The Great Unknown

When or how
how and when
our fate awaits

inevitable
as the tides
night and day

messy exits
gene-imprinted
for most beings 

inexorable end...
perhaps for elders
more friend than foe.

Just Today

Once I was you
rejoicing in the moment

selling roadside drinks
climbing tall trees
running forever

hiking lofty mountains
speed-biking up hills
seeking new wonders

finding my passions
reveling in nature
making my family

Now lucky old me
still...
rejoicing in the moment. 

Sitting and Seeing

Front-porch sitting
with seeing minutes
gleaning morning gifts

birds in abundance
flitting to feeders
for midday treats

chipmunk below
finding seed remnants
for easy meal harvest

red dash of cardinal
albeit jittery
because of sitting me

woodpecker nonplussed
on nearby lilac
playing its tapping tune

two Carolina wrens
chirping their greetings 
in gregarious style

occasion for sharing
congenial moments
with faunal associates.  

Roots and Rocks

Cobbled forest path
paved with roots and rocks
brown needles between

overgrown with mosses
partridgeberry and fern
on backyard walking track

evolving naturescape
with ever-changing signs
seasonally revealed

deep roots and storied rocks
entwining together
this wondrous planet with us. 

Fitting Finale

Carpet of crunch
crackle and pop

crispy dry leaves
in scattered heaps

attracting eager,
enthusiastic feet

kicking, tossing,
jumping, scrunching

celebratory end
to leaf-leaving season.

Fluttery Foliage

Sporadic airstreams
with floating leafage

swishing into motion
with gusts and breezes

airily buoyant
in colorful swirls

rustling, dried-up curls
lazily drifting

autumnal harvest
in graceful descent. 

Fond Farewells

Upright poplar
true to its bearing
flushed with brownishness

snuffing out its summer green 

flitting farewells
valedictory salutes 
to fecund success

beginning its winter sleep.

Adirondack Chairs

Peopleless proxies
in scenic settings

landscape guardians
for missing viewers

in mountain environs
for bird's-eye perch

beside a lake
with glittery sights

on raised terrace
above flower plots

at hayfield's edge
beneath aged apple tree.

Old Ski Parka

Memory wearing
in my eighties

traverse veteran
over many slopes

downhill vistas
on groomed runs

through woods and fields
in grooved tracks

crystallized moments
now left behind

but not forgotten
in its wraparound warmth. 

So Many Questions

So many questions
left unasked
lost revelations

ancestors long gone
into memoryless dust
beyond curious kin

genealogical hints
bits of family history
scant everyday details

a human conundrum
stuck in futility
lament for extinct answers.

Bleak New Houses

House-building craze
charmless esthetic
brooding and boring

stark-white, big boxes
black-lined windows
with unshuttered stares

flat, linear faces
no genial features
of welcoming homes

minimalist appeal
more hospitalish
than hospitable.