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I caught something wonderful today!

Conqueror

An offer I could not refuse
this blue dragonfly
& unnoticed companion(s?)
claiming an outpost
on a battered post
sat long minutes
pondering

breathing

gazing NNW for some reason
known only to the dragonfly

Sloooooow putters on the green
lining 'em up like Ben Crenshaw

gave me time to play my own game

Back on Track

Marking Time
the fan blades whirring into one shadow
wings fanning into one blur
hummingbird wings
alial elevation
both feet on the ground
trudging along behind the lawn mower
I salute
the persistence of weeds
& briars
& the bright haze
surrounding the Summer Moon.

Acceptance

I've been kind of blue
after the demise of the cardinal babies.

One was too big for the nest,
& tipped out the whole lot,
evidently,
judging from the empirical evidence
I found.

What I found...

broke my heart for awhile.

So TODAY

I'll pull a few weeds,

set out the hummingbird feeders

take care of a few other details,

& continue to observe

Nature's Way.

Bird Business

I saw the brilliant father stop by
perched on a patio chair--
couldn't get a good shot, though,
& the mother, whose dishevelment,
evidently resulting from just sitting
for so long, endeared her forever to me--
her topknot in such disarray.

But now she's sleek again, & assertive,
a grain of something that looked like a bit of dried corn
glowing within her golden orange beak.

The way she waits for the biggest chick
to stand down so she can reach the smaller ones,

& her fierce pride, flying in the face
of bluejays taunting
like juvenile delinquents on a subway,

or well-meaning humans.

When I approach the window,
from inside my own house,
inside, with camera or coffee cup,
she flies at the glass & her entire
demeanor says

BUZZ OFF

NOW

So I keep in the shadow of a curtain
watching from time to time
as I pass by on other duties
to spy on the progress.

This rich blessing of time--
to love & observe the birds
their colors
their cries...

I leave a small pile of popcorn
just outside the door

Art Lesson

After twisting & turning

for 2,000 miles, only

for the reward of a 50-mile view,

& s-curves of the road left to travel

back down,

I found myself in Death Valley

on a road so straight

that the vanishing point

vanished.

PROMISE

This time of morning last Sunday

I was so tired

so tired

so tired

so tired of the blessings

I'd driven over the Sierra Nevada

spotted oil wells dotting the Llano Estacado

such beautiful names

for a wilderness

a wilderness

I've been miles deep in caverns

observing the roots of our art forms

toasted with fine wine

chilled by the Pacific's blue

become acquainted with deer

& contented cows

snapped away at picturesque

water fountains

& the majestic Grand Canyon

surrounded by French people

with their mellifluous sounds

spent time with my ambitious son 

touring the impossible lighthouse

overlooking a beach with the highest

concentration of white sharks in the world

viewed ancient Egyptian relics

seen a very fine breakfast or two

& a movie that left me wondering

what it means to love something

I loved it all

so much

The face above all others I saw

in Winslow, Arizona

a young Indian baby girl

profoundly sleeping on her father's shoulder

an elderly woman in Wal-Mart

sitting on a bench, waiting

(Was it for me?)

Her white bone adornments

She was so beautiful

that now the memory of her face

brings tears to mine

it was all so wonderful

that last Sunday morning

at just about this time

my weariness caused me to plow

several yards into the profusion

of black-eyed susans & queen anne's lace

gracing the median strip

I was only an hour from home

just like they say it could happen

There was a mist, 

the only drops of moisture

I had seen coming from clouds

the entire trip

A mist raining down just over the top of my car...

as if it were a personal rain

falling in through the open window

resuscitating the flowers

& me

Now I know there is something more

I always thought  

that there must be

Now I know there is

& it is 

Wonderful