Groundhog peeks out den
as I slowly totter by.
He stares in muted horror.
What's he looking at?
He's never seen old before
nor suffer from a sore back.
A big fat groundhog crossed the road,
While waddling, quite fast.
I watched him in surprise
At so much speed as he ran past.
Perhaps he found me threatening
Although I never knew
A person who’d attempted
To cook up some groundhog stew.
Still, every creature’s instincts
Will kick in when danger’s nigh
And even big fat groundhogs
Waddle quickly to get by.
I can deal with six more weeks of winter ~ but not six more weeks of ICE
our fate on this day
in the hands of a groundhog
snow or early spring
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beneath the oak’s gnarly boughs,
a squirrel puffs his furry brows.
He stands upon his hindmost toes
and clears his throat—then strikes a pose.
‘tis February 2d, and he’s perched so proud,
On fence post high, he squints at clouds.
No winter's end! he chirps with glee~
A squirrel convinced that he's Phil.
Listen! he decrees,I’m more than a treetop thief
I am the Seer! The Weather Chief!
Behold my shadow—short or tall—
I prophesize for one and all!
The groundhogs just scoffed, You’re a joke!
A squirrel can't predict—what a bloke!
Your tail's far too puffed,
Your logic is stuffed—
The other squirrels ignored his act,
too busy burying things intact.
Yet Phil persisted, year by year,
a furry fraud who had no fear.
shadows lurking near
early spring ghost-like spectre ~
precognitive flash
(February Full Moon – Algonquin)
Groundhog, come out to play.
Spit out what you have to say.
Is spring coming our way?
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2026
(“Outside Looking In Merit Badge”, 2011, original oil)
In a dream
The repeated pattern of my own conditioning
Like a Groundhog’s Day set on reset
Reveals to me the futility of the human condition
Habitually doing the same things
While expecting different results;
As Einstein said, THE definition of insanity.
Yet again and again we also wake
With at least the hope of sanity,
The freshness of not being habitually driven
Until we once again start to do
And the conditioning of all these lifetimes
Kicks in again, as we
Without thought, without effort
Take the easy path of least resistance.
(11/24/25)
Does it matter what you do
or matter what you say?
Does anything mean anything
when you live Groundhog Day?
Is there a way to please the Gods
so that they’ll let you go?
Or maybe there’s no point at all.
Perhaps it’s just a show.
But what else can you do
if you find you’re stuck in this scene.
You have to just keep going
and hope you will find the thing
that they are wanting you to learn.
You have to find a way
to end the drama, check the box…
and escape Groundhog Day.
In v formation
loud honking proves geese are back
happy groundhog day
Phil saw his shadow
I was hoping not
darn groundhog
you have confused us
tricking us into springtime
when snow is still here
A mild spell in winter.
Groundhogs have escaped from their slow dreams.
The hedgerow confirms,
their wide-hipped shuffling as they grub for vittles.
Evening brings one whistle pig to February lawns.
Yet the snow will return, the whimper in the breeze,
will resurrect itself as a howl.
Hey, back to sleep mother groundhog!
Keep the den warm,
small blind eyes are already sensing,
a home in your womb.
Go back and dream of juicy garden carrots -
munchable mouthfuls of daffodils.
All weathermen cried, "This just isn't fair,"
When groundhog refused to exit his lair
Because he had heard,
Up here is absurd
And face this weird world, he's too scared to dare.
Groundhog promised he would never oversleep again.
On February second they sent out the annoying wren.
He could not rouse groundhog from his slumber.
So Mom and Dad went over, in a wagon-lumber.
They made as much noise as they dared outside.
Finally going into his bedroom and shaking his hide.
Groundhog was irritated and terribly grumpy too.
I think it was certainly brave of them, don’t you?
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