Because we want things

sooner, we often end up

paying for them much later.

~

We also end up

paying more for what we want

than if we had just waited.

Dishwater grey sky,

Oppressively sticky air

Portend evening turbulence

~

And early the next

morning the trees glisten, kissed

by the rising sun.

Where the poet starts

and where the poem goes can

surprise even the poet.

~

Poets are open

to chronicle all events

no matter their relevance.

Seeking the answers

seems a futile exercise

when the questions keep changing.

~

As I age, questions

and answers absorb me less,

and being interests me more.

The sun made a brief

appearance, but long enough

to lift our spirits.

~

And afternoon storms

dampened me and my spirits

while I smoked pork for dinner.

Aching muscles

serve us as a reminder

that our peak is in our past.

~

When goals muscle past

good judgment in an effort

to be met, aching ensues.

On that rainy day

it seemed inspiration was

washed away, but it returned.

~

The tide ebbs and flows.

The seasons follow their course.

Great Sequoia sprout and fall.

Rainy beginnings

turn to felled tree removal

leaving little time to write.

~

Rain and felled trees can

delay the most committed

of writers, but you rallied.

Remember when we

tried to pass for twenty-one?

Lately I aim for sixty.

~

Seems the “Golden age“

is always somewhere ahead…

until we think we’ve missed it.

Despite diligence

even well-tended gardens

sometimes run to weeds.

~

Diligence matters

nonetheless as the harvest

eventually will make clear.

That politician’s

sharp tongue cuts truth in two, leaves

behind maddening half-truths.

~

As they slice the truth,

so too, does their rhetoric

cleave our United Nation.

The pressure to rise

and greet the glorious dawn

often comes from the bladder.

~

Sometimes it’s the dog’s.

Sometimes it’s our own. Sometimes

the dog fakes it ’cause …squirrels!

The hummingbirds ask

why do they eat seeds when they

could sip sweet nectar?

~

A liquid diet

leads some to intemperance,

thus they eat seeds and berries.

The call of the sheets

on an overcast morning

is difficult to ignore.

~

Alas, I couldn’t

answer the call and it was

sent to rest waiting .

Will liberty and justice

for all be upheld

or will we all be let down?

~

One man’s liberty

is another’s oppression…

or so zero-sumers say.

Behold the dawning –

glorious, in its splendor,

slowly supplanting darkness.

~

We too can be part

of a dawning, supplanting

darkness if we choose.

Another Monday

has arrived and we’re counting

the days til Friday.

~

Enumeration

matters less each passing day

as we near the goal.

If Hummingbirds fail

to find their needed nectar,

what is their alternative?

~

Like us, they must move

on and look for sweetness from

a completely different source.

Woodpecker pair comes

each day and she happily

accepts the seeds he feeds her.

~

Even birds must wait

upon their fair paramours

to maintain a peaceful nest.

Why worry yourself

about the unknowable;

missing this flower’s splendor?

~

Why not stop and look

at all that’s here instead of

trying to see what isn’t.

When thrown off course, let’s

look around. There’s no telling

all that could be found.

~

“Course” implies a race.

But should we be in such haste

when we know not what awaits?

The jungle out there

seems like open savanna

next to the morass within.

~

That’s why we spend so

much time on our devices

looking for relief.

How many lives are

lost? How many saved because

of the use of guns?

~

Guns don’t make the best

tools to minister the sick

or heal the injured.

Let us not be cowed

by his bluster and bombast.

He’s just frightened, bless his heart.

~

As far as I can

tell, he has no heart and that’s

all we need to know.

A cool, gray June day

warmed by cardinal’s bright winged flight

and woodpecker’s steady beat.

~

There is no debate.

When it comes to free form jazz

These birds are the cat’s meow!

Never let illness

be the sole motivation

for reconciliation.

~

If we think we might

be nearing the exit door,

our hearts may choose to open.

Unwelcome outer

change sometime precipitates

needed inner change.

~

On the other hand,

Some, stubbornly, double down

insisting they’re the victim.

What’s a man to do

when gentle admonitions

fail to aid reformations?

~

It may take some time.

Reformation moves slowly,

but don’t give up hope.