March 23.24: Coping, but barely

The thundering herd emerges,

nests and burrows shake;

Miami ain’t got nothin’

on the partying pond’s spring break.

Indifferent to the heron,

careless of robin and jay,

they hog the warm pondside

elbowing squirrels away.

Hedonistic revelers,

greeting glad springtide,

Mama most the manic,

getting the kids outside.

 

 

January 24.24: Coping, but barely

Lilac bones,

spare, skinny things,

porcelain remnants

of long-ago springs,

winter-bleached,

shorn, unclothed,

seemingly peaceful,

nothing loathed.

Unlike the gardener

in my blood,

patience in its marrow,

ages in its bud.