When expectations

exceed our capacity,

what is the best path to take?

~

Quickly acknowledge

the limitations you have,

and make a counteroffer.

There’s this odd goldfinch,

hanging around the feeders,

sporting a red striped forehead!

~

There’s no accounting

for taste, not even among

our avian friends!

That late day clearing

bodes ill for all the moisture

saturating everything.

~

All the resulting

moisture becomes icing on

winter’s frozen cake.

When being here now

gets to be too much, then should

we take refuge in our dreams?

~

Flights to fantasy

seems to offer some comfort,

but those harsh truths still remain.

It’s a human truth

that most people just ignore:

When voices raise, reason fades.

~

And when voices raise 

and reason fades so do all

hopes of real understanding.

By late afternoon

the sun appeared and with it

many welcoming smiles.

~

Relish this moment

of transient elation

for more storm clouds are looming.

The old ways must be

nourished, though so difficult,

for when technology fails.

~

Yes, the old must be

nourished when technology

fails. That’s where you young come in.

Dominion Power

lost its dominion over

this icy weather.

~

Yet they still retain

monopolistic control

over our access to light.

In cacophonous,

crackling, icy chorus,

breezes caress these frozen trees.

~

Some trees rejected

such cold caresses and bent

down and took a knee.

When I slid on that

white carpet, illusions of

winter magic went away.

~

You’re no Michelle Kwan,

but you kept yourself upright,

did not stain the carpet red!

Snow, freezing rain,

and sleet; can we know the truth,

when they’re all mixed together,

~

The core truth of all

is cold -a truth that can be

beautiful but mostly not.

How damning does it

have to be before they can

just stand tall and say impeach?

~

It takes character

to stand up and do what’s right

after such a huge mistake.

Righteous indignance,

though seemingly laudable,

often results in ulcers.

~

But holding it back,

unfortunately,

often results in hemorrhoids.

Every now and then

we have a really good day

and take the time to say thanks.

~

But when the day stinks,

how often do we take time

to respond with gratitude?

A sudden absence

allows another person

to step up and shine.

~

Sudden changes test

our flexibility, our

skill and our resolve.

If we want wishes

to come true, we have to be

our own fairy godmother.

~

Mostly fairy tales

prove the age-old axiom,

“Be careful what you wish for!”

Rush now, to achieve

all our outside tasks today

while the weather’s bearable.

~

Because the forecast

looked so grim, Knox and I rushed

off to the dog park to play.

When crazy became

the new normal, were Repubs

backbones affected?

~

Norms of behavior

used to circumscribe limits

around what’s acceptable.

Ravens and Blue Jays,

for all their raucous chatter,

still elicit harmony.

~

What is harmony

to some can be discord to

others. It’s what your ears hear.

The squirrels don’t know

or just don’t care that the seeds

aren’t for them. They’re for the birds.

~

Avarice, it seems,

is no strictly human vice

as squirrels, are too, afflicted.

Tutelage pays off

when the unexpected comes

and reflexes take over.

~

We often don’t see

the why of all our training

until we need it.

Separated by

a mere pane of glass, our cat

hungrily observes the birds.

~

Sometimes there exists

impregnable barriers

between us and baser wants.

This evening cloudscape,

looking like ripples in sand,

whisper of unseen forces.

~

They say those whispers

will become a stormy shout

before the break of morning.

Seemed a no-brainer

at first, but some found a way

to make things complicated.

~

When people meddle

with things they don’t understand,

things will often go awry.

The lingering crunch

of this freshly fallen snow

provides gentle counterpoint.

~

The just-rightness of

this first snow – so soon lovely

and so fast to go.

Sometimes we don’t know

what we’ve missed until we get

it back and recognize it.

~

Constant background noise,

like the drone of Cicadas,

sets our teeth on constant edge.

Cortex for hire:

Faxes sent. Lost iPhones found.

Official letters written.

~

Not a bad deal I

unknowingly made almost

fifty seven years ago.

No matter how hard

we try, there will always be

something left undone.

~

And, therefore, we still

have something to drag us forth

from the comfort of death’s bed.

It is only through

our unity that triumph

can be truly manifest.

~

When we can look at

another and see ourselves,

unity begins.