bird fact

you won’t jeopardize
unfledged bird by putting it
back in nest quickly

for Word of the Day

bluebird

i am a cage in search of a bird
ask your mom what that means
i want to catch the bluebird of happiness
ask your mom what that is
i want the bluebird inside me so i’ll be happy
ask your mom if she does this
then sometimes i’ll let the bluebird go
ask your mom if she gets sad
other people need the happy bird sometimes
do you get sad
i let the sad blackbird fly into me instead
when you are sad we can swap our birds that way
your mom can help

for dVerse Poetics and Tale Weaver

How Can It Be?

How can it be?

I hear this all the time working with fatal diseases. Comes with the territory.

We know we’re mortal. Something is going to kill us. But from day to day we go along, making plans, procrastinating, living our lives. Perhaps we feel a new pain. Perhaps we’re having a routine checkup. Then out of the blue like a bolt of lightening, the bad news. Your best-used-by date. The heart races. Tears come.

Seeing that moment come for so many, I’ve tried to prepare myself. Not just for a bad diagnosis, but for a phone call that comes at night when my teenager is out driving around in the family car. I’ve never liked phone calls.

I’ve worked to harden myself. I’ve rehearsed. I don’t get too optimistic. That’s just asking for it.

My wife encourages me to loosen up. She laughs a lot. Enjoys life. She calls me a gloomy gus. She doesn’t understand me.

I’m not gloomy. I’m realistic. I maintain an even strain. I root for teams but I don’t root too much. I don’t read fiction. I don’t drink wine.

So I guess I’ve talked myself into believing that I’ve been walking in balance on Mother Earth. I’ve taken a few blows and kept the emotional damage to a minimum, but now it seems that my attitude and my approach have been foolish. My wife has left me for Barry Simon and I find myself actually saying to my son, How can this possibly be?

for Tell-Me Tuesday

quadrille

pterosaurs here for one hundred and fifty million years
a lot of flights eggs generations meals
smallest size of sparrow
largest six hundred fifty pounds
one day they went extinct
we are two hundred thousand years old
repeat that seven hundred and fifty times

for dVerse Quadrille and the Word Is…

poem

i pray for serenity
so does everybody else in the group around me
so does everybody else in all the other groups i attend or don’t attend
are we the least serene collection of folks around
how serene are all those others out there who don’t have to pray for it
have i ever met a serene person
good-natured is the closest i’ve got
i’m switching over
i’d rather be good-natured than serene

for Go Dog Go Cafe Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge

tale

Photo by MarkusmitK@pixabay.com

so long. trainyard. so long my friends, you diesel engines. loud and strong. as of tomorrow i’ll work only on electric locomotives. not diesel electrics, either. pure electric, clean and quiet. i love you but this railyard should become a boneyard.

for Twittering Tales

haiku

autumn arrives hot
indian summer or more
summer-bequeathed days

for Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Challenge

haiku

who cooks for you cries
the lovely barred owl at night
i pause fork in hand

for I Write Her Weekly Haiku Challenge