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!