Surreal Stories, Very Tall Tales
Late spring chill
Crow conversation
Robin song
Yard work start
A leaf blower’s tune
Mow a lawn
Humans’ walks
Glad wide smiling dogs
School ending
Delivery
Those Amazon vans
Packages
Yard sale prep
Things long forgotten
Wow old things
News avoid
Sun superlative
Cat happy
Morning lounge
Up and at ’em not
Failed attempt
Phone in hand
Perhaps a podcast
No doughnuts
Chickadees
From evergreens sing
Pines and firs
Mind working
No coffee required
Put down phone!
Following are a few images that make me happy. Word images, that is. Without photos I can dream my own paintings from a trio of colors, fabrics, and objects, (or creatures.) and maybe you can paint your own imaginations too? 🙂
Burgundy silk, pink tulips, Rachmaninoff,
—–
Daisies, yellow taffeta, blue dragonfly
—–
Spotted towhee, sound of falling water, blue linen
—–
Robin’s egg blue, Saint-Saens, Jane Austen’s Persuasion
—–
A cat, a sunny spot, James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small
—–
A Jersey Cow, dandelions, Henry Beston’s Northern Farm
—–
Ice blue, a city high rise apartment, Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Rear Window
—–
A breezy, sunny day, pink gingham, Agatha Christie’s The 4:50 From Paddington
—–
Blue dotted Swiss, Hector Berlioz, a countryside drive
—–
Black leather gloves, a pearl necklace, Raymond Chandler’s short story, Pearls Are a Nuisance
—–
A copper vase, red gladiolas, a missing, wildly expensive ruby ring
—–
Dashiell Hammer’s The Maltese Falcon, a very vintage manual typewriter, a 1940s Los Angeles newspaper
—–
Moonlight sees her love, but at great
Distance.
It’s winter, and she is cold;
Longs for him.
Sunlight is absent,
His work,
Intense. He will
Return.
Alas, her patience dwindles.
He is a hemisphere
Away.
————
Moonlight envies other
Couples.
Comfortable, warm in their homes,
Sharing evening wine
Before
Fires.
Reading Joyce,
Yeats,
Wordsworth to
Each Other.
Some dine and dance in
Candlelight,
They miss her love too.
————
Candlelight is Moonlight’s
Familiar.
Her magic soothes,
Brings out
Affection in hesitant humans.
————
The Equinox.
If Moonlight can hold on,
Her lover returns.
Intimate embrace,
Starlight,
Ecstatic.
————
Van Gogh’s ghost celebrates with
Sunflowers.
Monet’s, with water
Lilies.
Moonlight’s silver
Merges with Sunlight’s
Golden
————
Time rewards
Those
Patient
I whisper in the
Forest
The firs,
Listen
I talk to the
Sequoias.
An increase in my volume
I’m jealous.
They get to visit the
Sky.
Sometimes the trees sleep there.
They shelter the constellations –
From Orion’s bow and
Arrow.
Leo, Aries, Taurus.
————
The pink trillium,
Envious also.
They stretch their petals
Try to increase their
Reach
————
The mushrooms long to go
Up,
They can only rappel.
Their underground gossip
Network.
We are thwarted, they
Say.
Why are we stunted?
They ask.
————
Breeze whistles.
She can go anywhere she
Pleases.
The tree tops,
Houses of humans,
Through windows,
French and Dutch doors left
Open.
If top is closed, go
Under.
She can’t be foiled.
————
————
Breeze visits me at my writing
Desk
Papers
Shift.
She brings
Daydreams.
Of woodland scents,
Pine pitch, a fir’s fallen
Branches that feed the forest
Floor.
Their height forever
Lost.
————
I reach for my pen.
I daydream.
I draw.
Firs that reach to Venus
Trillium that hugs Ursa Minor
————
Hilda Sue loves a good spy thriller
A tale that moves at high speed and is a twisty twizzler
She reads in bed with popcorn and tea
Hubby Hal loves illustrations he can admire and see
And he prefers manga that is cool and killer
Their wedding photo is a fifty by thirty
It’s in a giant silver frame that’s polished not dirty
It hangs on the wall behind the couch
Thier love is big – for that they can vouch
They like public displays and around town are quite flirty
Hilda and Hal love their tuxedo cat Lucy
They also have beagle pup they named Moosie
Their animals have the run of the house
Moosie – not Lucy is the one who’ll catch a mouse
Hilda tells Hal they should get a duck they’ll name Goosie
Hal would love to paint their house in stripes
Like the Irish flag but they know they’ll get gripes
Hilda is orange and Hal is green
They compromise and choose white – no neighbors’ complaints and Hal is keen
When painting’s done they go camping – Hal tells Hilda tales of snipes
They decide their backyard needs a new tree
Hal hires someone to plant it – he has a bum left knee
He injured it at camp when he tried his hand at fly fishing
He wants to recover – he’s hoping and wishing
Neighbor Phil has a crush on Hilda -so he’ll be their gardener for free
Hil and Hal watch a movie on Friday night
It’s The French Connection – exciting and dangerous – not light
Hilda serves him his favorite beer and cheese
She prefers Malbec with chips and guacamole made with peas
Alas – Hal thinks this combo is kinda gross and a fright
Distant night
Stars,
With nectar,
Bursting, falling.
Hummingbird sips,
Greedy.
Spruce high,
Her Earth home,
Wings quickened,
Tiny heart works,
Paints moonlight
Ruby, emerald, golden.
Dragonfly slumbers.
Of a longer life,
Dreams.
While she sleeps, darning needle
Weaves her wings with
Hoped for
Magic.
Honeybees also,
Sleep
Sandman sprinkles
Dust,
Hypnotic.
