Nature

Selection

Sun sifts leaves to walkway shadows
of black Spanish gates.
Overhead two Red Admirals skirr.
A dragonfly skips across the sky.
Rufus hummingbirds zit-zit
the Chinese lanterns
seeking nectar.

Nocturnal notes from a practicing pianist
seep the hollow.  Purple dust settles
on the path were bumblebees
spread confetti from the Ceanothus.
No honey bees attend though Nils,
my neighbor, stationed hives in his yard.

Too late or too early for the swallows.
Settling back, I scrunch grass
between my toes.  I am cool in this
brief hiatus...this momentary solitude.


A Lake Walk

A fog toupee covers Larson Lake.
The shiny surface, a bald calm.
Ami and I dawdle the bank
of monk-rimmed grass.
We circle the mulch trail in a slow
sniff and chew walk.  She selects
the long stemmed grass for reasons
know only to her.  At thirteen,
no longer an agile border collie,
we travel the level path which
is more secure.