Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Country Bicycle

Knobby tires pass
Over fescue grass
Riders on their bikes
Pedal where they like
In the morning chill
Up the bouncing hill
Down the other side
(Easy coasting ride)
See what nature tells
Ring the handle bells
Insects upward fly
As they happen by
Muscles gaining tone
(Whoops! Avoid that stone!)
Helmets in the breeze
Rushing past the trees
Onward winding trail
(See the hiding quail?)
Breathless from the ride
Drinks and rest inside.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Apple Path

Upon the nervous dawn of school
I'd often close my eyes
And see an apple paradise
That still I see sometimes

A lonely path stood empty near
A sturdy fence of board
It led to the horizon whence
A warmth of brilliance poured.

The apple trees around me stood
Upon a lawn of green
And nothing stirred or moved them in
The absolute serene.

And still today it beckons me
To come and walk that road
To find what lies beyond it where
The peace and apples glowed.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Northern Tractors

Cross the now unfrosted fields
Tractors wake from winter sleep
Churning dirt to foster yields
That the tractors never eat.
In their busy rolling gait
As they putter in the soil
Others now admiring wait
For the product of their toil.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Storm Brothers

The clouds that zapped each other clapped
And each accused the other
Of being better favored by
Their legendary mother

Great insults blew and brothers bragged
As each one puffed up more
While hailstones flew and lightning zagged
To settle up the score

But as they grew the thundering two
Were locked into a spin
That made them move and rain as one
And drew more water in

Till tumbling round in vengeance bound
They roared above the sea
Engulfing everything around
In furied energy

So fast they fought in struggle caught
It led them to perspire
Till almost all their rain was gone
And they began to tire

They never settled who it was
Their mother favored best
But put it off and called a truce
Till both have had a rest.

Country Things

Tire swing
Cedar trail
Bird's wing
Metal pail
Bee sting
Fence rail
BB's zing
Vultures sail
Burrs cling
Storms hail
Engine pings
Tires fail
Rooster sings
Heavy bales
Truck brings
Dusty mail
Memories ring
Rural tales.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Dolly

A little girl, a little chair,
A quilt, a light, a shawl,
A quiet little corner where
She's playing with her doll.

The others come, the others go,
And she could see them all;
They did not interrupt her, though,
As she played with her doll.

And sometimes eyes filled with surprise
And paused along the hall
And noticed she (How could it be?)
Looked so much like her doll.

Dedicated to my grandma, whose nickname is Dolly.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Time Sands

The time is flowing like the sands
Between the fingers of your hands
And what you choose to do with it
Before life's whistle signals quit
Can leave the world a better place
And paint it with a fairer face.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Parakeet

Rounded sea green plastic base
Seed cups cling to bars of white
Perches climb in ample space
Exercise for health and flight

Tall the pole of matched decor
Birdbath water daily new
Gravel strewn along the floor
Cuttle bone for them to chew

Chirping chatter as they climb
Making sounds that mimic words
Joyous play with toys that chime
Budgies are amusing birds!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Wandering Jim

Every time the turkey dropped a feather from its tail
Big Jim collected it to make a headdress for the trail.
A lonely pathway he had cut through saplings, brush, and vines,
Which rolled around the countryside in undulating lines.
He had no pony, but he kept a spotted sturdy goat
Which followed him in pack gear with his stove and tent in tote.
Round and round he wandered on the acreage of his farm,
A pioneering image with a rifle on his arm.
In deerskin and in denim though the air of autumn chilled
He trampled ever on where his imagination willed.
Some may have thought him crazy but in that they could be wrong;
Each one of us is wandering to find where we belong.