Pines dream of a reach sky high.
An evergreen’s
Silk road
To the
Moon
Barbara and Kenneth love the merry go round
And a good blues band is their best liked sound
Kenny and Barb have fun at the shore
But truly they love the forest more
Alas each Saturday they’re lake cabin bound
Barb bakes Kenny his fave pecan pie
And buys his cheap whiskey made with rye
Ken bakes for Barb much sourdough bread
And with it goes the best cheese and wine red
But foremost is that Kenny cannot tell a lie
Barb’s ex Lyle sometimes shows up
When he does it seems it’s always time for (sup)per*
Barb knows Lyle likes gin and tonic with lime
She also knows that with her he misses making time
He scores points with Barb when he brings Overton his pup
Nine pm it’s time to kick Lyle out
He can take a hint Kenny has no need to shout
Then Barb and Kenny hit their brass bed
They arise early and to work they head
When he gets home harried Kenny will tackle the shower grout
At her job Barb cleans dirty teeth
Her favorite patient is sexy tree surgeon Heath
Heath has not a single filling
Has never had a need for dental drilling
He comes to see Barb from all the way in Wren Meath
Barb asks Heath to come check out her oak tree
It’s growing too fast he should come and see
Kenny knows nothing about plants in their yard
He spends his time off reading The Bard
Heath’s got a crush on Barb so he won’t charge a fee
Many men in Greytown are in love with Barb’s smile
Her hubbs Kenny, then there’s Richie, then Rob, James and of course Lyle
There are many many many more
Barb’s one in many millions that’s the Greytown lore
And there’s a new bachelor next door young accountant Kyle
Pink parchment black pen
Love words from nib swift spilled swirled
Hydrangea letter
Vintage ink newsprint
Poppies graphite line drawing
Wedding announcement
Assignation past
A romance promise unkept
Runaway bride fright
Dress sold parchment torn
Poppies drawn withered torn lace
Chamomile daisies
Time and tears years pass
Gown patched in vintage shop found
Still Life of heartbreak
Painting bright brilliant
Onyx vase poppies crimson
Gift long ago love
Gift wrapped planned meeting
A Still Life in velvet/lace
Memories repair a Still Life of
Love
Oil on canvas, embroidery in silk,
Poppies flourish in garden, new.
Lovely Canterbury Bells. Not oil on canvas, but photo in digital. 🙂
Darlene Netherwither Lane loves cotton candy
And popcorn and elephant ears it’s all quite dandy
It’s all about fun at the carnival with its food
She and husband Davis take their big brood
The tunnel of love ride makes Davis super randy
Little Cassandra likes the tilt-a-whirl best
And big eighth grade Colin loves all the rest
Nine year old Noelle enjoys the ferris wheel
Eleven years Stanley doesn’t – a little sick it makes him feel
But over all it’s a special night success
Marcia Marcia Marcia loves the blueberry pie
She has a crush on Klinger Harvey but he’s extremely shy
Colin’s in love with Klinger’s sister Cheryl
But Cheryl’s Mom tells her that Colin’s a little feral.
In this tale we can’t forget three year old sis Vi
Darlene and Davis enjoy a live band
They need help backstage so Davis gives them a hand
Darlene puts earplugs in sweet little Vi’s ears
She’s an attentive mother and drinks no beers
In the distance some see a UFO land
The band stops and people run for their cars
Two blocks away pub owners close their bars
Darlene and Davis round up their young crew
They should have stayed home – this day they will rue
They’ve locked themselves out so they descend on neighbor Lars
A family moves into our old home.
Meaning, it is old in age.
Also,
Old.
Meaning it was ours when we were living.
My husband and I.
We passed away three days
Apart.
A year
Ago.
Still, we wander.
How do we settle in a new place after fifty
Five years
Together?
In the same
Home?
We are not
Wise
We were not in
Life.
We are not in
Death.
———-
The new family is a couple.
Together.
Twenty years. Two daughters. One son.
The son, twelve. Daniel.
The daughters, nine, and five. Stella and
Serena.
———-
My husband smiles. He says, darling you’ve done
Your
Homework.
I say, yes. This place was and is important to
Us.
I say, look, sweetheart. They keep our roses neatly
Trimmed. And they’ve kept the house
The Robin’s egg blue I love so.
Then I say,
The oak.
How it has grown in only one
Year.
———-
He says, shall we go in? They won’t see
Us.
I surprise myself by saying,
No.
———-
I like the outside. It’s June.
Roses.
Pink, yellow, burgundy, true red.
Heavenly scent.
I can’t take one.
Against the
Rules.
———-
Darkness falls
I take in a quick shallow breath.
I can, still, though I’m no longer living.
As can
Husband
I see our little calico kitty, Charlotte in the shadows that remain. Under the blue
Hydrangea.
Madeleine, across the street, took her
In.
I long to hold her one more time.
Husband says, sweetie. She can’t see
Us.
And I know this. We are transparent.
My heart
Breaks. I can hear it.
The sound of a small branch snapping.
A lilac branch heavy with blossoms.
Fleeting.
———-
I cry. Harder than I did when I was living.
In pain.
I say I only want to touch the front door of the home I love
So much.
Also, against the rules. Look, but don’t
Touch.
We could enter, without
Touching. But still
Feeling.
It’s too much.
Husband pulls a pair of clippers from a
Pocket.
I say, but Charles!
The rules!
But he walks to my favorite bush,
An antique pink, clips off a fully blossomed
Rose. Stem attached.
He says, you know, Emily, that I have never been
A strict rule
Follower.
I hold it to my heart.
Sweet scent, thorns, and all.
Rebellious Hazelnuts 