In winter
The forest becomes invisible
This
Is
When the wood can be touched
Such
Tall
And toppled tenderness
Will not flinch
Beyond
Looking through
The centuries exposed
Forest floor
Floats
With deadfall
So many crisscrossed legs and arms
Windthrow veins
Drained
Of blood
Root system rugged above its quivering skin
Like us all
When life is gone
We are the same
Bone
Remains
Laid down
Foundation
For hares and Perennials
Fungus and fox
Feathered saplings of sun and moon
A risen soul
Someday soon
Erupted
Again
With dahlia sky and spring.
Categories:
deadfall, age, courage, nature, seasons,
Form: Free verse
a teeny tiny
mouse shyly skitters among
the crisp-dried leaves and deadfall
the teeny tiny
mouse believes that Spring has sprung
to free him from his burrow
when fragrant flowers
rise with soaring sleepy heads
teeny tiny mouse snuffles
as jasmine entices
teeny tiny mouse to run
free and scurry through the fields
Categories:
deadfall, animal, environment, flower, freedom,
Form: Sedoka
We have a brand new fire pit.
The ring is four feet wide.
Perfect for a Fall evening!
Cast iron and two feet high,
a present for hosting warmth.
Perfect for family and friends!
We have deadfall from the storms
and stumps hewn for seating.
Perfect for talk and cheer!
Bring your favorite beverage and food.
We have cozy blankets to cuddle.
Perfect for singing and laughter!
The neighbors see the flames
and bring their contributions.
Perfect for games and camaraderie!
Mom made hot potato salad and slaw.
Sally’s dad made ribs, and chili beans
Perfect for wieners and brats!
And so we sing and play and eat
and tell a few ghost stories, too.
Perfect night to have some fun!
Come join us for our bonfire!
Categories:
deadfall, autumn, family, fire, food,
Form: Free verse
cover'd over with the moon
backroad'n RFD,
spare biscuit breakfast,
flop house glad rags
tied up on a bindle stick,
down dog bark alleyways,
as bridge span gypsies
crouch split-bone knuckled,
soul worn boondockers,
gristle cracked
now tin can feasted,
wind whipped in a belt loop,
frayed into a railyard
stale coal house dusted,
silence like a drumbeat,
as mountains echo hinting
driftsnow blowdown,
vapor thrumming like thick cable,
northron clipper come carbon arcing,
harsh bitten as a cow catcher,
cold iron given life,
shaken snowflakes
deadfall driftwood,
blood pounded steam whistle,
quick step gasping
dead hand switched,
desperate for a ladder rung,
slide door framework
boxcar straw flakes,
ticket to the rising sun.
Categories:
deadfall, freedom, journey,
Form: Free verse
Forgotten orchard
Children's laughter long ago
Deadfall smiles sweetly
10/17/13
Categories:
deadfall, age
Form: Senryu
dults we stand for time has passed us by
our childish ways have bloomed into a blight
the roots we set, now gnarled, so pained decry,
the visages of springtime love's delight.
Upon foul winds you've flown, you've left
a thief without the strength to be forthright.
A fallen limb, a rotting bough bereft,
am I to lay alone, as winter comes,
as you bloom again within a riper cleft?
Is this your wish, and how your pledge succumbs?
Never had I dreamed I'd be so harshly left
for a younger bloom with naught but dried crumbs.
By sins of the flesh, we've been undone.
I will not forgive what you've become.
Categories:
deadfall, angst, lost love, sad,
Form: Terza Rima
Beyond the paved two-lane with its solid centerline,
and bounded by NO TRESPASS signs;
beyond the turn-off onto gravel and the last barking dog
who keeps pace with my hubcap;
to a landing where I park my car and walk away:
no signs of ownership, no gate.
Just a path that skirts a swale; up to a clearing
fringed with black-oak blazing green.
I push through underbrush thick
with deadfall leaves, beyond where miners dug
and gouged and left it all behind.
Land no one has tamed.
Abruptly, I’m at the edge of canyon.
Far below, the river churns from upcountry,
down granite, grinding its way west.
No vineyard terraces, no homes with a view.
Just the wild lavender of distance
verging into forest viridian. Land owned by none
and everyone, where, if I watch my step,
I can still walk free.
Categories:
deadfall, nature
Form: Free verse