A Pine Near a Pond

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My golden, Astrid, and I walk. 

Around Berry Park pond.

A puddle of mallards, a mama, five

Ducklings. They look content,

Unafraid.

Does Dvorak’s Water Goblin live

Here?

Beautiful music.

Also sinister,

Villainous.

Sunlight through the oaks.

Shadow branches,

Benevolent.

If Water Goblin here,

Capture by them is certain. If he rises,

He’ll be drowned, bereft of

Breath.

These trees are vigilant.

—

Astrid barks. I sigh. My mood ring flashes

Green.

What does this mean?

Memory is Trickster,

And I am getting old.

The ring is a long ago gift.

My summer birthday, a party of

Five.

Jessica, Ronnie, Maggie, Karla, and

Me.

All of us, twelve years.

This same park. A picnic. Up,

Late.

Light, long.

Just after dark, we saw a tree we thought

Magic.

A young pine, just three feet

Tall. Adorned with tiny blue fairy

Lights.

I asked why.

It was Karla who said,

There are no other evergreens near.

It feels decorated, special, like it’s

Getting a

Hug.

Karla is gone now So is Maggie.

We didn’t keep in

Touch after high school

Finished.

—

I feel a chill. My face is wet. Astrid and I sit

Under The Tree.

This pine is grown now, and strong.

I’m sure it wants

A hug.

Places and Things

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For warmth,

A red coat,

Woolen, cozy, surprising

White winter with its

Color.

Snowflakes sparkle,

At home on its

Shoulders.

Greet its wearer with glee.

**

Come summer,

A blue heron pair.

A koi pond filled just

For them, they

Think,

Statuesque, ancient.

Fish for their bellies,

Easy

Pickings.

Time to fly on – no challenge means no

Fun.

Cat watches from window,

Two birds she’ll not

Pursue. These are dinosaurs, not prey.

Where are the chickadees, the

Juncos? Just to observe, not

Hunt.

This cat chases only

Toys.

Her feline tonic and

Gin.

**

On the edge of town,

A little shack, painted orange

Sort of like in the Song.

A copper roof, not

Tin.

Weathered, not

Rusted.

Mischief and make out sessions.

Rendezvous,

Real fun.

A little Afternoon Delight, some Dream Weaving,

Lorelei Let’s Live Together, (when we’re older,

and no more Calculus.)

But, Love Hurts sometimes.

Crushes fade.

Love sometimes

Unrequited.

**

Three towns away, a little

Motel.

Also for assignations, couple’s

Getaways. Bigger than the shack.

The Pink Hyacinth.

Cotton candy pink, a cherry red roof.

Twelve rooms all in a

Row.

Free Cable, HBO.

Atmosphere, vintage.

Phones, analog. Though there is

Cell Service if you like. Four bars

If you’re lucky.

And the

Ponderosa Room Bar.

Bigger than the twelve rooms

Together.

People go, but no one admits to

It.

You can tell by the restroom wall

Phone Book.

For a good time, call.

Rome 10 is special, just so you

Know.

The keys to The Love Shack? No. The keys to a storage shed in husband’s and my backyard. 

Miniature Poems, Twelve

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Little word nuggets for this Thursday. Appetizers on this sunny day – no calories.  🙂

Sand, toes, mai tai

—

Windswept, watercolor, blue

—

Pearls, fountain pen, pink

—

Oaks, breeze, A Tale of Two Cities

—

Raspberry sherbet, summertime, blue linen

—

Library, Key Lime pie, a vintage milk glass candy dish

—

A front porch, a glass of lemonade, Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie

—

Red gladiolas, a summer rain shower, Difficult Loves by Italo Calvino

—

a pink silk scarf, a bee hive, blue sky

—

A maple tree in autumn, apple pie, Persuasion, Jane Austen

—

A peridot bracelet, a slice of birthday strawberry shortcake, The Maltese Falcon

—

Lapis Lazuli, a towhee’s song, a gin and tonic

“Murder” Among Friends

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Della and Hank love a murder mystery party

