Future flowers

 

At the dull end

of January

I begin

to dream

of color

 of pansies, petunias,

marigolds

even dandelions

smiling cheerily

from ditches

Like all the friends

I'm missing so

I long to see

their flower

faces

324/755

Brooding

 

The clouds brood

all day

so close

you feel you could touch

perhaps

sweep away

like waving off

noxious smoke

or a cloud of

annoying insects

Somewhere

the sun is slipping

westward

Night is coming

and maybe

the storm

that has threatened

all day

323/754

Green company

 

You feed

my exhaution

color

my eyes

variety

when winter

casts its white pall

and then leaves it

to dirty

and slump

and wear thin

in patches

You grow

when all nature

seems to stand still

You are

hope

322/753

Glow

 

The city

warms the clouds

with the glow

of streetlights

headlights

porchlights

yardlights

The searchlights

from the airport

draw compass points

across the sky

Nowhere

is dark complete

or night unilluminated

not even behind

my closed

eyelids

321/752

Invitation

 

Invited

to hold

gratitude

joy

breath

life

in the palm of my hand

to feel

the weight

of weightlessness

and the infinite

in the finite

and to know

my open hand

is never

empty

320/751

Lengthening

 

Lady Sun

lingers

reaching

tender arms

to embrace me

on my journey home

319/750

Moods

 

From dark

to dawn

to day

from noon

to afternoon

All day

I watch the sky's moods

shadow

splits into light

cloud

into blue

318/749

Refraction

 

Winter white

holds

minute rainbows

all colors

glittering

hidden

317/748

Imaginary

Lady Sun

pencils in

color

with a light hand

highlighting

the clouds

and sketching

a mountain range

where there is none

316/747

 

Journeys

Where my mind

takes me

past a curve

past the tree line

past the hill

that dips

to valley

Down

a familiar road

or

the unknown

the road

that will seem

shorter

on the return

but now

is revealed

mile by mile

every turn

ascent

descent

every stop

and straight way

unexpected

315/746

 

Sailing

 

Cloud ships

sail

on a stormy

cloud sea

racing

each other

toward

afternoon's

blue sky

waters

314/745

Variation

 

Today

blue

first ribbons

then a wave

finally an ocean

of color

fading

into grey to the east

and rose to the west

313/744

Erased

 

Footprints

sidewalks

grass

and the scar

where the grass

was scraped away

the dirty margins

and shapeless

half-melted drifts

are all erased

by a weightless

whitewash

of snow

312/743

Breakthrough

 

The blank

cover

of cloud

is cracking

slipping

at the edges

to let light

and color

seep through

Maybe

break through

tomorrow

311/742

Here and gone

 

For just a moment

the sky

was full of light

and muted color

a blush of red

a glow of gold

a hint of blue

Now

the sky once more

blends

with the winter landscape

Were you really here

Lady Sun?

310/741

Desultory

 

Afternoon

passes

slowly

one cup

at a time

one page

at a time

one sigh

at a time

No plan

no purpose

no particular

pleasure

or pain

309/740

Remembering

 

Remembering

a morning

spent in the green

in a magical fort

suspended from branches

enrobed in summer leaves

contemplating

nothing

but the quiet

of my own breathing

the beating

of my own heart

308/739

Watch

 

In the lee

of the northwest wind

the air is still

and minute flakes

seem to hang

motionless

The storm

is brooding

off stage

its entrance

as yet

uncertain

307/738

Shed

 

I begin

weighed down

with weary

worry

the world

heavy

and clumsy

A mile out

I feel

something crack open

and the hard shell

falls away

like a too tight

exoskeleton

leaving me exposed

brand new

306/737

Sunflower

Lady Sun

transforms

the clouds

into a radiant

winter

sunflower

305/736

 

Tracks

 

Here

is the cast of characters

in the story

I read in the snow:

two rabbits

snow disturbed
where a squirrel
dug up a buried meal
a small canine
perhaps the fox
I see some mornings
belly low
as it runs
paws prints
of larger canines
leaping
or plodding

happily beside

boot prints

snow shoes

skis

and the star-shaped

patterns

left by poles
and under the pine trees

tiny bird tracks

in the thin snow
304/735

Playful

The child

inside

emerges

with the sun

the blue sky

the still brilliant

and deep snow

peeking out

gleeful

and ready to play

303/734

 

Dazzled

 

Dazzled

by days

of winter white

my eyes

question

a hint

a suggestion

or is it only

a hallucination

of blue

302/733

 

 

Dissolving

 

The sky

has brooded

closer and closer

dissolving

as it descends

enveloping

all it touches

in white

301/732

Reaching

These short days

still seem long

Everything

seems to be reaching

for something

Even the trees

lift empty hands

to hold air

made solid

by winter

300/731

 

Illumination

 

The light

behind the clouds

on the other side of the world

8 minutes from the sun

the 4 and more

light years

from the nearest star

What

if the light

traveling 100,000 years

across the galaxy

began with us

200,00 years

before?

299/730

Brooding

 

Lady Sun broods

behind layers

of clouds

like a sickly child

peeking through blinds

perhaps

remembering

as we do

yesterday's bluest

of blue skies

298/729

Melt

 

Snow

softens

in a slice

of sunlight:

the cycle

of thaw and freeze

cover and

uncover

sunlight

and shadow

297/728

Dawn again

 

The trees

hold rosy dawn

in their frosty fingers

296/727

In all things

 

I have but one

resolution

to seek joy

in all things

all seasons

all daybreaks

all sundowns

all roads

all heartbeats

all souls

295/726

Last year

 

Last year's leaves

remain

on a few trees

curled

like angry fists

despite

last week's blizzard

Only

spring 

and new growth

will defeat

their stubborn

hold

294/725