And now they come, red

birds and blue, grey birds and brown,

flitting from cedar

to pine, preparing to dine

at the feast we’ve placed

before them – flying flowers

on this ice-encrusted day.

                                                                                                                      JDG

While others long for

far off lands, exotic foods,

and unfamiliar

faces, what beckons me is

what I already

know – a small round house and moon

light on a beloved pond.

                                                                                         JDG

Thanks to many skunks

in our neighborhood, it’s been

a stinking winter.

Contrary to counsel,  I 

find it no easy

task to go with the flow when

all but the stench is frozen.

                                                                                       JDG

She stayed in the room,

but I watched her disappear

when the burst of harsh

words began. She has mastered

the fine art of being in

two places at the same time.

                                                                                              JDG

Raindrops to snowflakes,

snowflakes to raindrops – it just

takes a few degrees

 and the shift is made – gloom to

wonderment and back –

How fluid are such changes

and what a difference they make.

                                                                                             JDG

 Estimated time

between  a request to take

the dogs out and a

nod of agreement? About

one minute. The time

the dogs actually leave?

Anywhere from ten

minutes to an hour. How

long dogs are walked? Three

minutes. Times I count to ten?

Too numerous to mention.

                                                                                  JDG

After a slow slide

into an unhappier

time,  I grabbed the rope

of now and bit by

bit pulled myself up and out

of the abyss I’d

fallen into. That rope is

always there if we but reach.

                                                                                                       JDG

If I had it to 

do all over, I wouldn’t

because to pull just

one small thread would unravel

the whole. It could have

been more artfully fashioned,

less nubby and more

elegantly done, but this

is the cloth of the

life I’ve been weaving with all

the thread and skill I possess.

                                                                                             JDG

Though in the moment

the turning’s slow and we can’t

see the lengthening

of day, the diminishment 

of night, we take heart.

Other turnings too have been

inexorable and slow.

                                                                                     JDG

Everywhere I go

it seems I’m directed by

either kids or crows.

Toby’s the only one who

still has full faith in

me and sometimes even he

looks a tad askance 

as I slowly weave my way

through the contours of the day.

                                                                                          JDG