deep in the thicket
cheerful bird breaks into song ~
scarlet tanager
Date written: 07/03/2022
A scarlet tanager sits primly on the rail
Of the new fence erected near the meadow,
He eyes me stroll as I take in every detail
The path to the woodland is rather narrow,
Infrequently used, it is rapidly overgrowing
I am brushing against the yellow yarrow,
As hottest of summer is fast approaching
The meadowland has nary a cooling shadow.
Happily, I note the salt lick has disappeared
I hope its purposes were well-intentioned,
Certainly not as the hunter’s ploy, I feared
In a previous post, I am sure I mentioned.
I feel the coolness of the pleasant breeze
As I approach the edge of the tree line
Where meadow gives way to aspen trees,
And further on, a stand of taller pine.
I shall follow the trail through the wood
To the river which I can faintly hear, ahead
Where I saw a huge buck in full manhood,
And I have seen signs of where he bed.
It is a good two-mile hike, not exhausting
But I stop to examine new growth along
And for moments to reflect, I am pausing,
I’m encouraged by the tanager’s song.
Written June 18, 2022
Mint leaf season vortex gilds sylvan glaze
vivid hue a scented purple ground mist
citrus brume float locus in dewdrop phase
cherry orchard fruit shoots hearthrob wish list
Gold grosbeak pecking ryegrass fare at dawn
scarlet tanager an oak tree crown rite
wet mallard feet drag bird seed round my lawn
flush choral plume behind the hedgerow sprite
Triumphant March of mother earth womb pearls
airy infant whines elate our senses
green sea tides that flurry sunlit moss curls
hub of nodding reeds a ripe consensus
Zeal infuses luscious pastures growing
spring fount heralds jubilance a-glowing
Sponsor : Constance La France
This poem is a sonnet.
First rays splash lines of love
across naked bits of detour
dawn's door distracts
chills of the night dissipate
and I am free
Free of fight
held hostage ever tight
First rays flash and I see :
yellow bits of honey dripped
scarlet tanager at play
horizons filling out the day
Darkness held at bay__
GARDEN
Two haiku after a painting by Russell Gordon
flowering dogwood
perched and pert, a tanager
harkens to the wind
flowering dogwood
perched and pert, just listening
scarlet tanager
………………………………..
this plaster statue
she’s naked, white and demure
looking at a rose
her round, yellow hat
casts a shadow as she picks
transformation bloom
all is wet and wild
garden cowed by wind and rain
tortoise pokes its head
Repost
summer’s backward glance
reluctant to say adieu
one lonely white rose
Dave Austin
FILL-INS
An invitation for
the reader to use
imagination
Who? What?
two fine ladies rest
neath a bamboo
umbrella
they talk of a
third?
Fishermen
small boat at anchor
two men mend her
tattered sail
weather or old
age?
Pretty Song
on the dogwood
branches
scarlet tanager and
mate
what song do they
sing?
New York blizzard
snowy avenue
many people
like black streaks
to or from
their work?
Interesting
like Jackson Pollack
this mishmash of
dots and streaks
is there a message?
On the hike
a meadow a
stream
with scattered pines
wild flowers
let’s have a picnic
Baby Bear
so easy to love
he’s a shaggy, gray
kitty
always in the way
.
Inside the forest's sea-of-green,
Sits a hungry, bright-scarlet tanager.
Eating one caterpillar after another,
In minutes he gulps down thirty-five.
Doing its part to help the forest,
Ridding the forest of harmful insects.
And over there in a huge green tree,
A little red-eyed vireo, merrily sits.
Singing its song all through the day,
Preaching its tune for all to hear.
Turning its head from side to side,
Then all at once, its singing stops -
It snatches a ladybug, from a leaf,
A ladybug eating; green-plant lice.
Lice that suck, the green-leaf juices,
Juices that provides food for birds.
Birds like those two, lovely bluejays,
Birds that eat from wild apple trees.
Apples with seeds that will spread,
Spread new trees with Bright-Green Leaves.
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