MOOD LONELINESS
At sunset,
At dawn,
At summer’s end,
At winter’s birth,
When birds have flown,
And flowers cease to bloom;
When friends have said goodbye
And lovers bid farewell …
The mood is loneliness.
1963-1964
THE LAKE
Ever-changing, ever-changing
Patterns on lake
Rearranging.
Now a troubled ocean,
Miniature tidal waves
Foam-tipped;
Then calm to smooth – like glass
Unbending,
Silent-lipped;
Now a strobe-light
Reflecting the sun’s rays;
Then lapping the shore
From the boat waves.
Psychedelic
Hypnotizing
Jewel-laden
Mesmerizing
Moving eastward
Going nowhere
Taking me there
Calm and peaceful
So relaxing
Lake!
JUST OUT OF REACH
All day long,
inspired by life …
phrases, words,
sentences, feelings
tumble through my head.
When I sit to write
they’ve vanished
like the steam they are.
In the dark of night,
ideas that need recording
whisper in my ear.
As I grope for pen and paper
they dart,
just out of reach …
taunting, mocking;
frailties of humanness
elude; evaporating letters
dance, form and re-form,
urging compliance with desires to be
emblazoned on that blank sheet.
Too late, be swifter,
try again another time.
March, 2004
A YEAR IN THE MAKING
Start with Spring!
Robin pecking on my lawn,
green stems peeking through the dull, brown earth,
crocus buds, forsythia in bloom,
tulip heads stretching for the sun.
Leaf buds bursting on the limb.
Fresh, cool rain tapping on the window panes
waking the earth, waking the flowers
and washing away the gray of winter.
Trees burst into complete leaves.
Flowers stretching petals to the new summer.
Bees alighting from the warmth of the hive,
seeking new sources of nectar for their summer work.
The sun, warming, healing, cooking the earth,
baking bodies brown to a turn,
parching before summer’s end
and cooking the leaves from green to red
to overdone brown.
Leaves dropping, flowers drooping,settling down to be
covered by blankets of soft cool, cold snow,
settling the earth,
protecting against the icy hail and freezing sleet
and allowing all to sleep
’til spring again!
1976