Accruing A's

Accruing A’s

Aseptic arm

articulates assertive

abeyance astride

assassin.

Abandoned arboretum abuts

arid archipelago

anticipating anticlimax.

Antique apothecary

appends appalling

Antler art.

Adios, Adieu, Arrivederce,

Auf Wiedersehn

Aloha!!

Paradise Found

I’m calling down my muse.

He’s calling up the ocean’s warrior fish.

The carp swim.

The tilapias continue to breed.

The golden koi fountain shoots water 24/7

calming the inner crimson and

the outside world dissolves

into pink, indigo

and jade.

The days roll by

flipping their tails at us

circling

jumping and splashing

in spring fed ponds

fertilizing

plum orchids

basting orange

bromeliads and

healthy green papaya

dripping

in the sun.

Gray Dawn

Gray dawn yanks down the covers

and proceeds to pour in light

 shifting the mask.

Emerald cliffs loom from the shadows

sharp points and dark outlines

line up and

demand recognition

as green splashes against gray

waving at an orange beauty

by the water’s edge

blushing content

finally

from the notice.

MOM--Six Word Memoirs

Calms outbursts tucks hanky in sleeve.

A safe port in fierce storm.

Irreplaceable treasure, guards key to contentment.

Uses Seeing Eye dog when necessary.

Pulls rabbits out of hats daily.

The best medicine, money can buy.

Unpaid cook, maid, and phone operator.

Domestic goddess trained on the job.

Gray hair, chipped nails, bright smile.

Sensitive tornado sweeps away unreasonable conflict.

MAY SLips in

May slips in unannounced




humming


bringing style and verve


as last month’s voice loiters


in a sad corridor


released from the cast.


A bouquet of white and purple lilac follows


freshly cut and arranged.


Their sweet scent lingers


long into the night


exciting


young noses


singing


a new song.

Mendacity

Mendacity

detects you from a corner

next to the potted Anthurium,

a poster child for normal behavior

in the ghetto.

It sneaks up and tries to get cozy

then proceeds to suffocate you with an invitation

to ponder

justifying past deeds,lining them up for the firing squad

aiming for the whites, in a sea of gray.

Drowning in delusion

it comes up for one last gulp

one last vain attempt,

to stay alive.

Lawns Horses and Pigs

We moved into our new, old house in 1985.

A new adventure, on
a dead end road in the country,
away from the noise and traffic,
a piece of the rock to call our own.
2.1 acres that we had to rope and tame
rough doesn’t even begin to explain it.
Imagine carving out a lawn with hand tools
and brute strength and doing it after work with lanterns into the night.
It took years to even think about having a lawn,
fifteen years to be exact, by then we had two houses
and a three car detached garage.
Add fruit trees, flowers and a pond not to mention a giant lawn.
Our ancestors would have been proud.

In the beginning we purchased a bull
and went to work.
During the day we had our business to attend to
Roofing and Vinyl siding, when it was slow we painted and did interior renovations, hell we did it all.
After work sometimes by flashlight
we would pull weeds, and hack away at California grass
about six feet high tough and tangled
choking upon itself in the humid tropical clime.

Bully the steer was our first new addition to the family, and then before I knew it we had Billy and Jennifer, two goats and then chickens and roosters, not just any chickens mind you, we had feather dusters. After that the ducks came along, six of them, and they would be joined by six geese, two horses Beauty and Hoku, which you couldn’t ride just one, both had to ridden or else, and I began to think the farm life was for me--except for one thing

I object to ducks swimming in my pool-- too much poop
and with the poop came the flies, so many flies
that I couldn’t enjoy laying out by the pool in the sun after work when I wasn’t doing anything--yeah right!

Oh and did I mention the pig--

did you know that horses and pigs don’t get along?