outlived

not for discussion

this is what i’ve built

over decades

time, effort, funds

but it’s veered from support

of each other

to ‘what will you give me?’

perhaps it’s outlived

its purpose and needs

to end

swooping shadow

even a wren creates a shadow

flying above and trailing

a flapping bit of darkness

across the path in front of me

but the swoop of a bird of prey’s

sinister silhouette overhead

freezes breath and pulse

i can only imagine the terror

of a chick or rabbit with death

soaring between earth and sun

Ah! July’s mj Newsletter

ah! July’s mj Newsletter

just went out from Mailchimp

fun to gather

throughout the month before

but always disappointing

that with each goes a warning

about possible danger

to the recipient

that automatically accompanies

mass mailings (except the scams

i get thanking me for phony

subscription – that my card will

be charged $1649.22)

it is so difficult to tell information

from misinformation coming

from the digital world

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red poppies

red poppies survived

even my non-green thumb

laughing in their pert strength

and curtsying in the breeze

at my smile of gratitude

suspended sentence

weeks after the screening frightened

weeks of testing fluids, systems

weeks of nights awake with concern

finally, the will-be surgeon suggests

the findings are not as dire

as first suspected

surgery an option, but not

an imminent need

unless the pain more frequent

or worse, surgery can wait

until life situation can cope more easily

relief

promise of deep, healing sleep

dine in joy

her voice over the phone

animated, grateful, joyous

as she explained she’d taken

my rosebud with her to dinner

all who stopped by admired

its red, new-opened petals

and inhaled its fragrance

that night dining, as well,

in joy

her daughter wants her to stay

 her hopes for the small home

she wished to buy where she’d

spent decades among friends

dashed by the inspector’s report

so many things needing repair

she could have returned to doing

but not in that run-down house

she’s made friends where she now lives

her daughter, who worked front desk

is now retired but wants her to stay

since she is only fifteen minutes away

yet the writing group is now lead

by someone who reads the work

of the vision-impaired with less

than empathy and understanding

rather than greater independence

she faces slow descent to blindness

and dependency                           

feeding our children plastic

David Attenborough’s “Our Planet II”

toddler albatrosses on remote island

fluff feathers amidst bottles and jars

plastic shapes that keep them afloat

to travel on currents throughout

our world, splinter in pieces we l

like the parent birds, then devour or

in our ignorance, feed our children

starving us, and them, of life  

David has documented our self

destruction for decades and often

suggests ways we can turn toward

health, but plastic and immediate gain

obviously hold greater appeal

wander quiet paths

wander quiet paths

know what you are a part of

hear life around you

embroidered with darkness

embroidered with darkness

fine net of twig and leaf shadow

gently undulates

over Daddy Ben’s rocker

settling into summer

chill mornings settling into season

with heat building through the day

grass a brittle gray-green and sprouting

fine seed to contribute to the pollen-laden air

without rain, even these few days,

earth responds to the brutality

of summer

scenes we can feel

places with history speak

without words as though

we, too, experience

what has happened

within that setting

as though the archway writhes

or the rocks give witness

or billowing dust at the horizon

breeds terror, anticipating

marauding hoards

scenes we can feel

treat ‘em with rice

steamed rice in a doggie bag

from the Thai restaurant lunch

covered with bird seed to entice

the picky chickadees

but i needn’t have bothered

my wild birds picked around the seed

to get at the exotic treat

richer by far

 richer by far

for experiencing the Rhine’s flow

and stoney Roman camps turned towns

windmills’ sweeping sails staying flood

close-fit locks, padlock-by-lovers bridge

castles now ruins or renovated hotels

robber toll-takers replaced

by tourist trinket salesmen

elk-colored herds of wild horses

swooping waterbirds

cathedral spires piercing gold sunsets

family on top deck to drink in history

and laugh and bond among ourselves

richer by far                                

Kinderdijk, The Netherlands

Alisa Hampton

Amsterdam

view from my window in Hotel Estherea on the Singel Canal.

laughter and good food

sharp clang of spatula

flare of flame and bad chef jokes

Benihana set with full table

of family loving their mom

on her 30th time celebrating

her 29th birthday

and she can get crankier

chill morning, un-summerlike

odd weather for mid-June

in a year of unexpected heat

too early in the season

as though Grandma Nature

were getting cranky in her old age

striking light-fall

in the dark of night

the small, decorative watering can

is suspended over the hanging plant

with a dozen wires spread like spray

each knob glowing like brilliant

drop of life-renewing water

rather than solar-powered lights

tackling my lawn-field

personable young man

who tackles my lawn

again reverting to field

loves my mountain view

and country critters skittering

or swooping close

treats my steep slopes and

edges with the care

he would give if it were his

and stops to talk of his plans

and long hours of work

to get, finally, where he can see

being able to take family

on joyous vacation

home flights

cancellations and complex re-routings

raise anxiety before bending

into engineered tight cubes of space

and silent skirmishes over armrest

for many hours sitting to be carried

cross-nations, cross- ocean

and polar flights to take advantage

of the curve of the earth

suspending believe in time and goal

until finally setting down in native land

ah! thank you!

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still beside

a week together on the Rhine

and the family still loves each other

it must be the fascinating

juxtapositions of very old beside

so new in towns, many begun

as outlying Roman settlements

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