Missouri sky in Oregon

 Missouri sky in Oregon

today the blue-purple-gray clouds

actually drop rain, as their appearance

had hinted to a Midwesterner

that they might

whispered sunrise

whispered sunrise

mauve and burnt-orange

muffled by mist

gratitude

looking over the stutters and chaos

i have created over the last

eighteen months, i realize

i have been less mentally sharp

than perhaps at any other time

in my life

and realize, as well, the tremendous

loving support given by my family

that kept me going as well as i could

fierce winter sunrise

haiku

fierce winter sunrise

burnt-orange horizon fading

from Sol’s red anger

new TV and movies

for all the wham and zap

bodies skewered and blown apart

colors dazzling the watcher’s vision

recently i find i am happier reading

in a funk

in a funk

weighed down by non-response

and whining persons who demand

without realizing their selfishness

but it is a mood i’ve had before

and needed to work my way out of

i’ll need to do that again

now the times of gray

haiku

now the times of gray

seep into tender pearl green

harbingers of spring

as ringmaster sleeps

haiku

as ringmaster sleeps

lion, roaring, pads the tent

kid’s balloon quivers

cruise crew

cruise crew

two beautiful daughters

one bright, lovely granddaughter

and old me, again at table

delighting in fine food

looking forward to dessert

and as close to a round of cribbage

and granddaughter’s time

before work will allow

laughing, teasing, giggling

venting our dismay with our government’s sneering at law

and limitations of power

and the local physical and world-

wide harm being caused

but mostly warming to the loving

support and enjoyment we give

to each other

priceless

and deeply valued

it’s true

“You are braver than you believe,

stronger than you seem, and

smarter than you think,”

Winnie the Pooh declares

and, as a family practice physician

i have watched so many persons

prove Winnie the Pooh truthful

cloud game

haiku

navy tracks of cloud

line sunrise like jet contrails

Nature’s tic tac toe

penguins

penguins, flightless, swim

in ‘rafts’ of numerous fellow creatures

so individuals survive

seals, whales, sea predators

overwhelmed by numbers

alone, each would be a quick snack

on land, they slide on their bellies

or walk upright awkwardly

causing a group to be called

a ‘waddle’

fascinating ‘little men in tuxedos’

some are four feet tall, other tiny

and all but unknown until only

two and a half centuries ago

brown ice

rapid expansion of ICE

almost inevitably will bring

lessened oversight

which means slackened mean streaks

within persons who believe

they are enforcing moral good

against “enemies within”

we are human, generation to generation

missing the stars

haiku

missing the stars bright

in velvet black clear night sky

so many man-made lights

Mt. Jefferson

Mount Jefferson has hidden

all this time because i was not

giving credit to its being

fifty some miles south of Hood

but yesterday, bright sunshine

was adding luster to its snow cap

and it rose up on my horizon

out of hiding, proud and glorious

falter, new me

falter, stumble, trip

over a crease in the rug

a crack in the sidewalk

a brush with a passerby

or wind-sweep of a standing tree

mere nothing

and yet enough to know

i am unsteady, vulnerable

where once i dashed

from place to place

over furrowed ground

or rock and sandy beach

i am new to me

someone i need to learn

to respect as i am

frustrated packrat

packrat who threw away

just what i need now

only months ago

after ‘saving’ files for decades

arghhhh

bind the moon

haiku

purple cloud stripes cross

pearl-white and rill-shadowed moon

tied to earth's night sky

colorful European facades

European homes

share walls, but build own façades

close line narrow streets

slanted sun highlights

plastered beige,  yellow-white, taupe now blued with first night

                                                mjNordgren 1/1/2026 Rome

inMarseilles harbor

at sunset, tern wheels

white underwing lights burst-orange

tilts, low wing glows gold