Elusive Art

Scalloped sandy cove
tucked inside rocky coast

copied many times
by different artists' eyes

with ever-changing aspects
not captured yet on canvas. 

Pensive Thoughts

Artificial intelligence
ready and waiting
to bleach out our brains.

No more page-seeking needed
just vestigial monument
to bygone dictionary days.

Trees, like people, come and go
briefly noted, soon forgotten
importance in their presence.

Sole worship of money
missing existence's point
when enough's enough.

Unforgiving parents
without any exceptions
Mother Nature and Father Time. 

Happy Thoughts

Button-bursting pride galore
for our Jonah and Sylvie
just newly hatched graduates.

Luscious, juice-dripping peaches
with southern, June greetings
to New England-distant kin.

Veritable bird spa spot
with all our backyard beauties
bathing in turn companionably.

Grape jelly and orange slices
sugary, grocery store fare
loved by more than orioles.

Taste of rich chocolate
with pinch of peppermint
deifying this moment.

Miracle Elixir

Miracle elixir
by any measure

evaporating
condensing

liquefying
dissolving

diffusing
suffusing

solidifying
sublimating

freezing
melting

wellspring of life
and life's preserver.

Epiphany in Five Parts

Bonanza reveals
of cascading wonder
in the twentieth century

atomic strucure
relativities
quantum mechanics
DNA helixes
and plate tectonics

elegant theories
undisputed proofs
new organizing rules
from submicroscopic
to space/time expanse

how privileged are we
ordinary mortals
to receive these genius gifts.

Parental Challenge

How to equip kids
with self-belief and grit

no magic checklist 
just love and example

experiential tasks
leavened with learning

extending the leash
to allow exploration

push to venture
beyond comfort zones

safety net in place
for bounce-back chances

then fledge-ready they soar
you hope, with their dreams.

.

Favorite Piano Pieces

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2
and George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue

pinnacles of piano-playing prowess
especially performed with full orchestration

immense appreciation for these keyboard feats
from this erstwhile advanced intermediate

with abundant hours of diligent practice
for high school success as choral accompanist

yet light years away from highly trained talent
for mastery to play these magnificent pieces.

Tulips Mourants

Petal by petal
life slipping away

jaunty farewell
with each discard

faded remnants
in pile beneath

yellowed-green stems
fully undressed

bearing witness
to once glorious moment.

Spring Revival

Slow unfurling
in northern woods

subtle stages
of set sequence

hints of green
then colored wisps

purple, yellow
mostly white

spreading carpet
of reassuring blooms.

Uneasy Captive

Stuck in neck brace
like purgatory

from mishap
down the stairs

trapped for weeks
betwixt, between

without agency
and autonomy

premonition
of aging woes

future prospect
of lost selfhood

though not ready
to acquiesce yet.

Another Loss

Rock scrambling done
too fraught for feet

familiar routes
steeper, sharpened

formidable
with chancy balance

three-point progress
beyond my grasp

seaside rock-sitting
best, now sufficent

birdwatching views
still in easy reach. 

Perennial Protectors

Elephantine trunks
in ranks of tens
guard our yard

majestic
fixed presences
in silent vigil

sentient, too
I sense
their watchfulness

selfless beings
without need
for gratitude. 

Common Pacifier

Ubiquitous
magnetizing
for all ages

eyes attached
minds captured
by mostly folly

music, photos
games, gossip
vapid videos

isolating
hypnotizing
screen addiction.

Clingy Friends

Clingingly fixed
oak and bedrock

ancient outcrop
with lucky acorn

eons-old granite
tree trunk atop

one eroding
other growing

thickening roots
embracing stays

supportive friends
in close comfort. 

Ode to Coke

Caffeine, bubbly burn
with sweet boost to boot 

childhood beverage
at soda fountain

flavored with cherry
or even vanilla

pulled from coolers
with icy cold water

ever refreshing
in green glass bottles

absolute best
liquid quencher.

After the Snowstorm

Second snowfall
louder than first
in clumps, not flakes

mini-blizzards
crystalline screens
with pelting plops

white-coated limbs
wind-shivered
evergreen again.

Unending Civil War

Still in sharp divide
war among citizens
in battle of ideas

pigheaded stubbornness
without civility
stuck in past prejudice

cultural advances
ridiculed, demeaned
by red-led charlatans

two hundred plus fifty
combative, fraught years
agreement still elusive.

Tipping Point

Outrage galore
incendiaries
of speech and action

over the top
beyond the pale
always bizarre

when's sufficient
to tip over
mounting menace?

Beach Rocks

Far-flung messengers
from parent sources
metamorphic, granite
sedimentary types
unlikely oceanic.

origin stories
from coastal bedrock
relentlessly sculpted
with timeless patience
into handheld beauties.