The Potter

I watched
as you played
in clay
                  around
                                    around
                                                               your gifted gentle hands

coaxed

 a shape

 into 

being

pushing back

 your clay painted hair

unaware
you
molded
     coaxed
the clay into form
caring not
that you were clay too

I watched
      F
        A
           L
             L
               I
                 N
                   G
           in love
with your hands
        your gift
        your creation

For celebrating creativity at dVerse~Poets Pub with open link

Hope of Spring

Winter's cold-blooded coils
tighten
chilling me to the bone
I peer from inside
my carefully donned layers
Remembering Spring
I smile

For Poetry Jam's Tis The Season

Farm Team At Work

The weather had boxed me in so the first hint of sunshine and warmth lured me outside.  We had some trimming and burning to do but I also stole some time to play.  Checking how the last big rain had changed the creek bed.

Every time I go out I see more jobs.  This was a rather deep spot reflecting the light but what I saw was the wood that needed to be cleared and the possibility of a grand son swimming hole come spring.

Then Lizzy, The Announcer, informed me the remaining farm team was up to something.

Four dogs trying to remove what ever took refuge under this stump.  Count them...four.  Squiggs is the smallest and Lil the largest but three found room inside the hole they had excavated.

Busy determined dogs

Lil takes a break and allows Ki and JR to fill the hole.

Nothing was caught but excitement was high.

Those are happy tails sticking up in the air.

Later this day Bonnie captured another armadillo.  She shook it so hard it was separated from it's shell.  Good dogs!  Bonnie two, armadillos Zero.  Things are going as they should At The Farm.

Big Foot Sighting...

"The proof is in the pudding" but here the proof was in the sand and the mud.  After two warm days the frozen ground is thawing and takes prints very well.

It was easy to see something had walked through here leaving clear proof of the direction the being was headed. 

Then I found this!

I can't track it.

Which way did it go?

I found this clue...

Human shoes

Someone trying to push winter away by playing bare foot in the mud looking for artifacts.  Looking for ROCKS, can you believe that?  I soon discovered although the temps were in the high fifties, that the mud was cold

and the spring water from the faucet was ice cold, too.

Almost clean enough for inside.

Oh, man, what a beautiful day to play.

Twitter Poem With Mama Zen

Celebrating number thirteen Play It Again with Imaginary Garden With Real Toads   I chose to repeat the challenge by Mama Zen to create some Twitter poetry limited to 140 characters total.  I didn't get the stanzas correct but I think I have it exactly by pulling my bits and pieces of thoughts on paper hoping they make sense.  This was fun!!!

Tigers wild
Tigers tame
Tigers gone
Who's to blame?

Wrapped in night
Orion flew
To rescue us
From ourselves

Awakened
Covered
With cobwebs
And regrets

I Cover My Eyes

I cover my eyes

maybe 

your trite words

will no longer

  bind my spirit

mind the spell

aimed at me

I sing 

a butterfly

flying free

miles away

the land 

holds

sign 

of spring

You 

no longer

have power

to scorch

to burn me

ring you chime

sing your lies

I do not hear

I cover my eyes

I have joined The Sunday Whirl Wordle 196 with the picture prompt from Magpie Tales.

This N That

Maria's skin graft is taking on two ends.  Now if they will just meet in the middle we can begin complete recovery.  That's what we're aiming for anyway. This has just zapped all of us.  

Wednesday Maria went for an appointment for pain management and they would not see her because the police have lost her license.  No exceptions. (The state trooper was holding Zander and had the license after the wreck.  Maria and Zander left in an ambulance so the trooper took it to the local sheriff's office.) After Hubby and she returned home Hubby visited the police department and believe me when I say he had everyone looking for that license.  I'll just say no one was smiling. Now the department has a new policy about how they handle licenses.

Thank you for all your continued prayers and well wishes.

Before the cold front I topped off and cleaned a little on the water gardens.  That is always fun but it was just almost too cold to play in the water.  They are now ready for the next freeze.

My skunk skull I saved has almost been cleaned by the weather.  Not sure what it will be used for but I'll find a creative purpose.  The skunk was ambitious, like Caesar, but the good smell is not interred with his bones. It simply disappeared. Thank goodness.

Saw my crystals shining and just had to share.

Next time you see these they may all be covered with ice.

An Ode To Dr Pepper

dVerse~Poets Pub is having a party.  All forms welcome, build 'em up, break 'em down.

