Saturday Sunshine Voting Slapdown – The Stafford Challenge Day

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An Election Day Reflection

Saturday Afternoon  2/25/2024 12:21

(a poem written during February’s preliminary for May’s Election Day)

I’m sitting in the car 

waiting

again

a typical stop 

while he talks and talks and talks

we only stopped to early vote ~no lines~

sun shines warm in this cold air

Rav4 my greenhouse, Caribbean blue

I clean out the car trash

notice a bush being windslapped

throwing up a limb

talk to the hand !

    as if suddenly offended

I can’t help wondering

if it’s because it is a political hedge

reacting to the lack of lines

and all the fresh gossip 

of no one waiting

Actual talk to the hand tree looking offended

Decisions

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we looked

you drove

I rode

we talked

we offered

they rejected

we walked

and just like that:

decisions are made

On Hearing the News

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one of my adult daughters

still calls novels

chapter books ~

on hearing

our family news

she texted:

there I was

listening to my own

chapter book

in my own

little world

of someone else’s

little did I know

there was another

story unfolding

in my own….

I smiled and replied

this could be the start

of a new chapter…….

What Wolves Do

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don’t let a wolf

in the hen house

first, you’ll see

a feather, wayward

flitting in the breeze

stuck to the ground

next you’ll

come up short

on the evening

headcount

twelve will be ten

then eight as

two by two

they all disappear

consumed by the

always hungry wolf

doing what wolves do:

devouring the innocent

Two-Wheeled Wonderings

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as we were driving

to our campsite

a teenage girl

crashed her bike

into a red clay hill

falling among the

rocks and it seemed

on purpose

…..that’s

one thing….but

when I took the

dogs for a walk

a preteen boy

crashed his bike

(jerked the handlebars!)

on the concrete

(on purpose!)

skidding flesh

of knees and palms

the very next day

leaving me to

ponder:

what does this say?

Purple Foxglove Forgiveness Haiku

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am I naive to

believe that purple foxgloves

bloom in forgiveness?

that what was destroyed

smiles Heaven’s understanding

and blesses again?

or am I just a

poet choosing to believe

signs hold messages?

Feeding Turtles Marshmallows

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I was mad since you

were late so I fed turtles

all your marshmallows

no roasting for you

our discussion was our campfire

spark, flame, sizzle, blaze

they smiled and thanked me

reminded me to tell you

to keep slowing down.

Has Tomorrow Come?

when I’m birdwatching

and you’re nodding

off in the chair

next to me on

our campsite,

me: thrilled in

a composed way

behind my binoculars

and you with

holes in your socks

broken-breath quiet snores

I wonder ~


are we those old

people we’ve

always known

we’d become

one day?

It’s Global Big Day

Today is Global Big Day, and I’ve already been out birdwatching for over an hour. Come join me! No matter where I go birding, my heart feels happy. Normally, I’m home on the farm, but today I’m camping in one of Georgia’s amazing state parks. The sounds of morning birds on a campsite near a lake are second to none in the great choir of feathered friends. Join me in a bird count today!

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Morning Song

once again

I’m in the woods

the usual cast

of characters

appears

robins, wrens, cardinals

then the

red-eyed vireo

chimes into the

morning chatter

followed by the

evil clown sound

of the white-breasted

nuthatch

then from behind

the veil of leaves

comes the

melody I love most-

the sireny-soloist

of the tiered trees

a wood thrush

bringing the song

these woods

her deep sea