Month: May 2016

A GLADSOME TIME

Horse chestnuts lift white candles to the sky

A paean of celebration to the season.

Tri-colored lilacs bless us passersby

Censing their fragrance as they gently lean.

May burgeoning on every hand is seen.

Back roads are edged with phalanxes of phlox:

Mauve and pink and white they gladden the eye.

In sheltered woodlands dogwoods shyly flock

With mountain laurels blushing near the ground.

Old fashioned bleeding hearts our yards festoon

And lilies of the valley cluster round

Our feet as we with gratitude proceed

To make our way through one more riotous spring

Renewed, uplifted, consciously thanksgiving.

THE CCRC COFFEE CIRCLE

The time has come, the oldsters said,

To talk of many things:

Of presidential candidates

And whether it will rain,

Of Bobcats scooping up the yard

And the installation of drains,

Of who is in the nursing lodge

And the state of someone’s brains.

The three percent rise in annual fees

Is always food for thought.

Whoever came up with that idea

In our good books is not.

By this time the muffins are all gone

And the coffee’s no longer hot.

SPRING BEAUTIES

How flagrantly the tulips flaunt their flavors

(Vanilla, cherry, orange and lemon savours)

While overhead the apple blossoms swath

Their hosts in clouds of billowing cheesecloth.

On woodland verges daffodils brightly beam

And luminous lilacs over us sometimes lean.

Modest blue grape hyacinths peep out.

Scarlet quinces give a lusty shout.

Cherry trees dropped their petals some weeks past.

Violets modestly blush amidst the grass.

Korean dogwoods are the first to blossom

Before our native rose and ivory cousins.

Lilies of the Valley perfume the air.

My eyes delight in flowers everywhere.

V

HERITAGE

What we leave behind

Is not a rich estate:

A bent for garden plots,

A gift for making rhymes,

A music-making taste.

Or perhaps you’ll find

Some pre-Columbian pots,

A few hooked rugs in place,

A great-grandmother’s table,

A World War silver star,

Some letters from Peru

With sterling silver flatware.

And hopefully we’re able

To leave behind for you

A wrap-around of love

To warm you when we’re gone.