Sudden heavy rains

make sodden, heavy branches

and fill branches to their banks.

~

You can bank on this:

heavy, fallen branches can

branch out into ponds and creeks.

Ever so slowly

realizations start to dawn.

What took us so long?

~

As dawn’s light begins

to slowly imbrue the sky,

darkness yields, but grudgingly.

Hedonistic joy

can not be sustainable

without, first, doing hard work.

~

Joy, an unearned gift,

sometimes lies unopened when

we’re preoccupied with work.

At day’s end when we

are all tuckered out, we just

want to be tucked in.

~

Slipping ‘neath the sheets

and falling into slumber

buoy us for tomorrow.

That fallen tree branch

expressed his indignation

as I bent to pick him up.

~

He was protesting

your human assumption he

was a cheap pickup.

From the birds’ early

morning broadcast system we

get a wakeup call.

~

And by their delay

in their southward migration

we get, yet, another one.

Fellowship remains,

even with separation,

if the foundation is true.

~

Time and distance can

not break the sturdy bonds of

a true connection.

Who can find the time

to watch the sun slowly rise,

listen to the birds’ sweet songs?

~

Those who know that life’s

more than earning a living

value the worth of such things.

Subtle interplay

between woods and rising mist

marks the changing of seasons.

~

A fleeting moment

of lovely interplay saved

now for all of us.

The sky begins to

fill with chattering birds as

they begin their long journeys.

~

Soon, they will arrive,

to darken trees and phone lines

then rise in joyous cavorts.

This cotton batting

between my mind and my life

leaves much to be desired.

~

Hard though it may be,

better to have soft cotton

there than a bunch of hard nails.

After summer’s heat,

a small taste of fall wets our

appetite for more.

_

Like a cold entrée

autumn rains may quench our thirst

but our joints will ache for warmth.

With September’s arrival

warm and cool banter

for who will have the most say.

~

Summer speaks loudly

still despite the cooling trend

Autumn remains weeks away

Why must all good things,

in order to receive them,

require so much toil?

~

A dog’s love’s freely

given as is a summer’s

breeze and star-filled nights.

Ever hopeful, we

kids kept jumping off garage

roofs, hoping, this time to fly.

~

Just like little birds,

judging that it’s fledgling time,

fling themselves into the sky.

Is there any shame

in finding satisfaction

in the unconventional?

~

We can be shamed, but

we don’t have to feel shame for

liking what we like.

This old dog learned some

new tricks and had a whole lot

of fun doing it.

~

That life long learning:

the only thing preventing

our howling in the darkness.

The day ends without

a poem, but life still has

both rhyme and reason.

~

It’s not quite an end,

more a pause that refreshes,

like that age old ad campaign.

Gradually the light

dims; then it’s gone and only

memories remain.

~

Radiant blazes,

far outshining their sources;

those glowing recollections!

Fujiyama wears

her icy tiara still.

How long until it’s stolen?

~

If those who love her

are vigilant and act in

time, she will never lose it.

Correcting glitches

one glitch at a time can leave

us feeling almost sublime.

~

Glitches can sometimes,

even though quite annoying,

actually be features.

All bristles and spines,

he makes do riding the car

rather than surfing the pines.

~

He was looking for

a free ride, a specialty

of our former president.

In the August heat

squirrels hip hop to the steady

beat of falling rain.

~

Peepers, frogs, and toads

chorus in the falling rain,

lustily, as dusk descends.

Sometimes the darkness

we watch swallowing the world

Is lighter than forlorn hope.

~

With patience, we can

find our way in the darkness

and become bearers of light.

Knox spots a critter

ahead and away he goes

as I trudge slowly behind.

~

Begorrah tries too,

but owing to his small mass,

the leash end takes him airborne.

False ferocity,

Napoleonic nature;

more like Chihuahua than Pug.

~

Hmmm, reminds me of

some people I know, but just

which ones I’d rather not say.

When will we ever

learn? When will we ever learn?

Please submit answer below.

~

The answer, my friend,

is blowing in the wind, and

we’ll learn when our house blows down.

Shining a bright light

where no light should ever shine

devastates all obstruction.

~

For some, the brightest

shining light won’t help them see

what’s been right in front of them.

Technology can

puzzle this aging writer

and leave her shaking her pen.

~

Technology can’t

replace the razor rapier

wit that guides the writer’s pen.

Who could take offense

at the joyful noise of kids

playing in the neighbor’s yard?

~

Sometimes others’ joy

brings smiles, but if our hearts

are aching, it might bring frowns.