Silently a dark bird flies
in morning’s misty light.
At road’s edge a small deer lies
motionless and cold – mist and bird,
road and deer – all awash in golden light.
JDG
Big Question, Tiny Folk
What lured that tiny
tree frog from his home and set
him adventuring,
making him easy prey to
sharp-eyed birds and cats?
Was he answering
curiosity’s siren
call or hoping for
trees fuller and more green where
he might meet and wed his queen?
JDG
More Than I Was Looking For
All I was looking for
was a simple fix, but
what I got was so much more
– a celebration in poetic form
of the steps my granddaughters and I took
as we reluctantly tried to fix
a twittering smoke alarm.
JDG
~
The following poem was written by my son Andy, who, because of an injury, was not able to climb a ladder to fix the annoying smoke alarm, but bore witness to our attempts.
We Shall Overcome
This night I saw three women
Take steps to climb the ladder.
One to conquer fear
One to conquer ridicule
One to conquer aging
Take another step, Ladies!
You shall overcome!
AG
Out-Phoenixed
Into that fall-fired tree
a cawing crow flew
and from a flaming branch proclaimed,
“Phoenix has nothing on me.”
JDG
Sudden Fall
Not exactly
in the twinkling
of an eye,
but certainly
in the twinkling
of a week,
those trees turned
not only colors
but our heads.
JDG
The Dalai Lama, The Mosquito, And Me
When I start to think
nothing I can do will make
a real difference,
the Dalai Lama’s words come
back to me, “If you
think you are too small to make
a difference, try
sleeping with a mosquito.”
Thank you, Dalai Lama sir.
The divine in me
greets the divine in you and
in that mosquito too.
JDG
Where It Starts
It all starts right here
right now when we stop doing
all those things we do
to be anywhere
but right here right now.
We might even find the self
we’ve sought so long
or, perhaps, embrace the self
we were taught was wrong.
JDG
The Way Of Things
Southward flying birds, slowly turning leaves
take our thoughts to
the ever
changing
way
of
things, to
the natural
poignancy of
shifts, to prolonged goodbyes and soft hellos.
JDG
Leaf By Leaf
Day by day, leaf by leaf,
nature’s path turns more to gold.
With little fuss and not much hurry,
green begins its slow surrender
to a rich and more varied splendor
before the final letting go.
JDG
Morning’s Golden Haze
A smokey morning’s
golden haze rises up to
greet the trees, washes
the land, prepares the way for
tonight’s post-eclipse full moon.
JDG
