Author: Merrie Dail

  • Early AM

    After reaching the waterfront she settled on the old concrete bulkhead next door I at the end of the dock Maisie rested against my hip as Fox and I regarded each other from a suitable distance A few water birds passed lazily overhead but did not disturb And so we sat ignoring, and wondering about…

  • Flyboy & Maisie

    Cats? No more. more cats? No no more cats! Please. Traded: one good airplane for tiny flea and pneumonia ridden kitten it must have been the heat – and humidity of late July Maisie the dog licks, cajoles, barks plays the daily game of chase while we sit and watch Doomed by birth into an…

  • The Clock

    While there are always tasks to be completed meals to be prepared appointments to be kept It isn’t really the litany of ongoing daily existence that sometimes feels too much Happily, life goes on no matter what never being off duty is the biggest challenge Relief comes only late in the evening one day waning,…

  • Noe, Noe! Cantemus Noe!

    In the foggy Seattle dusk it was easy to ignore the silent wending through our maze of legs Neighbors gathered, discussing the somethings – and nothings – of daily life She seeking only warmth nourishment, safety from predators When the inevitable question was carelessly loosed into the night laughter couldn’t disguise the response – No…

  • Two Tapestries

    The snow must have begun while we were sleeping, for outside the sheerest of veils already stretched from Heaven to earth. Trees and fences softened, and land blurred into water – barely visible geese passed overhead, merged with the mist and disappeared – all, silently and leaving no print on the ground. Yet still they…

  • Counterpoint

    Driving into the neighborhood tonight rain lightly falling, two fawns nestled in the common area lingering in the moisture-laden darkness A few curves away two adult deer ran alongside my car for some distance before leaping ‘cross the road and on to the creek The rain finally came grand thunder, lightning, hail (and power outage)…

  • August Seventh

    Earth so dry Beginning to relinquish hold on a landscape slowly losing the struggle to dig deep enough for life sustaining moisture – sprinklers small comfort. Into each heated night, cicadas loose a relentless, high-pitched plea – no relief and dawn arrives – gray as the day before. And yet – yet the strawberry pot…

  • Cristes Maesse

    In winter the blackest of nights cloak the heavens exploding their brilliance Millions of unseen shards fall earthward through the atmosphere – the air so dense, it takes one’s breath away At first light gnarled and scattered waste of seasons past glisten for a moment under last night’s carpet of frost – Soon, all will…

  • As For Kites

    Fascinating – high in the sky, flying free (with a safety line that might break and then again maybe not) – an exhilarating place to be. A flyer of kites must have faith to let go and toss it into the wind so it can rise to great heights. To know when to reel it…

  • Tulip Poplar

    At first a few leaves lay scattered on the ground but by Wednesday whole yards were covered Lawns returned to green only when weekend gardeners shredded and swept the interlopers It is early August, yet the Tulip Poplar doesn’t care Years ago, its broad yellow leaf intrigued me, as reaching between the Manual of Woody…