On hot summer days

it’s hard to rouse oneself, reach

for a pen and write.

~

Steamy southern nights

don’t lend themselves to writing

since other pleasures abound.

In this heat even

a short walk seems long for both

eager Knox and languid me.

~

Long walks in the sun

are often salubrious…

Not in Virginia summers!

Threatening weather

seems all the more annoying

when it brings no rain!

~

But not far away

there was a stunning rainbow

along with some flooded roads.

Does anything say

Southern quite like magnolia

blossoms and sweetened ice tea ?

~

Bless her little heart!

How could she have forgotten

the art of Southern Good-byes.

That which people fear

most often cripples them more

than true evil intentions.

~

Our minds can conjure

lots of dark scenarios

that cause us to dim our light.

Let’s celebrate this

just right Virginia weather

while we have the chance.

~

These fleeting moments

of salubrious comfort

soon succumb to canicules.

Why bother building

bridges, since it’s easier

drawing lines -on maps -in sand?

~

Building bridges is

not easy, but it’s the more

hopeful of the two.

Insistent demands

seem to be the currency

changing hands this Father’s Day.

~

What better honor

than to be asked to lend your

hand on Father’s Day?

What was once normal

seems strange after living through

an abnormal year.

~

Perception, it seems,

not possession, as professed,

constitutes nine tenths of all.

Premature warnings

that sad news is forthcoming

cruelly fosters foreboding.

~

Though well-intentioned

such warnings prolong, rather

than soften the pain.

Late evening diners

land on the feeder and are

aggrieved that nothing is there.

~

Bolder rodentia

knock and demand sustenance

when feed’s in absentia.

Why all the hurry?

I, for one, am in no rush

to expedite my exit.

~

Unfortunately,

we’re aptly designated

members of the human race.

Seems I’ve been drafted

again. Sometimes the clock moves

faster than the pen.

~

Those blasted clocks spin

faster as the years go by…

soon they’ll pass politicians.

That green leaf let go

and fell. Was it trying to

be a pioneer?

~

Despairers in Spring

are regarded with pathos,

not lost in rustling Fall.

There is naught like pain

to bring all into focus;

everything in sharp relief.

~

Sometimes pain narrows

our focus and everything

we see we see though that lens.

We ended the day

with a steam bath, compliments

of warm earth and rain.

~

When the Monsoons come

neither compliment or curse

will impact the outcomes much.

I remembered him,

my namesake and my mentor,

opening that old soap dish…

~

I remember him

too, your namesake and mentor,

an expert at whitewashing.

I guess if you’d been

asleep for seventeen years,

you’d have a lot to say too.

~

Seems that Snow White

may have been an outlier;

she was sure no chatterbox.

Why are some afraid

to acknowledge history?

Doing so affirms no guilt.

~

They might think that what

they don’t know can’t hurt them, but

that’s where they’d go wrong.

The sky’s no limit

if you’re Jeff Bezos. He’ll ride

Blue Origin’s first crewed flight.

~

Misplaced confidence

and grand gestures of the same

lead many to their ruin.

A celebration,

regardless of the reason,

is always a good idea.

~

Who, what, or why we’re

celebrating determines

if it’s good or not.

Knox met a turtle

today, tried to coax him out

of his shell. No luck.

~

Friendly overtures

can often be misconstrued

during initial contacts.

After summer rains,

misty wisps rising in fields;

surreally ethereal.

~

Those wisps remind us

to be on the look-out for

daily mysteries.

So many problems.

So little time. Let’s hope we

can prioritize.

~

Priorities change

with every new election,

yet the problems still remain.

After Cicada’s

incessant drone and chatter,

these woods seem sadly empty.

~

Much like the house feels

when children depart for camp,

travels or college.

Obstruction is the

last resort when the truth is

there for all to see.

~

This is a time when

rebuttal serves no purpose

nor does elaboration.

When tardy becomes

truancy, can we hope to

prevent recidivism?

~

First comes awareness,

then comes desire, then comes

practice, then comes lasting change.