Month: May 2020

The Phoebes and I are No Longer Friends

| Flower Roberts

The Phoebes and I are no longer friends.

They picked a bad spot for their nest again.

They chose our front porch with a hanging light fixture.

They’ve attempted to cover the top with their mixture.

The moss and mud mix fall down on the mat.

I used a small ladder to try to end that.

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My head got a buzz and my ear got a filling.

To tell you the truth the attack was quite thrilling.

The light is now topped with a circle of wire.

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I will watch and report the events that transpire.

I was very supportive during their last brood.

but these mess-making Phoebes have ruined my mood.

Flow

 

 

Tricky Ricky

| Flower Roberts

I have always welcomed wildlife to my yard.

It belonged to nature long before it belonged to me.

But I am being tested by a young raccoon.

The problems started months ago when my planter box became a latrine.

I fixed that problem with ammonia soaked rags.

The latrine moved around the corner to in front of the kitchen door.

I fenced off the entrance to the deck so that nothing can enter. (including me)

Then the raccoon fell through the roof of the bunny pen and broke out through the gate. Both had to be repaired.

Now it climbs my vines and poops in front of the library door

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after raiding and ruining my trash cans.

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I have had enough of Tricky Ricky.

I hope his future involves a trap instead of a gun.

Sometimes nurturing nature bites.

I cannot allow raccoon destruction and diseases to enter my environment.

Game Warden Flow

When Sarah Blooms

| Flower Roberts

Peony season ends with Sarah, Sarah Bernhardt that is.

Her buds appear as large marbles on the ends of long stems.

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The blooms open as delicate pink which makes me think of ballerinas.

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The blooms are heavy and must be supported in case of a shower.

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Sarah’s performance in the garden is last,

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ending peony season with a flourish of pink.

A good actress always ends with a flourish!

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My Morning Visitor

| Flower Roberts

It climbs up on our deck and looks in the windows.

It knows where to find me. I am at my desk every morning.

It comes to visit.

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I have never fed it or put out food.

That is not nature’s way.

It watches me work and poses for my camera.

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Sometimes angels have fur instead of feathers.

Sometimes they climb instead of fly.

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God will always be in nature.

That’s where I find him.

Flow

 

Who Will We Be?

| Flower Roberts

Tough times are coming for my sweet family.

Inevitable changes are seeping into our lives.

We have fought the good fight. We have done our best.

Every person has his own portion of time.

My daddy’s is ending in his eighty-eighth year here.

I am coming undone at the thought of it.

We have always been we.

My daddy, my mama, my sister and me.

Who will we be?

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Sisters, two peas

He taught me to tie a figure eight knot this week.

I have been tying granny knots my whole life.

“A figure-eight doesn’t come loose like a granny.” daddy says.

Maybe I need to tie a big figure-eight knot around myself.

Maybe I should tie myself to a tomato stake too; so I won’t blow over or break down.

He has been busy building his planes and directing garden maintenance from his chair.

Those planes, that chair, the shop, the garden, the mountains.

He is everywhere. I cannot imagine him not being there.

Who will we be, we three?

I do not want to know, but we shall see.

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Mama and Daddy

Scared Flower

Garden Clowns

| Flower Roberts

I love big, bright, blooming Amaryllis inside during the winter, but they seem comical outside in spring.

These poor Beauty Queens did not ask to be hybridized into showy giants.

‘Monte Carlo’ Amaryllis

They would probably rather be tall, ugly weeds than painted, potted flowers.

But they did not get to make the choice of whether to be wild or tame.

‘Charisma’ Amaryllis

So here they are, comically colorful clowns in the garden.

Too big and too bright to be taken seriously.

‘Minerva’ Amaryllis

Just as man intended, not as nature recommended.

‘Half-and-Half’ Amaryllis

Manipulated for man’s enjoyment.

I am and will continue to be a tall, ugly weed.

(‘Identity’ poem by Julio Naboa Polanco)

 

FLOW

Stay safe, Stay Home, Wear a Mask (even if you are a man)

The Pandemic Pall

| Flower Roberts

The Pandemic Pall has covered us all,

yet the birds still fly in the clear blue sky.

The Pandemic Pall has us filled with gloom,

yet the birds still sing sweetly in the trees.

The Pandemic Pall is creating darkness,

yet the Bluebird still shines bright in the golden sun.

The Pandemic Pall makes us think of death,

yet the birds build their nests to raise their young.

The Pandemic Pall has NOT covered the entire Earth.

It has covered only us humans. (I wish I was a bird!)

It will be removed one day.

When we emerge from underneath this overspread,

Will our new normal be more respectful of the Nature we have previously plundered?

Will we help our hungry brothers and sisters in poverty,

so they do not have to hunt and kill their wild food from the forest?

Will we value the workers who were kept on the job while we stayed safe at home?

Will we have learned the lessons this virus is teaching us?

Our poisons spread to Nature and we spread Nature’s poisons.

We are ALL connected.

Flower

Another Slimy Spring

| Flower Roberts

A visitor sneaked into the bunny yard last night.

I spotted it this morning,  all fluffy and puffy.

It’s the ‘Same Old Slime Mold.’

This is the third spring it has visited this spot.

It must reside under the soil here and emerge when the conditions are right.

I think it is beautiful.

It will not last long. It will be brown and stringy by nightfall.

But for now, I will enjoy this lovely fungal flower.

Flower