snow covered driveways
tiny paw prints through yard
squirrels nesting hangs
Winter Blues, Spring Clues
Miracle Man
2/24/2025
Soon God will usher winter days to sleep,
and the warming air will cause birds to sing.
Lawns will turn green and require some upkeep,
this is the happening, welcoming spring.
The thing most appealing, arriving birds,
the Robins are our first birds to appear.
Then Mocking Birds spewing other birds words,
but to flocks of Starlings i don’t endear.
From the patio I watch Wrens at work,
putting four inch sticks through a one inch hole.
Each episode I’ve watched was a piece of artwork,
they don’t tire or stop until at their goal.
The Cardinals add color to our drab yard,
eating sun flower seeds that we provide.
From a phone line a Scissor Tail on guard,
Doves peck last fall’s acorns at driveways side.
Some days seen, a sudden influx of crows,
and the north breeze still gives me one last nip.
whispering gently from the north it blows,
while my now cold mug gives me one last sip.
White powder is softly falling out there,
And the temperature is getting low,
But I, in my soft fleece, am warm in here.
I hear the sound of those having a scare,
As they slide down their driveways even though,
White powder is softly falling out there.
Cars and trucks are still wrecking everywhere,
For no one knows how to drive in the snow.
But I, in my soft fleece, am warm in here.
The FedEx truck has crashed right over there,
And people rush to the stores even though,
White powder is softly falling out there.
Cars are sliding ‘round and drivers despair.
They call the garage to give them a tow.
But I, in my soft fleece, am warm in here.
Everywhere there is yelling in the air
As chaos comes with the covering snow.
White powder is softly falling out there,
But I, in my soft fleece, am warm in here.
Winter’s captain, pompously struts his stuff, then
breaking tempo, alters the autumn rhythm;
slower pace is dominant, leaf dance dwindles;
nature's in rest mode.
Trees and bushes blanketed white by snowfall,
caps and gloves with heavier coats required now,
cabin fever, fidgety boredom, proves our
need of the sun's heat.
Shov’ling driveways, icicles dripping vex us,
tempers rise, thermometers plummet; hope says
spring is under climate’s control, so learn to
navigate winter.
Civilization
They take root
and sprout up like
the corn that used
to fill these fields.
Acres of grassland,
fertile farmland,
and the houses
grow day by day.
Trucks filled with
house parts, baseboards,
light fixtures, windows,
sinks and toilets,
concrete for driveways
ply the muddy streets,
soon to be covered
with macadam.
Forests decimated,
their precious oxygen
gone as the logs
are hauled away
to the paper mill.
Nature gives way
to more civilization.
Animal habitat destroyed.
The tracts mushroom,
first one, then two,
then a hundred, a thousand.
Houses complete,
lawns are tended,
concrete covers patios,
everything neat and tidy
a paean to overpopulation.
Thunder threatens to split open scared sky,
Lightning lightens up the moody madcap weather,
Delightful downpour plashing patters,
Sultry summer cools down, God's blessing bestowed,
Refreshing rain drenches driveways,
Shifty showers gush from dark-grey clad clouds,
Raindrops' respite from heat helps us wind down.
Syllable count: 10.12.9.11.8.10.10
('driveways' counted as 2 syllables, HMS wrongly counts it as 3)
1st May 2023
Contest: Alliterisen
Sponsor: Joseph May
Whether we like it or not,
Floods are the weather we've got
Water galore,
From sky to floor
Tying us all up in knots
It has been raining for days,
Many roads have become waterways
Instead of a drive,
You are now able to dive
In pools, in gardens and in driveways.
People have fled to their roofs,
It is no joke; it's the truth,
They are afraid to come down
Because they could drown
And some are pretty long in the tooth.
It is useless to feel cross,
Bewildered, worried and lost
On the roof, we must stay,
Until that enlightening day,
We all realise Nature is the Boss!
All night unto dawn
a gentle sweetness – a soft rain
a comforting...
slow dreaming droplets
in a watery falling.
I overhear soccer moms backing-out of driveways,
the last moment rumpus of heel-dragging kids.
The mail van trundles-by
Trains merge with geese
in long slipstreams of sound.
then a solicitous quiet
as the land listens to itself
breathing.
The sky is wet but not drowning,
it floats on flowing wind-waves
that wash against my mind
as a tender caress.
