If my dog Toby could drive,

use the phone or internet,

our lives would be

almost the same.

We walk, eat, sleep,

pee and poop, but I read,

feed the birds and

take more baths

so I guess civilization

still rests in human hands.

                                        JDG

 Alone, the female cardinal

stands among the scattered seed,

but does not lower her head to eat.

She stands and looks and waits

then turns and flies away.

I wonder if our human tension

has spread now to the birds.

                                                    JDG

For a species that likes to know

or likes to think it knows,

these are challenging times.

Facts and faces are covered

and eyes, even from a distance,

reveal an unmasked fear.

Perhaps this is a chance

to take an evolutionary leap

and find wisdom in not knowing.

                                                         JDG

Seeing that large turtle

make its way across the pond

reminds me of the time

my young granddaughter asked me

if I thought he’d mind

if she hitched a ride.

I smiled then and I smile now

as that question makes its way

 across the waves of time.

                                                             JDG