Sometimes they double date with friends Lulu and Marty

Often Lulu’s the victim and the others stay alive

She’s very dramatic and enjoys taking the dive

The killer might be the butler played by local accountant McCarty

**

The dinners are potluck

A favorite is Della’s l’orange a duck

Sometimes it’s black tie

Otherwise it’s tie dye

But it’s always fun break a leg and good luck

**

Last night the telling clue was a chipped champagne flute

And a bad tasting casserole that contained fake eye of newt

The murder weapon was tainted mushroom stew

One of the guests spent all night on the upstairs loo

Otherwise it was quite a clever hoot

**

The next day Lulu realizes she’s lost her ruby necklace

Marty is no help because at times he’s so feckless

Lulu thought maybe it had gone down the kitchen drain

She then realizes her linen dress has a giant punch stain

Marty might be feckless but Lulu’s somewhat clumsy and reckless

**

All the guests know murder’s not a parlor game

But they have lots of fun all the same

Next Saturday the party’s at the home of Dr. Rotel

His parents are the ones who own the Caramel Road Hotel

One year ago for a party murder Rick Rotel took the blame

**

Hank mixes Della a strong bloody mary

But Della likes them better when they’re made by Hank’s brother Jerry

For a hangover the drink’s a marvelous cure

It makes Della feel better cleansed and pure

When Della tells Hank she feels pure he falls over laughing and feels very merry

**

Myriad Things

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A single pond lily, on which

Dragonfly

Alights.

An anthropologist of sorts,

She studies

Me.

I’m no

Entomologist,

But I admire

Her. Where has she been in her brief,

Stunning

Life?

Will she be found in fossil form far in

Future?

Wings etched in limestone?

**

The word, beauty.

To many, many myriad things.

A kitten with amber eyes,

An amber necklace with a message,

Eeons old.

A tree of life that speaks a different language,

That maybe mourns lost

Friends.

Desert sands, artifacts revealed when

Wind moves dunes.

**

I wish a long dead author’s ghost to visit me,

Lord Byron, Emily Dickinson,

Tolstoy, Balzac.

How did they do it? The secrets and beauty of their minds.

Painters,

Monet,

Degas,

Renoir.

Was it Absinthe? The wine?

**

A bluebird in watercolor,

A painted bunting in pastels,

A raven in pen and ink,

Queen Anne’s Lace in amber.

Write, sketch, study so I remember.

So my ghost can tell

The Stories

**

Kidnapped

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Sometimes, I am

Kidnapped.

Likeliest, in

Summer

I have a thing for silks and slow dancing,

For snapdragons, and a song sparrow’s

Tune.

Stolen by my

Daydreams.

Words on pages, the laughter of a Murder

In black satin party dress.

They toast one another,

Salut.

Onward, they say,

Our flight leaves soon.

**

Sometimes, my heart, temporarily

Waylaid.

Also, likeliest on a summer

Day.

A dog walks with her

Person,

Tongue out,

Smiling.

All the smells.

My kind have passed here before,

Say they.

**

A strand of pearls.

I choose my day’s destination.

Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Peru

And I read my wishes.

I’ll land after the

Epilogue.

Home in time for dinner

And an excellent night’s

Rest.

**

Tomorrow.

Maybe to Colombia with Marquez,

France with Andre Gide.

Or best of all, England with Christie.

My favorite Murder might

Follow.

Dressed in black for

Adventure

**

Sometimes, I am

Kidnapped.

Ghost Honeybees

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A suspenseful tale, tells a crow,

A raven listens,

A treasure to be found.

Fruits of the hunt,

Savored,

Riddles, solved.

Brass buttons, worn silk

Ribbon,

Seed pearls, and tiger’s eye.

*****

Thunder egg,

Cut. Lines in stone make a

Map

Embroidered millennia

Ago.

*****

Blue darters,

Ephemeral.

A cabin?

Deserted, occupied?

Ghosts of a hive,

Walls dripping with honey.

On a solitary hanger, a tattered

Calico

Dress. Cherry red, black velvet trim.

Curtains, pink dotted Swiss at

Windows.

New in appearance, but is this riddle a

Deceit?

Out back, a peach

Tree, its fruit

Ripened to perfection.

Just one bite of one,

Nectar filled. Rest left for

Apiary’s Ghosts.

The buzz of their haunt.

Their sting, pleasure, not

Pain.

*****

A girl, fifteen, Elinor, spends

Sunday afternoons there.

She reads.

