lilacs

Spring Delight

and can you hear the birds singing?

Looking

I am looking for the ocean
on a cloudy desert day,
looking for the prairie
in the red canyon walls,
looking for the horizon
between my neighbors' houses,
looking for summer
as snow falls on lilacs,
looking for wilderness
standing on asphalt,
looking for friends
in strangers' faces,
looking for my future
in the ticking clock.
I am looking for something
when something is here now.

The Deer in Bryce Canyon

Resting beneath a pine,
There was no fear at all,
Staring at me camera in hand,
No sense that she might jump.
She seemed used to us,
Visitors interested in her,
Meaning no harm (unless
The harm has already been done)
We really were of little interest
To her and her clan.
Nature tamed by man,
Or we are tamed by her.
I took the picture
And backed away cautiously.
Without her caring much
One way or the other,
It was mid-day, resting,
Beneath a pine tree.

Changes

Smoke from controlled  fire in Red Canyon

Changes are still coming,

Coming some enough,

Changes in the seasons,

Changes in the weather,

Changes in the guard,

Changing my mind (again),

Changes of my heart,

Changes are still coming,

Coming soon enough.

Grow Where You Are Planted (to the extreme!)

I am amazed at the tenacity of living things to survive and thrive in the most hostile environments.

Bryce Canyon

Thursday, April 21, 2016

I just want to say, in the midst of the debate on federal lands in the west... I appreciate our national parks.

His Stare

Our visitor stares at me,
waiting for my next move
before deciding to stay or fly.
Actually, he has already decided,
or it has been decided for him,
and that is why he stares at me,
waiting for me next move.

Indian Paintbush

Discovered this on this morning's walk.

Sometimes

Sometimes,
I'm on the outside
looking in
at the rest of you.
Sometimes,
I just want in
to belong with you all.
Sometimes
I don't.

I don't remember
going outside
away from everyone
and everything
I once knew.

Sometimes
It just seems
Natural,
and sometimes,
it's heavy on me.
That's when
I want back in.

The Simplest Tools

The simplest tools,
a piece of rock,
or metal,
we hold in our hands
the future
of our race,
and of the earth.

April 15th Snow

peas spouts in the snow

In the grey area
between two seasons
the jagged edges
of winter and spring,
I enjoy the snow,
not having planted
all my garden yet.
Let it snow today,
the sun will shine
tomorrow.






(and our taxes are done!)

to a cricket hidden in the grass chirping

To me,
you sing
the rhythm
of seasons,
the heartbeat
of life.

Nebular Architecture

Of the simplest materials,

Clouds are built:
Water vapor,
Rising air in the sun,
To cooler temperatures aloft.
These build fractal structures,
That draw out my imagination,
Billowing white into the blue,
Grey shadows, perhaps rain beneath.
And they tower up,
Anvils in the sky,
Igniting electrical charges,
Lighting up the clouds,
Maybe burning the earth below,
All built of the simplest things,
Water vapor,
and cooling air,
beneath the sun.

Our Neighbor's New Toy

peek a boo!

storm passing through

Toward a Political Theory

Last year's blossoms

Will not produce
This year's fruit.

My Forgotten Fathers and Mothers

Forgotten fathers and mothers
who dropped out of the trees,
stood upon the open ground
with a stone in hand
looking up at the sky.

Unnamed fathers and mothers
carried their babies
out into the world
building fires on the ground
walking to the ends of the earth.

Forgotten fathers and mothers
surviving the hardships
I thank you all
for your struggles and lives
and the gifts you passed to me.

the tree of life

Afternoon

The day stretches out
in the afternoon,

beneath the sun.
Short shadows lengthen too,
everything seems to reflect
the bright sun,
the wind picks up
and every green thing dances
beneath the sun.
Bees and flies
untiringly work the flowers,
but human work slows
into a rhythm of labor,
toward quitting time
toward evening.
The day almost seems
to pause in the afternoon
as if the sun would just stop
in the sky forever,
but the shadows testify
moving eastward, stretching
outward, longer
toward the evening
that will come.

Ouch...

Ran into the couch Sunday morning.

Jean makes me wear shoes around the house now.

:)