When strong winds and rain

threaten us with their approach,

can we hasten their exit?

~

I’m afraid we can’t.

We can either hasten our

exit or shelter in place.

In these contentious

times, subtlety and nuance

are left far behind.

~

Many find nuance

unbearable, demanding

such thought to see if they won.

Oh but how time flies,

not only when having fun

but also when hard at work.

~

Crawling or flying,

time moves along until it

stops for each of us.

Just enough light, just

enough warmth, just enough breeze

for another perfect day.

~

Let not the perfect

detract from enjoying good

because there’s ample evil.

Indignant protests

often fail to hit their mark;

stridency sounds insincere.

~

Yet police are called

for peaceful protests, perhaps

because the sincere are feared.

Civil discussions

between opposing factions?

Is it too much to hope for?

~

So long as ‘winning’

is the only good outcome,

hope for civility dims.

Encrusted in dust

when the rains began to fall,

thereafter encased in mud.

~

Strangely, this weather

reminds me of Congress, but

who on earth knows why.

The year’s second half –

may it be the better half.

There’s some make-up work to do.

~

For better or worse

and in sickness or in health,

we’re committed, none the less.

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.