October 31: Halloween

Halloween morning--
pigeons huddle on a roof
as falcon flies past.

October 30: At the planning workshop

Morning, downtown--
skein of geese flying
past the opera house.

October 29: Maple tree

River running high.
Finally the one maple tree
has turned to gold.

October 28: Almost Halloween

Down by the river
our neighbors throw a party--
bonfire glowing.

October 27: Rising wind

Wind rising with dark--
the one tree with all its leaves
roars like a waterfall.

October 26: Clarry Hill

Spent this afternoon up on Clarry Hill in Union, surrounded by blueberry barrens, watching hawks soaring southward over the coastal mountains.

 

Kestrel hovering

Burnished fields, wind picking up

That's my heart out there

 

Posted with Blogsy

October 25: Greenery

Under a heap of leaves

pot of chives still green

still pungent

Posted with Blogsy

October 24: Crows at dusk

Dusk comes so soon now.

Perched on a bare, wet branch,

how big the crow looks.

October 23: Reflex

Dark and stormy night--
I keep swerving
to avoid skittering leaves.

October 21: Rain ahead

As predicted, it rains--
jays mob the feeders,
river sighs, opens wide.

October 20: Bare branches, bare arms in the cold

Trees shivering, leaves lost,
colors fading underfoot--
I'm not ready.

October 19: Winter is coming

Walking through Camden's Harbor Park and Amphitheatre this afternoon, the signs of coming cold were gathering with the fallen leaves.

Frost warning--

schooners wrapped in plastic,

flocks of south-bound sparrows.

Posted with Blogsy

October 18: Schoodic Head Trail

Raven alerts the woods--
our clumsy passage through
misty spruces and moss

October 17: Schoodic

Arrived in the dark

we hear the sea's dark pulse

glory in all the stars

October 16: Pears

Standards on the radio,
rain falling hard--
the middle of my life.

October 15: Warm Spell

Still warm at dusk.

A bat flits overhead.

What else will we lose?

 

Posted with Blogsy

October 14: My grandfather would be 99 today

Opalescent sky
He wanted to be a gull
in his next life

October 13: Autumn day trip

A day of sparrows
in fields going to seed
leaves red and falling

October 12: Autumn Zen

Fall leaves prayer flags.

On the front porch Buddha

contemplates a pumpkin.

October 11: Date night

A happy marriage--
enjoying burritos
after seeing "Gone Girl."

October 10: Color

Autumn leaves--

lost in thought, I drive for miles

without noticing.

Posted with Blogsy

October 9: Urgency

Squadron of jays
bombards the feeders all day.
Waiting for that call.

October 8: Lunar eclipse

Lunar eclipse
hidden by a thunderstorm
I'm wide awake

October 6: Edginess

At the field's edge--
restless sparrows rustling
in the dying asters.

October 5: Sunday

After the rain, sun.
Crows cawing in the backyard
beckon us outside.

October 4: Mushrooms among us

I've been out sick for a few days--hence the brief absence here--but this morning was up for a mushroom outing at Fernalds Neck Preserve in Lincolnville, led by the very entertaining and knowledgeable Kirk Gentalen of Maine Coast Heritage Trust. I learned a little about mushrooms and other fungi, but what I seem to have retained has more to do with poetry, I think, than biology. Like learning names that are stories in themselves... Witches' Butter, Bear's Bread, Crowded Parchment...

Learning mushrooms--
Velvet Earth Tongue speaks
from the forest floor.