Bev Tappan

Month: July 2015

  • TAMWORTH POEMS: ENCOUNTERS

    ENCOUNTERS

    When I see the deer in the meadow

    I brake the car to stare.

    They seldom allow us to know

    That they like to forage there

    Unlike the wild turkeys who march

    Their rapidly fattening families

    Into suburban backyards

    Where feeders scatter down seeds.

    A handsome red fox used to score

    Always available dog treats

    At my son-in-law’s front door

    But we’ve learned to limit these

    Handouts to creatures untamed.

    When a moose steps over the wall

    We take the flare gun in hand

    To encourage him not to call.

    When a burly bear knocks on

    The window and breaks down the door

    We know we’ve made him too welcome:

    We know we’ve gone too far.

  • RIVERWOODS POEMS: THERE IS A TIDE

    THERE IS A TIDE

    The tide was high when we put in

    At Chapman’s Landing halfway down

    The Squamscott, and there was no wind.

    We thought the fisherman’s advice was sound

    To head downstream toward the Great Bay

    So when the tide began to ebb

    We’d be assisted on our way.

    We watched the heron overhead,

    Admired the osprey nest on shore

    And came in sight of the railroad bridge

    Through which the current was moving more

    Forcefully on its leading edge.

    While turning around to look behind

    One paddler broadsided the flow

    And we were suddenly shocked to find

    That she was swimming outside her boat,

    Her kayak firmly pinned in place

    Against two randomly rooted posts,

    Nailed by the current’s relentless pace,

    Weighed down by the water’s steady flow.

    Then it was that we recognized

    What tidal power held  us fast,

    That there would be no compromise

    Until we reached the sea at last.

  • REUTEMANN ROAD POEMS: BABY-SITTING JENNY

    BABY-SITTING JENNY

    We stroll the park, popping snowberries with our fingers

    As I did when a child along the shady drive

    Of my best friend’s house.  We’re pleased to find

    Ripe Concord grapes hiding under leaves

    That vine the walls she loves to walk on.  In the canvas

    Swing her small bottom fits my hands

    Like a teacup as I lift and send her soaring.

    She is old enough to pump herself once

    She gets going.  We rescue a daring toddler

    Who crawled up the slide as a kitten climbs a tree,

    Unable to back down.  Faster than she expects

    Jenny rides the slick steel to a sandy

    Landing.  She tries it again.  We follow pigeons

    To the soda stand, and seagulls lead us to the beach

    Speckled at low tide with perambulating periwinkles.

    They single foot among the Irish moss and sea lettuce

    Where clusters of mussels congregate like Portuguese families.

    Seven geese drift by in a low-flying convoy

    Nattering about the scarcity of minnows.  Jenny splashes

    Ashore to dump her bucket on a sand patty.

    The day is opalescent and fragile as fine crystal

    Or the beauties she blows on her soap bubble ring.

  • RIVERWOODS POEMS: THOUGHTS ON A HORSESHOE CRAB SHELL

    THOUGHTS ON A HORESHOE CRAB SHELL

    Its carapace lies on the shore

    More ancient than the dinosaur.

    It spawned a hundred thousand roe

    A tasty treat, as Thai folk know,

    And food for heron, gull or tern

    Or any shallow water bird,

    A good arrangement all around

    To hold an overpopulation down.

    Phragmites, called the common reed,

    Can generate a million seeds

    Or send its runners all about

    To crowd its native neighbors out,

    Though grazing cattle can contain

    Its spread and keep the landscape sane.

    The pink wild rose stays in its place

    And does not seek to dominate

    While multiflora roses shoulder

    Their way around, forever bolder.

    What lessons can we humans take

    From other species’ use of space?