Absent those sponges

absorbing all that water,

how deep would the oceans be?

~

What are the sponges

in your life that prevent you

from feeling deeply?

Daylight grows shorter,

tree limbs more bare as the scent

of Fall fills the air.

~

Crisp air brushes tart

over tongue with every breath;

any step a chorus crunch.

Twenty nine hundred

brief poetic dialogues…

think we can write five thousand?

~

As you know, we both

being terse, and long-winded,

Such a feat is well in reach.

To avoid going

down rabbit holes of despair,

find positive things to share.

~

What we choose to share;

does it say more about us

or about who we share with?

When it’s finally safe

to mix again with the world,

please reconsider…

~

Keeping our distance

will bring us closer to health

AND let us be with others.

In times of endless

talk, fewer words are valued

and silence is often sought.

~

Right!

Some people collect

precious things and preserve them,

others gather memories.

~

Some people collect

hurts, complaints, and all kinds of

grievances. To each his own.

It doesn’t take much

to make Knox happy – walks, sticks,

bones, pats, praise, peanut butter.

~

Knox and I agree;

walks and peanut butter rock!

He can keep the sticks and bones.

Time passes us by

in subjective intervals

dependent on our focus.

~

Mood affects focus.

Focus affects mood and both

affect how we measure time.

Coming and going,

I travel through an arch of

golden autumn leaves.

~

Soon a skeleton

arch of barren twigs will stand

framing crystal, starlit skies.

Autumn’s first chilly

osculatory caress

ignites a colorful blaze.

~

Also the many

sneezes ignited by that

kiss can be heard near and far.

far

Murphy, our cat, spends

time each day exchanging stares

with nearby squirrels.

~

An attentive ear

may discern their dialogue,

and, thus, circumvent discord.

Imagine my shock

when I logged on Instagram

to find Momma was a meme!

~

Meme Momma, that’s me.

So I guess that makes you one

real son of a meme.

When we’re at our best,

we’re both able to accept

power and to release it.

~

So, you’re saying that

when we’re at our very best

we are great capacitors?

Just a reminder

we could all be kinder and

thus transform our world.

~

Kindness transforms more

than just the world we live in,

it transforms our very soul.

Sunlight and shadows

dance about, the eyes, the mind,

conjuring mythic phantoms.

~

And with such dancing

paintings, stories, and poems

come into being.

Summer and Autumn

conspired today to give

us the best of both seasons.

~

When Winter and Fall

get together to hatch plans,

almost no one rejoices…

Gift simple wisdom

punctuated by a few

pointless, banal platitudes.

~

It encourages

sifting through the soil for

particles of gold.

If the answer is

blowing in the wind, my son,

I wish it would blow my way.

~

Sadly, my mother,

like that Oklahoma home,

all answers done blowed away.

Let us pass a time

in quiet contemplation

of artistic synchrony

~

Though unplanned, we both

entered a non-doing time

in artistic synchrony.

We humans are slow

learners. I hope we catch on

before we run out of time.

~

Life’s a marathon.

There is just no benefit

in being fast off the mark.

A blush among green

and nipping morning breezes

indicate that summer’s done.

~

Some trees are blushing

from embarrassment over

Autumn’s sudden kiss.

Small accomplishments

can be satisfying in

a really big way.

~

And when those small things

come together in one place,

they often make something great.

As the days shorten

and longer nights become cool,

growing chore lists are the rule.

~

Cooler weather joined

with approaching holidays

make our chore lists climb.

Invaded by youth,

my quiet space is infused

with resounding energy.

~

Being suffused by

the patience of Job, surely

you’ll survive that south land wind.

All that excitement,

packed up and blown off northward.

Now! To clean-up afterwards…

~

Only one big branch

fell in a wind we worried

would bring us destructive hell.

Last night’s flaming sky

brought us warmth as we waited

for today’s big storm.

~

As the rains begin,

the temperature remains cool

and the winds begin to blow.

What’s a little wind

and a trace amount of rain

in the cosmic scheme of things?

~

Sometimes the cosmos

seems to tease. What on earth is

it going to bring?

At the close of day

I’m ready to read and rest,

but Knox pleads to play.

~

You need a doggie

treadmill and a robot maid

so everybody’s happy.

Walking a mile

in my shoes is just the start

for you to understand me.

~

Knowing what connects

you to the ground is a start

toward understanding.