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.

Hope June will take May

as an example and keep

her cool a while.

~

Temperamental June

will not likely keep her cool

no matter May’s example!

Memorialize,

shall we, all who gave their lives

regardless of their service.

~

Let’s remember too

all the nameless ones who serve

us in countless ways.

Rain made music with

pond and ground, but refused to

let sun join their band.

~

Sun’s role in music,

as your generation knows,

was Production not on stage!

Is it cowardice

to avoid unpleasant tasks,

or just self-preservation?

~

Some other options

include procrastination,

laziness, and revulsion.

Chirping colors, blue,

yellow, black, white, gray, and red

announce their need to be fed.

~

Their protestations

prompt you to put out more seed

for the bears to eat with greed.

I lie here, in bed,

feeling the world spin its course

through the universe… for now.

~

And soon you will rise

and actively join the world

in all its spinning.

This year Summer chose

not to rush in and push Spring

heatedly aside.

~

Since Summer awaits

somewhere else, way off down south,

let us spring to outdoor chores.

Circles dot the land

trying to control all those

who refuse to self-control

~

Circles of support

help those who lack self-control

develop it from within.

They found no answers,

but found plenty of questions

while looking for them.

~

Maybe they forgot

Life was about the journey

not just the destination.

True wisdom is found,

not in seeing what is there,

but from kenning the absence.

~

Wisdom is found in

silence, but noise, both inner

and outer complicates things.

The house is alive

with the sound of grandkids. If

I want stillness, I must walk.

~

Somebody must walk,

that’s true, but it’s up to you

to decide who hits the bricks.

Sometimes lofty clouds

fall from their high place to rest

gently on the solid ground.

~

With such descent comes

a softening of earth’s rough

edges and sometimes our own.

~