Ghost Bees tell their true tales only to

Her.

And she reads to them,

Austen, Dickens, Flaubert, mysterious Christie for good

Measure.

For Elinor, the Ghost Bees haunt the torn

Dress, mend it. Add some silk, more soft velvet,

In the color of honey.

The ageless alchemy of

Apis Mellifera

Five Love Potions

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1.

5 ingredients:

– A bouquet of pink ranunculus

– Eight star anise pods

– Vivaldi’s Summer

– A thimble full of honey

– Two perfect martinis

****

2.

Only 3 ingredients – A Fiftieth Anniversary, the love is already profoundly strong.

– One bouquet of a dozen red roses

– A well read, well loved copy of Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. An odd ingredient one might think, but a thing treasured by this couple.

– The Classic Movie, It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable, and Claudette Colbert

****

3.

4 ingredients, this one for a pair of lovers reunited after ten years foolishly spent apart.

– Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2

– Two perfectly made Bee’s Knees

– A red velvet gown, first worn twenty five years ago, that still fits the soon to be (again) Fiona Baker Welles.

– A vintage copy of The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway

****

4.

6 ingredients, a young couple, both twenty five. May their love and attraction stay strong through the years.

– A year abroad together in Florence, Italy to study art and each other

– An antique sapphire and diamond necklace

– A black sweater knitted by Kristen for husband, Enzo. May it wear well, not shrink, get lost or stained with wine.

– Three teaspoons of nutmeg, one of cinnamon, two of sugar. Okay, three ingredients in one, but they’re relatively young, and need to build up resistance to temptation so as to make it last.

– A copy of Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

– One bowl of pistachio gelato and two spoons for sharing.

****

5.

4 Ingredients

– Four young fir trees. May they grow tall and strong

– Handel’s Water Music

– One tuxedo for him, one blue silk gown for her, for a special night at the opera, and a black tie after party.

– Herb Alpert’s Love Potion No. 9 for the after-after party at home.

Wondering

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Sometimes I personify objects,

Chairs.

Do they have preferences about who sits in

Them?

On what does it

Depend?

What the sitter wears –

Soft leather pants.

A pinstriped designer suit.

A red velvet gown.

  — Do older ones age gracefully, or long for

Repair? What of wicker, oak, rockers, or recliners

Do they get tired of all the weight. Long for solitude. Dread the vintage indentations?

———-

Sometimes I anthropomorphize animals.

Bears. Do they count big trees instead of sheep to sleep at night? Do blue herons compare and gossip about the very best fishing

Holes?

Do raccoons give each other advice about which trash receptacles in the neighborhood contain the tastiest

Leftovers?

Does my cat judge my choice of TV shows, books I

Read?

I’m pretty sure she does. She likely does not think well of

Me.

**********

Things I will count on my journey to sleep tonight,

Other than sheep –

– Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting.

(a better way to enjoy them that doesn’t add calories to my weight)

*****

– Heart shaped things,

Pink sapphires

Salted chocolate caramel truffles

Tiny dollhouse size cookies

Individual plum blossoms in springtime

The pink hearts from a box of Lucky Charms

*****

– Cats,

Of all sizes and kinds,

Tigers

House panthers

Jaguars

Lions

Bobcats

Mountain Lions

Then I’ll wonder what they dream while they sleep.

*****

Uprooted

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I built a sandcastle

When I was four,

The tide took it, I watched it

Go

The moat didn’t protect it

Not the bailey,

Not the two

Towers.

********

I dreamt of where it went,

All broken like that.

Each grain, separated from its

Home,

I could build another if I chose.

One that looked just like

It.

Another day. Another beach. Other sand.

Alike, but

Different.

Different water, a deeper moat.

But the sea would encroach.

********

Wet sand. Built with

Water

Taken away by

Water.

Where do our castles go?

Moon pulls them away.

Sometimes as with

Lovers

********

A little Pine..

Transplanted.

Branches, trunk intact.

Not taken, but moved.

Still lost.

Home changed.

Fir a few feet away.

Similar terrain to former home,

But different ground. Unfamiliar arbor

Neighbors.

Alike, but different.

********

Same need for water, and to be cared for.

Its branches reach for new

Friends.

********

Transplanted or swept away.

Belonging finds a new

Place

********