the cusp of morning a light south westerly stirs the grass a chorus of sparrows comb the garden for breakfast crows convene counsel to debate their daily plans I lay on my side - present in this moment - quietly plucking plump blueberries from their leafy bushels
wedding at dawn
Sunday morning. The percolator officiates the marriage of vanilla and cinnamon. A chickadee-dee-dee-dee sings its pleasant recessional. The ensuing dance is delightful and soon the marriage is consummated in a wash of eggs and milk on a bed made of whole grains. Nine minutes later, breakfast is born.
balms
Darkening clouds chase the sun peeping around the curtains. Could be rain or wind or both but it doesn’t matter, because the scent of your hair occupying the corner of my pillow and the warmth of your skin next to mine are balms for the heart and soul.
I never take for granted day's arrival through an open window weeping of passing clouds wind chasing the compass the love we share
for your 246th birthday
America, 2022 home of the mass shooting - 314 in 186 days America born out of violence raised on slavery and appropriation America with inside pockets of white supremacy America land of the 'free' as long as you are not female, trans, non-white or among the more than 22,000 killed by guns so far this year America an empire eating itself from within as empires do
a biblical eye…
As children are being buried, the NRA’s Republican Party want more guns to combat increasing gun violence, as was suggested at their recent NRA Convention (which took place days following the horrific massacre could you be more blatantly insensitive?). Am I completely off my rocker for thinking that this is counterintuitive? Do these pro-gun advocates truly believe that adding more guns will solve this problem bubbling throughout America? Are they that far removed from reality to think it is okay for a teenager to buy assault rifles? I mean, really, what the hell does anyone outside a military or police force need assault rifles for? What is the practical use of these weapons outside of controlled shooting at a range or for collection at a museum with shooting mechanisms removed? If your answer is anything contrary to ‘NOTHING” then you, too, are part of the problem.
I grew up with guns around the house. They were always locked up and ammunition was stored separately. Carrying a firearm was permitted as long as you had a permit to carry it during hunting seasons. Of course, there were restrictions: no assault weapons or handguns. We took our guns out when we needed to procure wild game to fill our freezers. And, we were permitted to carry them to the firing range for practice. I am fairly certain that the American Amendment allowing for the right to bear arms is rooted in time and place, when it was necessary for the creation of a militia to protect the new union following the great revolution. It was constituted at a time of American expansion east to west. That makes sense. But does it make sense today?
Perhaps it does. Perhaps America is such a wildly dangerous place that it’s necessary to fill your home with guns and to carry enough weapons and ammunition with you to take care of the high number of racist, bigoted, hateful crazies out there. The former President believes so and suggested that fencing in schools and setting up a gate with armed guards, is necessary. However, it is more likely that this eye-for-an-eye approach is not the way to go and will lead to even more blindness. I predict that gun violence will continue to increase and thousands more innocent lives will be loss if America does not change its gun laws.
As I continue to mourn the loss of innocent souls in America, I count my blessings for being able to live in a country where firearms regulations are strict and access is limited. God bless the families of those lost to gun violence.
c o w a r d s
cowards hide behind amendments sell their souls to the NRA and collect dividends in the form of children's blood which stains the hands of every single lawmaker who refuses to stand against weak gun control and supports the right to murder
worlds collide
there's a world beyond the pane where crows indulge in puddles still being filled where otters play on oddly shaped pans of bay ice where a bald eagle feasts on a weak common murre there's a world beyond the hills and Atlantic where life and death are forced to engage in games in which everyone loses and then there's this world on this side of the pane where morning is filled with the tantalizing scent of coffee brewing and the sound of a cat peacefully purring on my lap
envelope
without a stamp, but safely sealed within foggy edges where warm air passes over Arctic ice pressing against eroded shorelines, this envelope shields me from what I prefer to never see, hear, taste, feel... know for all I need - now and in perpetuity - is already here
vernal equinox
sun baby blue sky still water ballycaters* recede unafraid of encroaching shorelines remaining snow, weeps for winter's passing even the dead grass springs from hibernation *Ballycaters are ice formations that gather around shorelines as ocean water freezes. They become a barrier between sea and land.
peace and harmony
six robins forage through dense juniper bushes picking the frozen berries left behind after late summer harvests while close by in a neighbour's driveway - that looks more like a frozen tundra - three crows, twelve starlings and a lone squirrel scurry to gather seeds scattered by peaceful hands here, far from the madding crowds far from the violence far from the extremism that chokes our world there is peace and harmony between so many different creatures and a lesson if one wishes to heed it