Community Adventure
Nestled in the nook of a cedar tree
a Great Horned Owl and her owlets
spy me spying them—
the parent alert and wary,
the babies curious and cute,
and suddenly I’m
Jane Goodall in Gombe National Park.
Their feathers blend with the bark
in perfect camouflage, but this tree
is on a street at a school crosswalk.
Children scream and point,
drivers slow down for peeks,
photographers aim foot-long lenses,
and birders bring binoculars,
camping into the night.
Wildness.
We all want some.
What I Like Best
In the film, City of Angels, an angel asks,
So what do you like best?
I'd say, I like how
the breeze embraces me,
clears my concerns,
lets trees murmur,
opens me to mystery,
makes me light, like I could fly,
as if you, Angel, were waving your wings.
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Psychologist, poet,
Hospice of SLO volunteer . . .
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Playing House
We made a dollhouse—
four stories plus a roof garden.
Brick contact paper on plywood
served as a door. A bell was added,
and lights covered by ping pong balls
lit up under each shelf.
The perfect family moved in:
Mom, Dad, a boy, a girl and a baby.
My daughter let the girl doll rule:
she left the baby crying in the crib,
sent her brother to his room,
made Mom eat broccoli and sauerkraut,
told Dad to clean up the roof garden
and like Nero, my daughter sang
as the girl doll hurled furniture.
After the satisfaction of being in charge,
she wanted the stage reset and to start over—
ring the bell, open the door and call the shots,
leaving me wishing I could start all over,
ring the bell, open the door and call the shots.
Heartsease
A Johnny-Jump-Up
jumps,
jumps from an asphalt crack,
yellow and purple face proud—
like a flag on the moon
staking nature’s claim.
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