Surmountable

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Maggie C

Sometimes the biggest challenges in life become easily doable if we can just get a leg up.

The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Tiny

Speechless Thursday

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Maggie C

“On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

~ H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

As yet I cannot comprehend 
     the ills that have been ordained,
          nor how they came to be,
               nor how anyone justifies these creeds.

As yet I cannot see a way
to fight these ills that threaten me,      
     that threaten us,
          and our children
               and their children,
and this innocent Earth
     with the bounty she so selflessly shares
          while we systematically poison her.

As yet I cannot rightly communicate
my utter, utter dismay.

So for today
     as I struggle to comprehend,
         as I struggle for words,
              as I struggle to fathom a response,

I will honor my speechlessness
     and I will weep.

Five poems, five lines, five syllables

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Maggie C

ONE
osprey standing proud
wind-ruffled feathers
sharp beak, sharp talons
sharp eyes watch for prey
owning this river

TWO
most call you a weed
I see a flower
most would destroy you
I pick your seed head
make a wish and blow

THREE
I wish I could feel
the stories you’ve lived
touch your rough ridges
ascertain your truths
splinters withstanding

FOUR
february lull
deserted branches
streets stripped of traffic
evergreen signals
drive us into spring

FIVE
skating on thin ice
isn’t as dire as
it’s cracked up to be
if the ice holds, it’s
icing on the cake

The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Numbers

the holdout

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Maggie C

last defiant leaf
clings to summer memories
falls prey to autumn

wilderness

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Maggie C

rooted in chaos
ordered with complexity
nature’s enigma

The Daily Press Weekly photo challenge:
Chaos

Through My Eyes

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Maggie C

This rather large creature showed up on my deck the other day. I’m not a big fan of creepy-looking bugs, so I was none too pleased to see it lounging there in the sun as if waiting for me to fetch an iced tea and a straw.

“Would you like your tea with a squish of lemon?”

“Uh… did you say ‘squish’?” The creature eyed me nervously. Or at least I think it did. With those shimmering eyes it’s hard to tell where it may have been looking.

“Did I? That must have been a swat. A slap. Er, I mean a slip. What I meant to say was a ‘slice’ of lemon.”

The creature shifted from one foot to the other. To the other… to the other…

“Everyone thinks my kind are terrible, and they just want us dead. Okay, so we suck blood. And spread diseases. And harm livestock.”

“And your point is?” I paused, boot in mid-air just inches above the creature’s head.

“Just try to see the world through my eyes.”

“Through your eyes?” I bent down to study the gleaming, striped, colorful shields that I assumed were the creature’s eyes.

“Yes. Look deeeeep into my eyes.” The creature began to sway back and forth. “You’re getting sleeeeepy….”

I could barely keep my head up. I just wanted to lay down and rest.

“When I count to ten, you’ll see things as I do.”

“You can count to ten? But you’re just a bug!”

“One… two… ”

I tried to blink, to turn away, but I couldn’t. The creature’s voice droned on.