Another summer of drought the Matta, Ni and Po rivers come and go signs noted along the highway At the Rappahannock I become aware how devastating the absence of rain has been there is little evidence a river ever ran through here, but Somewhere to the southeast the Rappahannock gathers its waters once again unto…
Sometimes life smarts – well, backward glances and forward hopes perhaps Examining – or not what it means to live a life “well lived” Striving to shoulder daily responsibilities, the shoulds, oughts, musts – while necessary – perhaps noble in some small way? Sometimes in quiet moments of reflection, it feels as if the shouldering…
At those times when I feel in harmony with the world Every clock dances with 12:12, 3:03 or other synchronous pairs before moving on to the next minute in time Conversely, hands on a discordant clock suspend time as they stretch and point toward numbers that disagree Like a flashing red light they warn again…
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,…
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)…
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…
Eagle flying in the air all alone, always there ever circling what do you see on the ground cold, dark, dank, brown circling, ever circling Over treetops, over farms lying fallow – is it flight keeps you alive? time long gone I’d lay watching as you worked the currents finally running in for the kill…
Door closed Maisie bounded from behind the sofa fresh with the scent of winter we measure the days and hours in Maisie time Locked in the moment he shrugged off a scraped and bloodied face – oblique commentary on a parallel universe Mud and grass stains are part of the game – then bundled to…
‘In the city’ where music danced on the night lights we dashed store to store over snowbanks, between cars through crowds of people across the cobblestone streets trying to avoid puddles of slush – don’t slip! meet. regroup and divide. meet again outside under the Shepard clock closely guarding our Christmas secrets only the constant…
Tiny bird inside his breast pocket you are like the young three-footed buck and squirrel laying in the rain with a broken hip Science cannot heal all should we have left you to die? Young buck once jumped with a grace man never could squirrel – laughed with a zest unmatched How does your heart…
Nights you’d prowl the house in stark contrast to days of nursing/moving/coaxing Did you slip away, certain your baby was asleep – forgetting she was an only child soon to miss the warmth of your body? or was it a need from deep inside to have some part of each day silently to yourself? It…
Slowly my fingers search the rough stone ignoring wrong turns formed by the moss Some stones will not give up their secrets From atop the church I guessed God could see forever beyond the marshes, rivers and bay, far beyond the sea where they came from and where they came to Take thy rest. William,…