New York Botanical Garden 2

Basic Maneuvers

Night falls.
The air is sticky
infused with white Gardenia, pungent Stephanotis.
A fountain sprays into a Koi pond, echoing across the valley.
In the distance houses hum, windows glow
as families settle into their nightly routine.

At the appointed hour
a poisonous toad Army advances
each to their predetermined post.
Thousands hop down roads, linger beneath street lamps
some are sacrificed
beneath a passing automobile tire.

Others silently lurk inside the hollow of a palm
hundreds more beneath the bug light by the well
their hungry eyes focused, tongues trigger ready.
Toad commanders direct their approval at the snap and the sizzle
of the Formosan termite swarm drawn to the light,
the Army peering skyward as roasted bodies free-fall, unfettered wings
drift aimlessly down around them.

The kamikaze swarm
continue to buzz the light in reckless abandon.
A few forestall their dinner dates
by crawling behind downspouts and into rocky crevices
while a scout is randomly brushed
by the feet of a foreign genus
rushing inside to escape the carnage,
the rank and lusty feeding
of the hoard.

Lake Minnewaska, Awosting Falls and Beacon Hill

Cedar Drive

Poems of The Super Moon

My poem,"Super Moon" has been accepted for inclusion in the Pen Women Press anthology, Poems of the Super Moon.

To purchase an advance copy: click on the this link: http://www.nlapw.org/bookstore/ and scroll down to Poems of The Super Moon. Thank-you for supporting the National League of American Pen Women.

Black Creek Preserve- A Scenic Hudson Park

Black Creek is a mixture of woods and wetlands conserved by Scenic Hudson and the John Burroughs Nature Sanctuary.  It is a popular destination for bird watching, fishing and paddling.

The property lies within the Plutarch/Black Creek Wetlands Complex in Esopus, New York and is a prime area for breeding and migrating waterfowl.  Safeguarded wetlands trap run-off and remove pollutants before they reach drinking-water supplies. They also mitigate ecological and property damage from sea-level rises and storm surges under predicted climate-change scenarios.

Black Creek is a  part of Scenic Hudson's collaborative campaign to Save the Land That Matters Most, protecting 65,000 acres.