no more porch railings
mud daubers are unhappy
seasonal home gone
Categories:
daubers, animal,
Form: Haiku
Cold cobalt skies unfold their lanky limbs
The sovereign land awakes in zealous time
Where low mesquites abide the feral winds
Defiant blooms the lupine in its prime
Rainbugs dot the earth in velvet red
Ant lions quietly lurk in lethal lairs
Dirt daubers cast organ pipes overhead
Mockingbirds merrily try out their airs
Scissor-tailed flycatchers' semaphores flash
Silent songbirds seem incited to sing
The wispy wraith of Winter whispers past
And harbingers heady heralds of Spring
Petrichor, the smell of rain on dry ground!
Bluebonnets, the sweetest sight to be found!
Categories:
daubers, nature, spring,
Form: Sonnet
nervous wings flicker
mud daubers in mud prints wait
summer trespasser
Categories:
daubers, nature, summer,
Form: Haiku
Talk of the troubler
and the troubled.
The dainty daubers
and dark doubles
at the end of each street.
Talk of a civil thief
and his broken tongue,
neat shirt, tainted teeth
and lusty lung
that trips your merry into grieve.
Talk of the Alaba Boys*;
Wish's Jeff Bezos.
And the Computer Village's* noise;
Bill Gate's ambassadors;
your brain upsidedown, boxers* lost.
Talk of a floating head
in an elevated steep of mud,
and a slackened loaf of bread
sold for the net worth of Elon Musk.
And Usian Bolts
running for the Olympic medals of a bus,
only for traffic cramps and holes,
to blow the strengths into the dust.
Talk of other varying wonders,
and signs and revivals,
talk of Lagos!
'21:02:14:18:40
Note: Welcome to the struggle in Lagos, Nigeria.
There are some colloquials only Nigerians, precisely Lagosians understand. They are,
Alaba Boys: A general term for fraudster business folks in a place called Alaba in Lagos.
Computer Village: Another version of Alaba.
Boxers: This is a word a typical Nigerian uses when he or she refers to "Boxers' Shorts" or better still, "Pants"...
As requested by a friend. Esther.
Categories:
daubers, africa, memory, stress,
Form: Lyric
The elf thought a wasp’s nest was a comfy place to hide
Until those angry mud daubers decided to come back inside.
Categories:
daubers, fantasy,
Form: Free verse
Hornets came flying in from all directions
Skidding to a stop, showing no kinds of affections.
They filled the kitchen, they filled the hall.
The wasps joined them and had a ball.
The mud daubers heard and tried to crash.
Which was truly pushy and rather rash.
A fight ensued, they stung each other almost to death.
I heard this account from my curious cousin Beth.
Categories:
daubers, animal,
Form: Rhyme
in summer it's bright
the gloom is shuttered indoors
behind the curtains
balmy summer nights
eating outdoors in the breeze
simple dishes bliss
the warm summer sea
beckons beach goers to swim
honey syrup sweet
already it's hot
shade ominous in shadows
welcomes sea breeze gusts
repasts of summer
after long winter gruel
gush exuberance
such fun in the sun
is stirred and spurred by summer
heat makes the blood flow
winter dies with you,
summer endless afterlife
in heaven or hell
winter color blind
daubers everything in drab grey
summer colors in
Categories:
daubers, summer,
Form: Haiku
dirt daubers
in the old house forever
building organ pipes
among the lingering webs
and dead al's ghostly shadow
Categories:
daubers, appreciation, house, insect,
Form: Tanka
The hinges on the door are worn and rusty
Its windows cracked, the floors, faded and dusty
The front porch swing lies crumpled in a pile
With mud daubers claiming the bathroom tile
The fireplace brick cast in impotent disarray
The wallpaper peeling in a mournful display
The stairs and its banister ripped apart in divorce
Time stops for nothing, it's taken its course
Weeds set up residence where roses once grew
The trees bent and broken that the wind blew through
I let my mind drift to a happier time
As I stare at those trees that I used to climb
I put oil on those hinges every Spring and Fall
Mama waxed the floors and I'd skate down the hall
On that front porch swing I stole my first kiss
Who could have known it would end up like this?
I would run up those stairs and slide back down
'Til Mama would shout and scream with a frown
Now broken and battered, just barely a shell
It still paints a picture with stories to tell
Categories:
daubers, introspection
Form: Rhyme