Moss, darkness, cold, cling to
Bones of winter trees
A picture through a window
Sprinkles of rain, pelts of hail
Rivers pound boulders
Autos hum in the background
Mist obscures the distant peaks
Humus mutes footfalls
Nature from the inside out
image by Becky Kjelstrom
She had lived there for ages. When she first arrived, the walls of her apartment were thick. In order to hear what was happening next door she had to strain her ears, even though her hearing was quite good. Over the years, the vibrations, the rise and fall of decibels, the expanding and contracting frequencies, must have eroded wood and plaster. How else to explain? She was nearly deaf but clearly perceived the voices, movements, even the thoughts of her neighbors. They might as well be in the same room as she. They might as well be in her head.
Image by Denny Muller via Unsplash.com
so quiet hear
ice melting
into glass
by Harrison Fulop
Image by Rachael Fisher via Unsplash
sky full of birds
up high a hawk
crows wing at the edges
songbirds dart
every which way
a hummingbird perched,
silent, in a dogwood.
can the hawk see the hummingbird
or
are its eyes
full of light
pouring from the sky
sliding on ropes of cloud
slender as rain
Image by Quentin Dr via Unsplash
Whenever two hummingbirds strive for dominance at a feeder, whenever they fight over a patch of blossoms, whenever one strafes my head because I’m too close to its food source, I am reminded that hummingbirds, like all birds, are the evolutionary descendants of dinosaurs.
A hummingbird has a T-Rex heart.
Image by Michael Baird via Unsplash.com
She sits beside the river, resting, watching it run. She knows it is time to get in, move on. But she wants a few more moments to breath, think about where she has been and what awaits.
The river has been wild lately. Too much rain and snow melt, too many sharp rocks, hidden snags. But maybe there is a broad beach at the mouth and a sunset. Or a sunrise? Something more than this cold, shadowy ledge.
She takes a deep breath, the wind seems to settle, the current slackens. She slides into the icy water and heads downstream.
Image by Robin Anderson
In the morning the sky will be clear. Soon clouds will form. Through the afternoon a storm will rage, dark and tempestuous. Occasional, ironic patches of blue sky may appear. Finally, sunset will be brilliant, a gathering calm before the Green Ray.
After nightfall, you will see Forever.
Image by Tom Barrett via Unsplash.com
syllables of small
poems occupy large portions of
my befuddled brain
writing process, what
is my writing process? do
I even have one?
a mental blender
is what I need to create
my word salad
Image by Harrison Fulop
October deluge
Parka obscured costumes
Trick or treat, Portland
without or within
good or bad hidden from sight
and insight, monsters
Sugar skulls flowers
Celebrate both life and death
An ancestral chain
still
in October
crickets
by Harrison Fulop
Image by Vladimir Agafonkin via Unsplash.com
