Paths

twenty-four years ago
little red hatchback packed
--------everything in its place
tracing a CAA line across Canada

a young couple camping
--------pup tent kerosene stove
taking in a world of wonders
Ottawa river valley
Montreal
Fredericton
Bay of Fundy
PEI
New England
Niagara Falls

reading books in the car
suppers at the crowded campsite

we set off together
creating our path tracing other paths
jobs
pregnancy
births
homes

mountains and valleys

and I look at our new little
red hatchback
sitting at this campsite
crows declaring the morning
coffee brewing
fire smoking

and smile

Buck

stepping tenderly
a lithe brownness
---------antlers taking shape

silently appears in our campsite

large round eyes speak of
another place

somehow he got here and now
where wild and tame meet

while we sit and drink our coffee
in this ancient forest

Morning Contemplation

branches reach into morning blue
birchpineoakmaple
a forest of thought
--------contemplating light
-----------------wishing water

roots underneath
a subterranean philosophy

leaves rustle in the wind above me
--------a formula of faith

Crossword

pen hovers over newsprint
series of squares
some blacked out
numbered clues

filling in letters
-------one word at a time

mind files through lexicon
each word affects other words
each letter is a clue
mistakes compound confusion

pen hovers…

Oma's Accordian

burgundy and buffeted
sitting in corner of closet
---------like a hiding child

buttons on one side
small pearled keyboard on the other
worn leather straps
sarastro written in fancy letters

unnoticed most of the time
sometimes seen but not seen
it’s not in good shape
one of the drones is stuck

I think
where does it come from
where has it been

it has been played often
but now it sits telling a silent song
of war
--------and migration
---------------and a sense of the value of things

Cousin

shock of curly reddish
tops head high and bright
beard without tinges of grey
sitting in orange shirt
telling inner thoughts of dark clouds
and struggles with sadness
blue eyes piercing polite coffee conversation
facing foggy future with force
of red and orange

Skeletons

leaves of mountain ash
eaten
leaving veins
like little skeletons

soon entire tree will be bare
skeleton tree
standing
dripping bleeding
with bunches of
red ornamental berries

experts say canker worms
but they are invisible

just leaf skeletons

then I see
brown bugs or beetles
on branches

wondering