my hat brim 

onto the ferny cosmos.

Oak Table Still Life

Broad daisies and airy buttercups

carried up from the creekside pasture,

their stems thrust into a canning jar,

nod above a yellow soup plate

mounded with bright red cherries.