The air is filled with

bird chatter as Knox and I

begin our morning walk,

 but he’s not interested

in bird talk when the earth

swells with alluring smells.

JDG

I wonder if that

old, crooked-branched tree

saw something

of itself in me?

I could have sworn

I heard it sigh

  as I passed by.

JDG

There are days when

I don’t want to shift

and I definitely don’t want

to shift into gear.

On those days I prefer

to be sublimely shiftless.

JDG

My input was not sought

because I was not yet here,

but if I had been asked

I would have suggested

fewer skunks and squirrels.

JDG

Reluctantly

the cats let me sleep, but

before long they were back again

beseeching me to feed them. 

Soon Knox joined them in their plea,

adding that, rain or not,

we needed to take a walk.

I don’t own them.

They own me.

JDG

One tree stands

bare and broken,

another bursts with blooms.-

two trees, not twelve feet apart.

JDG