All is well,
the world is a child again.
All night unto dawn, a gentle sadness,
a comforting...
a dreaming rain falling,
as the world recalls its ancient roots.
I listen to soccer moms backing-out of driveways,
the last moment rumpus of heel-dragging kids.
The mail van trundles-by,
sparrows bathe in warm puddles.
Trains merge with geese
in long slipstreams of sound.
All is well, all newly
washed
the world a child again.
When used as directed, proven to be clinically effective on some of the following conditions: term papers & science projects, monthly bills & quarterly reports, Christmas shopping, pregnancy tests, motor vehicle inspections & oil changes, diet & exercise programs, campaign finance reform, colonoscopies, learning second languages & musical instruments, vacations of your dreams, changing careers, getting married & having children, changing smoke alarm batteries, cleaning out closets, garages, basements, junk drawers & attics, shoveling driveways & walkways, doing something that really makes a difference in the world.
Satisfaction all but guaranteed to result in continued use of product.
(If your symptoms persist, consult someone who actually gets things done.)
Sails of snow
Hoisted
To the roar of northern wind
Wires wild
Leashed to masts
Banging like spoons on pots and pans
Sea of Earth lurching
Beneath
The creaking planks of our house
On we go
Tossed and turned
The bow of our kitchen
Cutting through slaps of whitecaps
Windows sinking
Chimney smoke whipping from the rooftops
Bushes plumed and weighed down
To their knees
With buckets bailed of snow
Swaying low
Like the last herd of wooly mammoths
Dragging themselves down the street
A march to oblivion
The storm subsides after three nights and two days
Though the trees continue to throw snowballs
On their own
We emerge
Michiganians
Terrified sailors
Transformed
To butlers and maids
Sweeping and dusting
Shoveling and chipping
The destruction
From the wrecked decks of our driveways
Signaling at dusk to one another
Through flashlight Morse code
All is well
All is well
We survived.
Discretion
David J Walker
Its wing crooked from some
Unreported collision
The wild Canada goose would
Never fly again
Now left behind
Left to beg at the end
Of driveways when not hiding
Between lawns and lakes
Holding himself in humbled pride
Begging as homeless veterans beg
At an edge of town traffic light
Out of sight of traffic cops
With guns and cuffs and discretion
Once his hunter now his guardian with
Obligations they both understand
There will be corn
At the end of the driveway
every morn
No questions asked
Sometimes I don't wear my glasses,
Sit beside the window, the glasses on my lap,
And the familiar world looks unfamiliar!
It's dawn right now, it's almost Fall.
The sky is cloudy today, very dull,
Lawn is still green, trees and bushes did not change their colours yet,
A crane which stands beside the skyscrapers in the distant,
looks less monstrous, a sillouette in the horizon.
In my glassless eyes, evergreens in the far look hazy,
Even the grey skyscrapers seem less intimidating
With a few lights here and there, blinking.
It's Wednesday, garbage trucks are passing,
Stopping at every corner, extending the mechanical hand to pick up trash.
To my blurry eyes, that action seems soothing!
A few cars left in the driveways like abandoned children!
A lady, in a hurry, getting in,
in the driver's seat, and zooming away!
Sometimes I like to watch the outside world this way -
Through the frame of my rectangular window,
Like a watercolour painting -
Hazy, blurry, indistinct!
All night unto dawn
a gentle sadness
a comforting...
there is a dreaming rain falling
it is younger than morning mist
it is the first and last teardrop
as the world recalls its ancient roots.
I rest in the backwash of my own ebbing waves.
My breath cleansed in the light-stepping rain.
Distantly I hear soccer moms backing-out of driveways,
the last moment rumpus of heel-dragging kids.
I listen as a mail van trundles-by,
hear it pushing messages into gawping spaces.
Trains merge with geese
in long slipstreams of sound.
Plants fold fronds and leaflets
while dripping blooms bathe.
All is well, all unspoiled.
The world is a child again.
It rains gently now within.
After a snow storm
The snow covers ground
Outside it is cold
Then it starts to warm
The rain pours downwards
It begins to freeze
Sidewalks and driveways
Are very icy
It is hard to walk
Salt is not put down
Walking the small steps
Trying not to fall
The driveways are
dangerous
This does not seem right
Salt should be put down
For the safety to walk
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.