Monday, February 29, 2016

February 29: Leap Day

Everything's hopping--
caterpillar thaws, cruises
over bare, brown lawn.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

February 28: Windows to the soul

Dog seen on our walk
looked at me with eyes
of a reincarnated soul.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

February 27: Weskeag Marsh

Salt marsh at sunset--
all calm except scudding clouds,
parked car's thumping bass.

Friday, February 26, 2016

February 26: Premature

Bright new shoots of chives--
don't get too aroused,
it's only February.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

February 25: Thunder

five years old again
awakened by thunder claps
and still wide awake

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

February 24: Drink the rain

Something about the weather
makes us think about
drinking wine with lunch.

February 23: Predator and prey

Cat eats some of my
goldfish crackers.
Julia Child loved them too.

Monday, February 22, 2016

February 22: Birdsong

Can't help but smile
to hear the titmice singing
this chilly morning.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

February 21: Moonrise

Full moon rising
behind the stained glass window--
better than TV.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

February 20: Indulgence

49th birthday--
a chocolate-frosted donut,
steamed milk in my tea.

Friday, February 19, 2016

February 19: Fly like an eagle

Driving to the bar
eagle soaring overhead
I am uplifted

Thursday, February 18, 2016

February 18: What sustains us

Grilled cheese and tomato soup
on a cold night--
avoiding politics.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

February 17: Early bird

Every year about this time I receive spreadsheets from an ornithologist at Colby College on which to record the spring arrival dates of bird species in my region. I guess they triggered something in my subconscious.
 
Even in my dream
I know the singing phoebe
is an illusion.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

February 16: Wren

Yesterday, snow and temperatures hovered around zero; today, rain and nearly 50 degrees. Even so, I wasn't expecting to hear a Carolina Wren calling loudly across the street when I left for work this morning. A southern bird that was a real rarity in Maine when I was a kid, over the past decade or so the resilient Carolina Wren has begun to settle in here; more and more seem to be wintering over. But it's not yet as established and abundant as the cardinal, another southern species that made its way north, or the Mourning Dove, which we take for granted now but which was an exciting sight for Maine birders back in the 1950s.
 
Even the wren
trilling loudly in the rain
sounds grateful for the thaw.

Monday, February 15, 2016

February 15: Ripped from the headlines

The Seattle Aquarium has made the public display of mating octopuses a very popular annual Valentine's Day event. This year, however, the spectacle was cancelled because they couldn't find a female big enough to hold her own against their 70-lb. male octopus, Kong. Giant Pacific Octopuses are normally kept separated in aquariums (and live predominately solitary lives in the wild), because they not uncommonly kill and eat one another. Clearly the aquarium did not want to promote an event in which the hapless female might experience love and death in such short order, in full view of the soft-hearted public.
 
Today's haiku was an actual online headline: found poetry at its best.
 
Octopus mating event
cancelled due to
cannibalism concerns.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

February 14: Puzzle Zen

Valentine's Day--
the puzzle takes us hours,
piece by piece we make it whole.
 
Most excellent puzzle from Liberty Puzzles (468 pieces)
 

Saturday, February 13, 2016

February 13: Snow day

Ten degrees, wind howling.
Curled up with a book
on the Salem witch trials.

Friday, February 12, 2016

February 12: Crescent moon

Bitter cold evening--
just a quick look at the moon
in her misty scarf.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

February 11: Yearning

Cat inside chatters
at leaping squirrels, perched crows
always out of reach.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

February 10: Itsy-bitsy spider

Strangely saddened by
the loss of the spider
above our shower.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

February 9: Garden of Earthly Delights

A new interactive website allows you to take a virtual tour of Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch's famous painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights." A trip through his fantastical triptych is a "trip" indeed, especially when you can look at it this closely.

In Bosch's "Garden"
I'm distracted by the birds
but only briefly.


Monday, February 8, 2016

February 8: What the winter sky has to say

Yesterday I participated in a poetry reading at Brunswick's Curtis Public Library that was part of the town's Longfellow Days. We were each asked to read a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in addition to our own work. I chose my favorite (and seasonally appropriate) "Snow-Flakes," a line of which begins today's haiku as new snow falls past my window.

This is the poem of the air--
cold syllables fall,
slow litany.

February 7: A winter Sunday

A winter Sunday in Maine:
poetry reading
then the Super Bowl.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

February 6: US Toboggan Championships

Above the sledders,
partyers, skiers: blue sky,
one eagle soaring.

Friday, February 5, 2016

February 5: In the bleak midwinter

wet snow falling heavy
unexpected
grief of one loss, another
 

Thursday, February 4, 2016

February 4: Owl

silent owl waiting
somewhere in the stand of pines
dark soul of the woods

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

February 3: Mourning

Nativity scene still up
in the yard of the man
who lost his son.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

February 2: Brigid's Day

Awake at sunrise
horizon's inspiring glow
sparking too many thoughts.

Monday, February 1, 2016

February 1: Mud season

A warm winter day,
mud gurgling underfoot--
everyone's talking spring.

January 31: Cocktail

Behind the bar
bourbon bottles' amber glow,
soft music of ice cubes.