According to Knox

the core problem is excessive tidiness

that results in the removal of sticks.

He is grateful though

that they can’t remove the squirrels.

JDG

Sometimes, on really hard days,

understanding arrives unexpected

and unannounced.

Today my usually aloof cat

lay down next to me.

nuzzled my hand and softly purred.

A hard day slowly turned soft.

JDG

It may not be the best

or even very good.

but it was worth a try

or at least that’s what

I tell myself as the grandkids

roll their eyes.

JDG

Life’s a wild mix

of the mundane and sublime.

Yesterday, as I was taking out the trash,

I saw a young girl standing beneath a tree,

head raised, singing to a nest of birds.

JDG

On my way to the dump 

I passed rolling hills of green,

scatterings of buttercups,

boughs of purple wisteria

before I arrived at

 a wasteland of discards –

 mountains of cans, cartons, bottles,

cardboard, plastic, and who knows what.

I added my own collection of debris.

A large, cawing crow swooped by my car.

 I couldn’t look him in the eye.

I just left.

JDG

Among the many

reasons they gave to explain

their predicament,

it was an interesting fact

that none referenced self blame.

JDG

There in the early

morning light two small deer stood

trying to decide

whether to run or wait.

They’d start and stop and start again

until a larger deer nearby

bent down and began to graze.

Reassured, they lowered their heads

and cautiously began to eat.

JDG

In a rush to unload

the dishwasher before

I left for work, I happened

to glance out the window

and there on a nearby branch

was a bright red cardinal

with a tiny yellow flower

in his beak. I stood and watched.

Unloading the dishwasher could wait.

JDG