you got it

wandering, wondering

wishing i understood

laughing, unknowing

merely embarrassed

at my own incompetence

nothing is funny

in this state of confusion

no control over what the clues

tell will be, but i cannot read

i feel so alone

no longer able to bluff

or giggle fetchingly

so ma or pa will come rescue

wanting to show i am a grownup

though i know i am not

a tiny voice laughs: now you know

this is adulthood, friend

service

servitude, bondage, subjugation

a mat to be walked upon

but to serve is something else

to give freely of yourself

to help others

to prepare and serve a meal

to teach so that others may grow fully

to minister to needs so others may heal

to maintain a healthy environment

to protect others, many of whom

would be defenseless without

your giving of yourself

thus to serve is to provide a noble gift

which will not always be seen

for what it is, but will be cherished

by those with insight and understanding

haiku

richer by far with

brother, daughter on lunch break

amid fall colors

cloud screens

cloud screens

clouds gather to gossip

wisp-disperse to pass on notes

collect again shaped as news

art screens of horse in gallop

elm trees, sailing ships or seals

or as my kindergarten son informed me

“Look, Mom, there’s a man.

See his eyes and his chin

and there, under his nose

there’s his mustard.”

Pastor David

a gentleness of spirit

warm and giving despite disappointment

fighting spirit without violence

but with love and generosity

he draws my admiration

every Sunday with his sermon

and his supportive smile

daylight saving

 restless fog seeps between the pines

caresses blades of grass with silver

clings to windows, peering in

at humans’ clocks, wondering

at the foolishness of ‘daily savings’

when Sol burns on at a star’s pace

regardless

“You forgot me”

hiking in the woods as family

father tried to swing

his toddler daughter up

around a steep, muddy spot

but hands slipped apart

she tumbled unhurt to the bottom

whimpering, “You forgot me”

portend of his leaving without

recognition of her later attempts

at reconciliation

juggle

 medicines counter one problem

and cause two others

speed up slow heartrate

but release migraines from captivation

and disturb balance

a balancing act of trial and error

and occasional equilibrium.

chill fog

 chill fog writhing to envelope

warmth and golden sun in gray

cooling the marrow of our bones

as though to sap our will

or to command us to be still

and dig more deeply

into the rich mystery and joy

of being alive

rancid milk of human kindness

rancid milk of human kindness

when one decides for many

the right path, the only way

to believe and live

even a child needs choice

and mild consequences to grow

into knowledge of self

and tolerance if not respect

for others who are, of physical

and mental and emotional necessity, as

different as each individual was created

turning livid

 burnished, bruised orange and gold

oozing between layered purple clouds

resting for breath on the eastern horizon

over minutes, climbing, seeping mauves

capturing bluing sky and gray clouds

infuriating them with scarlet

reach to the heavens, livid for needing

to bleed the sunrise into day

imagine that

sensitive to who kids are

witty in the spirit of their games

kathi brings out laughter

and gives safe haven to imagination

my october birdseed tray

 haiku

black-capped chickadee

chest red orange as though joyous

basks in dawn-warmed seed

hunter’s moon

hunter’s moon

hunter’s moon whitewashed

the field in the night

highlighting evergreen boughs

as though laden with snow

leaving little place for a deer

to hide

yet this morning an antlered  buck

pranced through my yard

alive and well

to my relief

putting us in our place

for every human on earth

there are a billion or more insects

so if we think we are the success

we are mistaken by at least

ten to the power of one followed

by nine zeroes

that’s a lot of hubris

halloween haiku

 wrestle with evening

fear-welcome the dark’s coming

respite or terror

permission granted

haiku

whiskered dawn stretches

languid on east’s horizon

allowing day’s start

lie still and wait

so long at bay, i’d begun to hope

the vertigo would never visit me again

but several times in the last few days

i’ve felt myself teetering

and twice now as i’ve turned

onto my left side, the world

has slithered by again and again

in rapid, sickening rotation

disheartened, i lie still and wait

what a day

beautiful, heartfelt wedding

early afternoon yesterday

and in the evening, symphony

with added circus acts

by lithe performers doing things

my human body could never do.

slapstick

abbott and costello meet the mummy

movie old with glitches and odd

with ancient jokes and slapstick

i was glad to be watching at home

rather than in a theatre as the whole

farce struck me as laugh-out-loud funny

this is the kind of horror i can enjoy.