free and clear

life is great
love makes it better
stop existing
all about me
got any friends
got any enemies
a dog a cat
take my world
for a walk
make myself interesting
think outside me
love my neighbor
free and clear

between the lines

we write
leaving the best behind
our mind levels
hold on to thoughts
our good intentions
leaving the best behind
we have forgotten
there is more to it
than just letting go
of a few words
for the page
time covers eyes
we realize
it is all said
on the blank page
between the lines

bored dogs

bark all the time
pull on the leash
chew good stuff
vomit on the rug
ignore you
don't obey
sleep on your bed
nip-----the vet
chase helpless creatures
destroy when left
carry food from their dish
to the living room carpet
act like a fool
near females
develop mines
of their own
demand

dogs are the loneliest people I know

there is this yellow lab
at the corner on my walk
he is there everyday barking
there is a big shaggy white dog
behind the fence with the lab
I toss them biscuit pieces
the lab barks all the time
his eyes are empty
he has lost the reason why
but he still barks
the white dog waits and watches
he barks because the lab barks
it use to be fun but now
it's the only thing they do
behind the fence

death is greedy

death came in the night
taking all it could
our light is enough
to get us through
the darkness
death is greedy
helpless only because
it can't take
the part of you
that belongs to them
framed forever
in the silnece

in the sand

footprints mingle
held together
in the sand
finding each other
searching veils
why do you follow
hiding in the sand

falling

reach
catch
hold
help
look up
look down
don't look
your rock
is heavy
only a sky hook
will hold you
find it
hold on

nothing is ever missed

missing
what
who why where
why do we
think
missing
nothing is ever
missed
we scatter
pieces scatter
lives melt
missing
together
nothing
because
nothing is ever
missed

from the beginning

the big wooden phone
you got an operator
was behind the swinging
dinning room door
dial phone
there was a room
inside the house
designated for a toilet
coal was delivered to the house
and dumped into a shoot
that put it in the basement
next to the furnace
gas furnace a thermostat
clicked it on and off
horse and wagon delivered our milk
milk truck
card table chairs
set up in the street
a projector and screen
Princess Movie theatre
ringers on the top of the washing machine
you fed the clothes through them
with a large wooden stick
front loading automatic washing machine
there is of course the beginning
but more so there is an ending
perhaps my purpose
is the ending

bull snakes

a walk in the woods
near dog gypsys angel patch
close to her cabin porch
a bull snake slithering
into a broken angel statue
a friend carefully removed
each broken piece
secured the snake in his hand
and headed for the back of the woods
where he released it
he said it was a male
on his way back he ran into the female
and also released it in the back of the woods
bull snakes play dead when captured
they hiss at you and bite
they are not poisonous
this is their woods
we are the visitors

bull snakes

a walk in the woods
a bull snake
slithering quietly
into a broken angel statue
in gypsys angel patch
near the cabin
a friend retrieved it
and moved it
to the back of the woods
he said it was a big male
coming back to the cabin
he ran into a female bull snake
which he also escorted
to the back of the woods
when caught they play dead
if you get too close
they hiss at you
they are feisty

Aunt Wilma

when aunt Wilma was
ten years old
she could walk under
the kitchen table
we were told it was because
she had some bone disease
Grandmother Spengler gave birth
twelve times nine survived
all born on their farm
in Northern Ohio
later Wilma moved to the upstairs
of a house in Elmira Ohio
Grandfather Spengler built
when they left the farm
my mother was her sister
my two older sisters Nedra and Janice
and mom and I helped Aunt Wilma clean
her rooms in the house
my mom would carry her full slop jar
down the long stairway
to the outhouse and dump it
us kids would work the pink stuff
like silly putty in our hands to warm it
make a ball of it and rub it over
the wallpaper to clean it
Wilma moved to an old folks home
and is buried at a place called Lauber Hill
near the farm where she was born

ode to darkness

fabled shades of dawn
cover the darkness
so deep when it was
so content to be
not alone but full
of shinny lights
that roam the sky
telling their story
before the sun
pushes up
another dawn

aging with myself

arguing with myself?
should you do that
when you live alone?
die trying has new meaning
life time warranty does as well
still figuring out what is
and what isn't just me
where did I come from
and why did I appear
my wonderful childhood
then the secret change called
growing up maturing
I know now how little I knew
for sure it is best not to know
how things will turn out
first age is good last age better
surprises keep us on our toes
discovering my cogs
not so much what is but what isn't
I don't care for random dislike
when my dog became my constant
and only companion discovery
and learning followed
its what I will never know
that really bothers me

miracles

the stone will be rolled back
the trees are blooming
the iris leaf cracks for the flower
the vultures and crows
come to eat old Wyoming brisket
a baby hummingbird
comes to the feeder
and has not yet learned
how to use it
spring flowers are blooming
profusely in the dry woods
the woods has certain things
it saves for certain weathers
so no matter what there
is something blooming
He has a plan for you to
why can't I be like my dog
living in the present
with no concern for tomorrow
that's good grandma
time for the motorcycle
on the private roads
at the cabin

Beethoven

our in house wood pecker
Beethoven came at first light
tapping his song against the metal
spark arrester on the chimney
crosman copperhead beebees 
are fired to scare when
he pecks at the wooden cabin
repairs have been made
this is his woods first
but if he wakes me again

staying

my husband died in 2005
like other city friends
no need to stay
moved to the country
where I met others
was thinking of moving
back to the city
but now I know
the folks around here
the city is lonely
I will stay here

sabbatical

sabbatical 
sleeping late
watching movies
eating burgers coke
and fries at a drive-in
slithering slowly
like a snake
through the lazy days
lost blog lost words
looking for lines
piles of words
closets drawers full
jumbles of them
some hanging from trees
forming poems
in the wind
as they fall
caught by raindrops
making puddles
of poems

fox fun

eggs for the foxes
they do love them so
more than you or I
could ever know
eggs we put out
for them to find
we watch their antics 
as they playfully
decide just how
to grab
an egg and run
fun fun fun