Blending in
the gift of stealth
only your voice –
woodsy reed  –
alerts me to your presence.
You are grey sky
and rushing waters
tall reeds and
wind-swept banks
And when my heart
beats off tempo
given to spells
of malaise
you are metronome
reseting my rhythm.
(Friday I join in with Granny Shot It’s Bird of the Day. Photo from personal collection.)
A spot of red
and dash of yellow
bandana masked eyes
how you transport me
to simpler times –
childhood days
when you and I
wiled away hours
hidden deep
beneath summer
canopies – maple,
beech and willow –
listened for whispers
on the wind,
searched for treasure
on rocky creek bottom.
Years since our paths
have crossed like this,
have you returned
as reminder –
your sweetness
a blessing, now
that I only linger
at woods’ edge?
No matter the reason,
I am content
that we meet again,
my friend of old.
(For Granny Shot It’s Bird of the Day. Â Photo from personal collection.)
Perched treetop high
plump Indigo releases
a sumptuous song.
(Submitted for Granny Shot It’s bird of the day and RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku challenge: plump/ luscious. Â Image of Indigo Bunting from personal collection.)
Bright day –
hope breezes
through open window
sparrow lights
on windowsill
espies me cock-eyed
What wonders
keep you inside?
he queries
I sputter…
lacking adequate
response
pardon me
for abandoning…
have another call.
Curiosity, it seems,
flows both ways –
as I adjust focus
so too, do you –
can’t help but wonder
if the takeaway joy
also flows both ways.
(In response to Paul Vincent Cannon’s poem: Â Her Gift Remains.
V.J.’s weekly challenge is response. Â Image is from personal collection.)
Flight
wondrous, white
uplifting, embracing, alluring,
deeply stirring my soul –
escape.
(Written for Dark Side of the Moon’s  5-line challenge:  Didatic Cinquain.  Click on the link for further information and to join in.)
Unheralded,
an apparition
in white –
wings enveloping,
uplifting
soul cries,
voiceless,
powerless –
no pause
on perfection
she follows coastlines
while I travel roads,
fades from view
her shadow lingers,
wraps me in melancholy
one minute of rapture –
enough to make me mourn.
(Inspired by the sudden appearance of an egret while shooting this image. Â Submitted for Manic Mondays 3 Way Prompt: Â roads, and Reena’s Exploration challenge: Â one minute.)
Black and white flashes
disrupt the tangle of grey –
heart-soaring sweetness.
A shrill note
pierces night’s curtain –
an insistent, pestering alarm
Is it loneliness
that motivates the caller –
the need for a warm body
to calm her feathered fears
or a throaty hum to lull her?
Or is this an infant cry,
a hunger for nourishment
anxious in separation
waiting for mother’s
regurgitated assurances,
father’s watchful stance.
An onerous honk
breaks through
the high-pitched peep
and then, as
warmth wanes
a softer, sweeter
melody presents
followed by
a laughing trill
avian pleasure
prefacing night’s slumber.
One Woman's Quest 