Next…..

               You thought that once Thanksgiving was done,

                  you could hide your head under the cover;

             then you find that, alas, when one holidays' past,

                      you just have to start on another!

Rare rug

                     There are multiple kinds of carpets,

                           I couldn't describe them all;

              but when all's said and done, there is really just one,

                        that can only be seen in the fall.

Gratitude

                   If you asked me what I was thankful for,

                               I'd give you a very long list;

                        but, for a start, this one has my heart,  -

                               to live in a land like this!

Painted peace

                          How is it that some simple objects,

                                 in a quiet waterfront scene,

                 can be transformed so much by an artisans touch

                              to achieve an effect so serene.

                               

                                                        (thanks to Joanne Horton)

Bird banter

               "Have you ever been on a bureau before?"
                    "I don't think I have, have you?"
           "well, the finish is fine and I like the design, -
                  but is there something we're s'posed to do?"

Pathways

                    I looked at these ducklings today, and thought,

                            that, whatever journeys we take,

               does it bother our minds what we're leaving behind, 

                           the paths that we leave in our wake?

Beetl-ing

                                   If a beetle had a battle,
                                      a battle in a bottle,
                                      I wonder if the bottle 
                              would defeat the beetle's battle?

Bridge of sighs

                         To think I was once a  real beauty,

                              passing over a turbulent stream;

                  now, in a few years, I'll have just disappeared, -

                          and there will go somebody's dream!

Leav-ing

                    Well, we had a good time on our treetops,
                          and enjoyed wearing colors for fall,
                    but now it seems clear that our exit is near,
                         so goodbye and godspeed to you all!

Sky Quilt

                         Now who got up and wove that sky?

                          and where did they get the cotton?

                    If that was my sky, and the weaver was I,

                            it wouldn't be soon forgotten!

Welcome weather

                      It may foul things up on the highway,

                        and maybe it backs up some drains;

           but with all the crops dying, and dry hills all crying,

                               I say hooray, let it rain!

Weird wooing

                         It seemed I was watching a courtship,

                             of some antediluvian pair;

               I'd like to have stayed,  watch him woo the maid,
                        but he might not have wanted me there.

Window wonder

 

                        I never thought much about windows,

                      they never, it seemed, showed much class;

                  then a quick shaft of sun highlighted this one,  

                             wondrously carved out of glass!

birds of a feather...

                  All the white birds on one strip of the shore,

                             all the black birds on another;

                    the way they are parted, - is this how it started?

                        Can't we trade their path for another?

Soft spot

                                Even along the breakwater,

                      where storms and high seas set the pace,

                          its refreshing to see, in the piles of debris,

                               that softness still has a place!

Doomsday?

                 When I saw those threatening clouds one night,

                            I wondered if we were all done; 

                      but with the dawn the menace was gone, -

                            I should have trusted the sun!

Rain art

                           I must say I miss the rainstorms,

                          that painted my pictures for me;

               no need to choose among reds, greens or blues

                          the rain fused them all into "tree". 

Lion's tryin'?

                                     What is this lion up to, 
                         while he's s'posed to be guarding the gate?
                      It looks like a yawn ,  was he woken at dawn?, 
                                  or is it something he ate?

Message

                      If it's the sun seen through layers of fog,
                            or clouds intercepting the moon;
                  whatever the name, the message's the same, -
                               things will be better soon.

Clover's contribution

                      When it's dark in the shadows behind you,

                               and cold in the stones around it,

                we thought that some green would enliven the scene,

                                    and brighten it up a bit.

Endless

                 There are times when you feel on a treadmill,
                              things never seem to go right;
           you think you're progressing,  it's only more stressing, - 
                             there's never an end in sight!

Leaf's release

                         We all had to stay straight and proper
                              in our former lives on the tree;
                      now down from that cover, it's fun to discover
                                 how interesting we can be!

Viewpoints

                         Well, this photo may look peculiar,
                         like nothing you ever have known;
             but it just goes to show, what we really should know,
                           that a camera  has eyes of its own.

Sighting light.

                            It gets to be quite a challenge,
                           sorting the dark from the bright;
                  your eyes start to cross and your balance is lost
                         when you're trying to capture light.

Stranded...

                        I suppose if you're really a mermaid,
                        and you're stuck in the sky on a swing, -
                  you'd look like this too, like she's blaming you,
                             for getting her into this thing.

                                                             
                                                                   (art at Sweetwater)

"…glory?"

                     It's voting today, we'll all have our say,

                         wishing, thereby, we could mend

                      that terrible tear that's sowing despair,

                             and bind us together again.

Anticipation

                     Sometimes a plant looks so pregnant,

                          with such an extravagant girth,

               that you can't wait to see what its going to be,

                        and want to be there at its birth.

Joy!

                              Oh what a glorious feeling,

                            to let go, at last, from my tree! 

              What's waiting down there? I really don't care.

                            Look at me! Look!  I'm free!!!

Greeter

                            I  used to be a magnificent tree,

                               but when I existed no more,

                   I was not thrown away, but invited to stay,

                           and welcome guests at the door.

Get lost!

                                 O.K, your season is over, - 

                              so wipe off that lecherous leer;

                          Kitty is right, you belong out of sight,

                                 so get lost for another year!