Ode To Dr Pepper

It wouldn't be a day
without
your sweetness
in my mouth
you fill me
i rejoice
the tickle
on my tongue
tells me
i am alive
i bow
at your aluminum
or plastic
alter
days of glass
are gone
but you're always
the one
who cools my brow
and makes me
come alive
on a sultry day
no other pop will do
i am insanely
devoted
to
you

Breaking The Ode

Dr Pepper
you are my downfall
keeping me fat
i can't live with out you
no solution to that
you rot my teeth
you break my bank
caffeine addition
i have you to thank

After reading a few, I think I blew the directions.  Oh, well,  If this were opposite day it would've worked.

How The Words Come

At Poetry Jam they asked to write about writing, compare it to something or tell how the writing comes to you.

When I Write

Sometimes the words come in pieces
Like broken candy canes
Take them apart
And put them together again

This morning I thought
I've an orange toaster and a purple chair
The toaster's in the kitchen
Cause I like it there.

There are moments
That a true poem is born
When I have no hand
In how the piece is formed

These are the good ones
I don't let get away
I'm always surprised
When I read what they say

Dog Tired

from yesterday.

Kinda like The Little Red Hen except I had no seeds.

No one was helping me.

Lizzy rested in a freshly raked pile of leafs.

Ki-Anne wondered what was so great about what I was gathering.

Lil just wanted me to throw a stick.

See that TINY stick by her fore paws? 

I guess this was a dog day afternoon.

Tonight I Mourned

I have been unable to do that fully for years.

Mother died in '99 and her burial arrangements were for Dad.  What he wanted, what he needed to feel like he had given her the best.  Dad was in mid Alzheimer's and some days he would forget Mom had died. Then he would remember and oh, how he would grieve all over again as if it had recently happened. We were relieved when he forgot Mom and he settled into a time of service to his country, before Mom and before us.

Mom knew he had Alzheimer's but would not tell because you don't "air your dirty laundry".  You take care of your own.  Before she passed she asked me to "take care of every thing" but mostly she meant Dad. That was all she would say giving us no hint of how different Dad was.

And so we did.  My two sisters and I gave Dad the best care we could give.  Keeping him in his and Mom's home until we couldn't.

When Dad died we knew what he wanted and that was the service we gave.  His friend read Dad's favorite Psalm, the Twenty-Third. His neighbors, mother and daughter, sang his favorite song, Amazing Grace. I gave the Eulogy at a graveside service written by his oldest grandson, Toni, and me. Dad would have liked it.  He was buried with military honors with a twenty-one gun salute.  The flag was presented to my oldest sister.  She turned and presented it to his oldest grandson.  It was as it should be.

I watched a show with a Marine Honors Burial.  When they removed the flag from the casket I broke. I bawled like I lost them tonight.  My heart had broken open and the tears flowed like a river in full flood. I could not stop.  I was alone.  Even if I wasn't I don't think I could put into words why I broke down during a television show.  It was time.

Mother did not know the gargantuan task I laid on myself with her simple words "Take care of  every thing".  Those few words left me no time nor room to mourn because I had to DO what was asked.  I judged myself harshly.  I would look around and say aloud, "Mom and Dad would not like this".  I was appalled that I could not perform to what I perceived as Mom and Dad's expectations.

I was measuring my accomplishments with a stick so big no one could have met my high standards.  I realized tonight Mom and Dad would not have wanted me to judge myself so harshly.  They wanted us to love the land and treat it kindly and in doing that to follow our dream, not theirs.

When my eyes were dry, I wrote and released myself from the super standards I had given.  I love this land.  We all do...and that was what Mom and Dad wanted.

Mom died in '99 and Dad joined her in '06.  I have finally mourned.  I think they would be proud of what we've done with their dream.

Fashion

I have none
Comfort is my goal
In warm weather I'm cool
In winter I avoid cold

You may find me in the grocery store
Wearing fuzzy shoes
Could be some pajamas
Every day or two

I must have elastic bands
And long and floppy shirts
Even a base ball cap
Doesn't hurt

Those days I don't comb my hair
My hat is my best friend
With a big smile
My garments don't offend

I'm at the age
I have no one to impress
Comfort is my king
I just don't care I guess

I hear a whisper
every now and then
"Oh, don't mind her
She's gone around the bend".

For Poets United

Fifty-Five Plus Sixty Equals...

one (me) playing outside.  Raking leaves, burning brush and a varied amount of just playing long overdue.

I raked some pecan leafs

and burned some wind fall.

There was no burn ban

so I played with fire.

The pecans with no goody inside exploded sounding like gun fire.

That was interesting to say the least.

Uncle Bill used to tell me

if I played in fire I would wet the bed.

