Month: February 2014

HARD TO KEEP UP WITH

They are so frighteningly bright,

These cousins, gathered for a night

Of school vacation at the house in Maine

Around a Mexican Train dominos game

To which they have been briefly introduced

And all its rules have instantly deduced.

Their ages range from eight to early teens.

I, as a grandmother, am not so keen.

They fidget at the time I take for thought,

Remind me of some rule I have forgot.

I must take time to calculate my moves,

I am outrun by their unbridled youth.

(February, 2014)

TIME OUT

What better than falling snow

To cover yesterday’s scars,

Make the clock run slow,

And quiet our racing hearts

Giving us leisure to pause,

Permission to sit still,

Cherish the chance to withdraw,

Watch the curtain fall.

In this welcome hiatus,

Secure in a warm room,

We can appreciate

The morning’s several boons:

Coffee, the morning news,

A crossword puzzle nailed,

An email from a friend,

Tax papers finally mailed.

A PLACE FOR US

I have always looked to the hills,

As the Good Book tells us,

And I have been soothed

By dipping my paddle into the still

Waters surrounding our canoe.

I have been awed by desert places:

Zion, Mesa Verde and Arches,

And under the ocean’s surface,

From which our ancestors emerged,

I have been mesmerized by squid

And captivated by manta rays.

We humans need our habitat.

But corporations plunder our planet

While we breed like flies,

And scientists seek God in the light

Of dark matter or the atom’s

Ever more elusive heart.

(FEBRUARY 2014)

RELUCTANCE

How can I bear to think

That one day I will not see

Chocorua’s winter-white peak

And the Three Sisters Ridge,

That one year without my note

Pine limbs will bend low

And birches make their bows

Under the weight of snow,

That I will not add my tracks

To those of the snow-shoe hare,

The single-footing fox

And the high-bounding deer

While ice particles chime

In the breath of the winter wind

And cardinals still proclaim

Their expectations of spring?

(February, 2014)