The maple seeds met the branches of the dead
On their way to the Earth.
Tumbling and falling through the leafless and lifeless
Creating skittering tones like skeleton fingertips
Drumming on the hollows of trees.
Maple Seed Music
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Tag Archives: nature
The Old Tree
You’re not very pretty
Said little girl to tree
Looking at the hardened buds
That’s all that she could see.
They surveyed one another
In the warm spring air.
The tree old and grizzled
While the girl was splendid and fair.
There is magic yet within me
The ancient wood explained
All I need is the warming sun
And the chilly April rain.
The little girl scoffed and left
Not believing what the tree said
To the girl, the tree didn’t resemble life
The bare branches to her looked dead.
But when she returned in three days’ time
A fantastical sight did she behold
The tree in wondrous splendor
It left her speechless to behold
For each of the buds on the tree had burst
Into blossoms rosy and white
Its secret revealed for all to see
She was awestruck at the sight
Resting her head on the trunk
She silently apologized
The tree in response told her instead
Let this lesson make you wise.
Do not judge by appearance alone
You never know what’s inside
Even the ugliest of forms
Have beauty trapped inside.
And while this is old adage true
The reverse can also be
Beauty can hide the ugliness
It’s all in the way you see.
Mother Nature Laughed
Two days ago it was
Enjoyable enough to sit outside,
T-shirt bared arms warming in the
Early spring sun.
Buds starting to pop
On branches.
Trees and humans alike
Foolishly thinking
Winter was finally over.
Somewhere
Mother Nature
Threw her head back
And laughed.
The Cardinal Ballet
The colors of this late winter day
Are muted.
Ashy snow-threatening sky
White birch trees stand tall
Planted in the dirty snow.
Even the pine trees exude
A verdant boredom.
Then a flash of red sparks
Through the air.
Then a second
And a third.
Three wondrously colored
Cardinals alight on the
Cold.
I watch them flit from
Tree to tree.
Their delicate winged ballet
Enthralling me.
Reminding me that
Spring is not far away.
The Turkey Truce
“I feel like I’m in a slo-mo version of The Birds.” I found myself thinking this afternoon, while I was outside with my dog. To the left of me, half of the flock of turkeys was moving around the perimeter of my property towards the back. I watched them moving through the trees, their clumsy-looking bodies moving with surprising slow grace. I watched them for a minute or two and then turned my attention back to my dog, who was playing “rockey.” Rockey is his favorite winter sport where he pushes a rock across the crusty snow and then chases and pounces on it. It’s pretty funny to watch. Anyway, my attention on him was stolen by movement out of the corner of my eye. The other half of the turkey flock was crossing the property to the right of me. My mind drifted to an image of the two halves of the flock meeting in the yard of my neighbor behind me. The flock and I have an uneasy truce. Even though he’s getting better, my dog still tends to chase them when they are in my yard. The central part of the day, they have learned to avoid my backyard. But, evidence of their early morning visits is seen in the ghostly trails of dinosaur-like tracks in the snow that crisscross my entire yard. It’s a weirdly beautiful co-existence we’ve created.
Winter Woodland
Sitting on the back step
Squinting against the sun
That bounces off the
Crystal white ground
Snow flutters
Like powdered sugar
On the icy breeze.
The air so heavy
And still.
Except for the
Occasional
Loud crack
Issuing from
The large frozen limbs
That arch over the
Woodland.
The Storm Approaches
There are odd feelings
On the wind
Today.
Anticipation.
A primitive wariness.
Fearful excitement
There’s a storm coming
Soon enough those feelings will
Start flittering down
From the sky as
Frozen flakes of snow.
Hour after hour
Drifting and blowing
Covering the world
In white.
On Snowy Nights
On snowy nights
The world reverses
To negative.
The sky is unlightened
While trees and ground
Are white
With snow.
Turkey Wake-Up Call
Dawn seemed to rise earlier than normal the other day. The rising sun illuminated a flock of turkeys that were grazing in my front yard and congregating in my driveway. They were gathered five feet from my dining room window. The window my dog monitors all day, and apparently the wee hours of the morning as well. I was alerted to them, from my cocoon of cozy blankets and quilts, with him barking his fool head off for what seemed like an eternity. As I rolled over, I noticed my cat sitting in the window that overlooked the driveway. He looked at me and then outside and meowed his “I’m hunting birds” meow. Curiosity finally got to me, and I left the warm confines of slumber and staggered sleepily to the window and looked out. My eyes widened, I had never seen the flock so close to the house and being able to observe them so closely would have been more interesting if I hadn’t been half asleep. My bed beckoned me back to its warmth and snugness, and after telling my dog to be quiet, I returned to it and went back to sleep. Later, when I went downstairs to start my morning officially, I found my dog sound asleep on his bed in the kitchen. Evidently, his morning had left him as exhausted as I was and even the temptation of going outside failed to rouse him from his slumber. I poured myself a glass of orange juice and sat at the table and waited for him to wake up before we could start our day.
Watson and the Deer
Earlier this afternoon, I took my dog Watson out in back to throw the ball around for him. I had only thrown the ball once when we both heard crashing through the woods next to us. I turned and looked nervously because there has been a mother black bear with three cubs seen near where I live. I didn’t see anything at first, but then I saw them. Two deer bounding through the fallen trees. They were magnificent. Solid muscle leaping and running without any hesitation. Luckily, my dog was so stunned and confused by what he was seeing he came running back to me rather than after them. It was interesting watching Watson watch them. I could see his brain trying to process the information. He looked to me and back to the deer and then back to me. The deer disappeared around the back of my yard, and the spell was broken. Watson went right back to playing as if nothing had happened. I guess he knew they were not a threat and felt like as long as I was there, he was safe.