talk with birds

i wish i could talk with birds

that would make it easier to communicate, although hummers

do pretty well eyeball to eyeball

like the little Anna’s who chided

me through the window for allowing

the red, liquid treat to be depleted

or my zebra finch who patted

my hair as i reached into their cage

to give them fresh seed and water

or the snowy owl who watched me

standing in awe admiring him

and turned nearly full circle, posing

so i could have the full experience

of his splendor

or the osprey dad who glanced at me

as, worried, too, i watched

with him his oldest chick

gathering courage for its

first flight from the rugged nest high

on the platform of a utility pole

still, their plaintive cries or smiley

chirps and twitters leave me wondering

if their sounds mean to them what

their calls stir within my own emotions

i wish i were wise enough to understand

fauna symphony

cunning that the sounds birds

and animals trill or caw or rumble

are subtly attune in pitch and timing

to be heard by their own between

and among all the others

if we could detect flora communication

would it, too, be finely interwoven?

dawn directions

haiku

 brilliant pink-orange east

dawn reclaiming from gray mists

moving sunrise north

sounds of water

waves sweeping in for a bow

with quiet grace or flourish

shawl or cape whipped white

as raindrops splat on metal roof

or plummet onto furrowed earth

and trickle into gurgling rivulets

streaming toward roaring, gnashing

rivers to the sea to full circle

as pounding waves or lifted

by evaporation to cling to tiny particles

and fall again as rain

each role and costume enhanced

by sound that reach our souls

life above and below

haiku

giddy with whitecaps

wind-driven frenzied surface

hints of life below

pink-gold dawn

haiku

 pink-gold tinting grass

wrapping pigmented glory

of the very air

haiku

whitish night bird whirs

startlingly out of darkness

slow release of breath

gray haze

gray haze between the hills

spread out and lingering

as though reluctant to rise

until touched by dawn’s warmth

just before sunrise

haiku

frost-tipped dew whitens

marks grass, twig and leaf edges

clouds dull heavy gray

varied dawns

my panorama view across the valley

to the west hills affords me dawns

so varied, dull gray and vivid gold

and each gives me pause to be grateful

late January sunrise

the colors of dawn were even more vivid than i captured

white sky

white sky

limited vista

but the chickadees and wrens

find the bird seed tray

and intrepid workmen

find the downed lines

to restore electricity

my stars

so pretty, the brilliance hovering

above the town in the valley

so sad, the light pollution hovering

over the town in the valley

weight of time and ice

 weight of time and ice

grinding pebbles into granite

creating geo-scape artistry

on greater-than-human scale

Text & Images Template (Copy) (Copy)

 light snow at 32 degrees

at 34, snow-rain that then freezes

to ice what has already fallen onto

our hill, a paved logging road

with impossible slopes even 4-wheel

drive and chains find challenging

so i’ve been writing and reading

wrapped up in fluffed blankets

huddled in my home living on

canned goods and fruit stocked

up a week ago at meteorologists’

warnings of severe winter storms

a new, limited lifestyle that calls

from within me a rare perspective

of proper humility in the grip

of Nature as she wills

stay at home

gentle chill inside

outside arctic cold, icy rain crusting snow adding glittering brilliance

but also added incentive to remain

indoors

speckled cloud

haiku

speckled clouds stutters

twists, curves in new direction

starling on the move

whitened

haiku

sip hot chocolate

gaze at the glaze of white cover

first snow of winter

full moon entangled

full winter moon entangled

in yellowish, green-gray, eerie clouds

fighting with brilliance to be free

of the fear those hoverers over earth

engender in mere mortals looking up

rudeness unacknowledged

 rather than acknowledge

wrought iron bird politely

faces away as california quail

crowd the feeder tray, wiping back

with their feed as they step forward

to advance on the birdseed

creating piles of husk and debris

on the porch below and behind them

gold-orange slithers

golden orange slithers

between pine needles

creating a bold lace

sunrise finds glorious

myriad ways

to awaken us

to possibilities

to try again