I'll let you know how that turns out.

Through A Child's Eyes

Z, the youngest grand, was sent home from school Tuesday because his cheeks were rosy.  No fever but to return to school we had to visit the doctor.

I could tell he was nervous so we read a few books during our wait.  We did weigh because Z has been saying he weighed six pounds confusing the concept of weight with age.  The nurse showed him the numbers but not sure if he's convinced yet.  Fifty one pounds is not six pounds.

What do you do when a nervous non-sick child is in the doctor's office?  Well, I handed him my camera and the time passed quickly.

 He covered the entire office

He practiced saying, "Awwww"

Funny faces, rolling stools

 and many self portraits

 

Sink,
hand,
face,
hand
and legs
on exam table

And the wonderful doctor who agreed with an old lady who has seen many child rashes in her life time. No reason to send him home.  No fever. The camera was a great "toy" and 136 pictures later Z is released to return to school. I sincerely believe rosy cheeks were the result of running in sunshine.

Not Every Dog (May be too graphic for some)

has her own chaise lounge.

Bonnie began her training in a crate and still goes there when we leave the house.  She graduated to and outgrew the old recliner.  She now claims the chaise lounge which usually holds what Hubby throws on it.

As much as we love dogs they are also needed on a farm.  Varmint control, guardians of our farm animals and of our place are just a few of the important jobs they do.

Just shy of eighty-five pounds and fourteen months old, Bonnie is very much a part of our life and our working team here.  Bonnie can sprint at twenty MPH but can maintain a solid fourteen for an indefinite period of time.  Yes, Hubby has clocked her.

This summer Bonnie trained with the other members of our working farm team:  Lil, Ki-Anne, Squigs, JR and Lizzy (all outside dogs). Each have their own job and work well as a team.  They've herded cattle and have kept our area clear of poisonous snakes and animals that could harm our live stock.

This summer Bonnie "alerted" us to a Copperhead but really has mostly stood back and observed. We thought maybe she's not gonna catch on to the job requirements here.

Yesterday Bonnie showed us she was paying attention.  She caught her first armadillo all by herself. At least a quarter from the house and proudly carried it all the way home.

Armadillos can reach a speed of thirty miles an hour but Bonnie exceeded this one's speed.  Hubby did not clock the chase but was very pleased with Bonnie's performance.

It's a fact of farm life.  Some critters just can't co-exist on a farm.  This is one critter of which we have tried to control the population.  Their burrows can break livestock's legs, they tend to dig in the garden because the ground is softer, and they do kill many plants.  On the good side they eat lots of insects and worms and are good to eat  (recipes here) although we've never tried one.

The other members come to check the prize.

Bonnie has reason to be proud.

She shows off her catch.

After her good girl praises

she drinks and chills.

When the wild hogs come

we may have a chance!

Tenword

for dVerse~Poets Pub

The prompt is to limit your piece to only ten words, if I read it correctly, with any theme.  I am too verbose to say anything in just ten words but I gave it a shot.  I could not stop with one! Surprised?

1.

Catching snowflakes

on the tongue is

a winter sporting event

2.

Each moment with you

enhances the truth

     you are my life

3.

In my dream

home glass is 

warm

thick

always clean

Giving it a shot. That's what life's all about...trying.  (And that's another ten!)  Happy Weekend.

Dark Winter

Peering through the ice
No one sees me
No one knows I'm gone

That happens when
You burn your bridges
Through life

Breaking all connections
Making bad choices
Again and again

Shamed to ask for help
I enter a plea of forgiveness
As my body waits for spring

Imaginary Garden With Real Toads and Fireblossom Friday  Picture/IGWRT/Fireblossom

Shoes or Feet

for Poetry Jam

I got my boots
I got my sandals
I love bare feet
If I have ta ramble

I reconnect with nature
From all around
Draw power
When bare feet meet the ground

I don't understand it
I don't ask why
My soles smile
As I watch the sky

The power courses
From soles to head
Renews my soul
Leaving peaceful retread

Don't need high heel shoes
Or thousand dollar boots
I'm styling in the bare
Keeping in touch with my roots

Secret

The sparkle of a secret
in a little girl's eye
excitement grows
as she whispers to her mother
let no one know

She tiptoes to her father
her secret they share
and lastly to her sister
who's just standing there

As she whispers to her sister
reality grows
a secret isn't a secret
if more than one knows

For dVerse~Poets Pub

2560...

is the total number of posts I haven't deleted since I began blogging.  

That's a lot of words.

Here are birds

through

Marcy's door.