Category: Riverwoods Poems

THE STAFF OF LIFE

My daughter has carved a stout hiking staff

For me to carry along Elysian trails.

She thinks that on that journey I will have

A need to warn sky bears to stay away.

We carried bear sticks once in Glacier Park

And bear bells tinkled merrily as we walked

Back when the ice fields still were white and hard.

That they would disappear we never thought.

The river of time runs either slow or fast

Depending on the season and the flood.

How much I’d give to live again the past

And I’d not change it even if I could.

Snow Cover

The falling snow’s benevolent.

It blankets all our sins,

Bestows a clean environment

In which we can begin

To walk with tar-free tread,

To rid the air of soot,

To leave no trash that spreads

Like excrement in the woods,

A whiteboard on which we can write

With a pen in invisible ink,

A foretaste of heaven’s delight

Or so we would like to think

Til the wind begins to blow,

Dissipates the cloak of snow.

ECLIPSE MOMENT

(A Sonnet for Mark and Sarah)

We watched the moon consume the sun,

Its ebony circle slowly dim

The light, but darkness did not come

Until the black blot reached the rim

Where only a halo of shine leaked out

And pale pink bled on every horizon.

It was then we felt the fearsome clout

Of nothingness to put our eyes on:

No crickets chirped, the birds were still.

All energy, spirit seemed to leave us.

Our batteries were drained of will

Luna, moon goddess, of life bereaved us.

How we all cheered when light returned.

The sun our gratitude had earned.

KING KONG

A killer ape is loose

On the Capitol steps.

He pounds his chest and hoots

Enigmatical threats

As yet no one dares to cage

This hysterical beast

Who seems determined to wage

Full scale war in the East.

We are mesmerized by his show

Of hyperbolic menace,

Too lacking in foresight to know

We may later do penance

When millions of lives are consumed

In nuclear blasts

And our habitat is ruined

By radiant aftermath.

“JUST SPRING” IN NORTHERN MAINE

Mid -May we’ve paddled north down the Allegash.

Some snow still lies in mounds on the shaded banks

Though bobolinks will lilt in the Ranger’s patch

Near where we’ll pitch our tents at Long Lake camp.

A tiny bear cub paces on a fallen tree

Mewling for his no doubt nearby dam.

Ahead a heron flaps up frenziedly

Thinking to flee in needless panic from

Our curious but unmolesting gaze.

Among the reeds two moose lift dripping heads

To watch us while they chomp on watery hay.

Behind them a sly muskrat keeps to the edge.

The evening brings a misty rain and then

 A rainbow arches at the river’s bend.

A PARTING WORD

(In Memory of JB)

At first the heart does not remark

The passing of another friend.

The aging brain makes routine note

That all good things must come to an end.

The list of those who’ve gone beyond

Outnumbers now those who remain.

But then the funeral brings to mind

A cache of memories bitter sweet:

Saturday evening cheese and wine

Trail clearing bouts with fallen trees

The underlined article under the door

With questions: What do you think of this?

Do you agree? And furthermore

What do you think the answer is?

And then the heart begins to crack.

That kindred spirit will not be back.