Post 240:collard greens, field peas, lima beans, green, South Carolina, Poem

HOT COLLARDS AND THE GREEN OF THE ROLLING MARSH

the green folds into field peas
and lima beans
landing in the hot collards
all salty with ham juice

simple things
pecan pie
with bourbon
will save you when you are alone
moving through life
when you can’t throw a football
or catch a football
the colors always there
and the people in the churches
who know about love and being together
their fierceness helps make things that are not all right
in America
seem right for a moment

your heart is with the lady
serving hot collards
while her daughter
is traveling in Europe
field peas and lima beans
mixed together
sometimes life,
with its injustice
is tolerable
monumental even
with love

Post 239: Gum Tree, Stars, frogs, rain, South Carolina, poem, painting

IN THE AFTERNOON RAIN

I am falling in love
with your Sweetgum trees
dangling with clusters
of green stars

clinging to branches
five tree frogs sing out
and I feel
I am first
in this world

Post 238: gladiola poem, painting, South Carolina

GLADIOLA

coolness of
hard textured cement
in the shady garage
a smelly innocent goodness
of long ago

wren songs bounce
through in stereo
suddenly
we meet as lovers
by the porch steps

erotic yellow petals
burning in the sun
swaying in wind

God was there too
swooning
all of us thick with desire
flustered, sweaty
I left them
with their prayers

wandered toward the marsh
through white oleanders
oaks and gum trees
one towering
old maid magnolia
flaunting
her jewels

a simple matter
of astonishment
one second of millions
since this world began

Post 237: cemetery, hot, Sunday, flowers, baby girl, South, poem, painting

ABSORBED IN THE BEAUTY
per Marion Whaley

breathless
breathing
the breeze in silence
on the road to the bay

twisting curving limbs
forming
a tunnel

reaching high
for pieces of blue

a woman behind
the AME Church
her flowered dress
small child
on her hip
wandering
through the graves

white pick-up
filled with flowers
following

all of us meeting
on the path
by the bay

Post 238: cardinal, sun, song, telephone wire, poem, painting, South

CARDINAL ON THE WIRE

tiny fireworks
of morning sun
shining through
red feathered crest

top of his head shooting sparks
heavenly song
flinging from his heart
mixing light, color, song
flaming morning molecules

what tells him
those perfect notes?

Post 236: storks, fish, marsh, poem, South, egret, meal, poetry , painting

THE EGRET

through the blackness of space
in between stars
dreams of my fingertips
lightly brushing along
the stretched arc
of soft white feathers
poured creamy silk

following the tense
muscular predator curve
I held the neck
felt the lump of sudden death
passing through

the interior last swim
in the dark tunnel
as the fish left
for another world

Post 235: Summer, sun, pelicans, soaring, nature, poetry, art, South Carolina

PELICANS RISING

it’s happening
the sea and air converging
the perfect mixture of clouds
light winds
sun
uplifting ether off the waves
pulling your heart in

tunnels of rising air
go play
with the pelicans
way up !
so high
barely visible

you are
with their odd bodies
entering the thermals
becoming the gentle air
morphing into soaring angels

they do this
not for migration
being year round residents
and
their fishing takes place
low down
near the waves

oh no,
my loves
its joy!
pure joy!

little piglets
butterflies
squirrels and beetles

we’re all bound together
in love bundles
ancient tribal memory bonds
pelicans knowing in their hearts

how joy and happiness
feel

Post 234: home, onion pie, lima beans, raccoon, South Carolina, poem, painting

COME ON HOME

lima beans and onion pie
are waiting
there’s nothing to worry about

slipcovers are washed
and on the line
we can make fresh strawberry
and watermelon champagne
have it for breakfast too

stories on the porch
so many deer in the woods
you can go up and hug ‘em

an injured marsh raccoon in the road
struggling to right itself after being hit
I wanted to help
but the traffic was thick
and other sorrows were hiding
her last reaching legs
stayed with me all night

I’ve been sticky with myself all week
with the world too
but the goodness and light are coming back
just like you

POST 233: red ant hill, woods, poetry, painting, South Carolina

EDGE OF THE WOODS

ONE TINY WONDER

at the edge of the woods
millions of red ants
constructing their own massive pyramid
intentions for survival
each one understanding its worth
placing one dirt grain
just so
life driven
as the old Incas
above the Urubamba Valley

POST 232: breath, shells, collection, poem, art, waves, wind

SHELLS

broken fragments on the beach
eye
to shape
to pattern
to color

a part telling a deeper story
than the perfect whole

a fragment of the universe tossed over lifetimes
of wind and wave
ending up as a miracle I can hold