Still October

 

Marching Band Drums

Copper glaze

Stone mug

Honey melon

Leather crush

Seed flinch

Cork crumb

Melt settle

Water stop.

Rest— 

Rest—  

Rest———

October

 

Earth

A stretched canvas is a drum.

I thump it with my thumb.

Big brush beats out the tune—    

Uneven scratches like waves

Describe the pattern,

Turns and footprints.

Lonely ant crawls across

Miles of hilly sand toward

The thundering waves,

Never stopping until

He is swallowed up. 

Seagulls float overhead,

Their fat bodies buoyant

On invisible air currents.

...and the whole earth is full of his glory. -Isaiah 6:3

One Reason Why You Matter

 

Heidi

 

I am a blue person.

So I was quite surprised

to find 4 items of pink clothing

hanging in my closet

(even though I put them there).

I blame my new friend, Heidi. 

Also, I recently completed 

the funnest, quickest painting

I have ever made--   

a bright, super-colorful,

childish painting of the beach.

That, too, is Heidi's fault.

I hung it on the porch

right by the front door.

I have gotten zero compliments on it.

It is my favorite.

Just Goofin' Around

I Will Survive

Why not not be afraid

This time:

To paint the wrong line,

To mess up the shadow,

To miss the proportion,

To fail?

Jump! I say, jump!

Off the diving board 

Into the bucket 

Like the old cartoons...

Land upside-down,

Head flat as a fry pan

Circled by blinking stars

And chirping birds.

Shake it out

And march away

In orchestral conclusion.

 

Beautiful Lines II

Spools

Spirals

Veins

Vines

Twirls

Tendrils 

Skeins

Spines

Manes

Mazes

Checks

Chives

Tracks

Traces

Lanes 

Lives

More About Rita

 

Better

You were the better one.

You made me better than I was,

But you were always better.

I got to go live by the beach,

But you got to go live in Heaven.

I miss you, better friend.

Blue

I sent you a stuffed bunny,

pink suede gloves, and

lemon ginger tea last fall.

You gave me a beautifully

illustrated devotional and

lemon ginger cookies.

I can hear your voice 

like water, laughing

softly with love.

You always kept your kids' 

art projects displayed—      

that funny ceramic pig.

You, like a kite in the clouds

against a blue sky

on the best of days.

Freedom

You understood small

Pleasures so well, like a cat

On your lap (or dog),

Your patio chair,

Hostas, chirping hopping birds,

A few friends gathered,

Contentment by choice—   

One of your superpowers;

Coffee, cookies, smiles.

Just Chillin'

 

Sensate

Thought a button was a beetle

Crawling cross my closet floor

Felt like beach sand was soft concrete

For my bed I would adore

Sparrows rustling in the bushes

Chirping leaves and yet unseen

Grilled cheese wafting from the kitchen

Making toasty nutty steam

Beautiful Lines

Leafy veins

Dandelion strands

Doorways

Clocks

Sticks in the grass

Window screens

Jean stitching

Rocks

Handwriting

Suspenders

Umbrella

Box

Shoelaces

Bookbinding

Garden rows

Docks

What Makes a Party

Boats lit up at night

Sipping iced sparkling water

Piano, drums, bass

Bucket of Blueberries

 

I will follow you to Heaven, my Lovely Friend

The house is a mess

but it's not making me nuts,

doesn't steal my joy.

Monarchs fly over,

seeming to know the secret,

boldly fluttering.

My dream has come true—  

the prisoner is set free,

my hope gone forward.

The Night You Left Earth

Brilliant colored images,

ideas beyond my thinking

flooded my mind that night.

I couldn't sleep--

my imagination flying so crazily

I feared for my sanity.

Scary, surreal, overwhelming,

yet extreme happiness,

rapt in joy like a whirlwind.

Impressions rushing, flowing,

I thought I might fly off the planet.

I had to stop it. No time to record.

I took hold of myself, two melatonin,

hid under the covers until

the hush of peace settled in.

Next morning I could not recall

a single thought or idea, 

just the feeling of the experience.

I didn't know the significance of it,

or of not waking up in pain that day.

Later, I got the text.

You had flown.

One More for You

Twenty-five new shrubs,

Twenty-one perennials,

Seven trees planted.