delineation

from the airplane

countries appear to have distinct

patterns of farmland as though

of a class of patches in a family quilt

with colors generations have found

the comforting foundation of their view

on their lives

but mountain ranges, valley depths

streams, rivers and coastlines

keep their own identities

without regard for borders

would that we remember and respect

what nature gives as itself and try

to dominate only the little that we add

missing doe

haiku

whimpering within

fawn knows to remain silent

hidden long hours

blessed at my window

welcoming wild birds

with seed and tiny scraps of vegetables

in a wrought iron bowl up and away

from neighborhood cats and dogs

they come almost continuously

scrub and Steller’s jays, California quail

chickadees, wrens, robins, flickers

so many colors, shapes and personalities

a snowy owl preening on my fence

even eagles, osprey and turkey vultures

circling high above, probably drawn by my many voles as are cougar and

bobcats awesome in their sleek power

who reveal themselves seldom

so deer and even elk are comfortable

grazing my back yard

my zebras

six little guys

busy chirping, although not melodious

flitting about in their multi-story cage

tearing up the newspaper floor liner

stuffing their straw nest

pulling down strands i hang at the top

scolding me when i am late

with fresh water and finch food

and cuttlebone treats

choose not to participate

unaware, we miss the snake slithering

away from under our feet

the cougar peering down

from hillock above our heads

doe naked in the middle of the field

but so still we do not notice

skunk cabbage gives our noses warning

but how many lovely flowers blossom

without our ever seeing them

there is so much more to our world

than we quiet ourselves to realize

let alone become a part of

needless pain they bear

individual animals figure things out

and their small group learns

a new method of dealing

with the world’s challenges

i.e., poking into a ant hole with a stick

whale belly-flopping high on a beach

to go after prey

but none yet sees a house

as shelter from inclement weather

they stand or huddle naked to rain

snow, sleet, hail when penguin

fathers could push snow together

to build a wall if not a roof rather

than use each other’s bodies

at the expense of his life

or osprey could angle sticks to create

a semi-cave in raw nest rather than

leave head and shoulders bare

to the storm

could we teach them? or would we

be leading them into our own

withered separation from nature?

snow dusting of blue

snow dusting of blue distant hills

turns them mysterious blue-heron gray

yesterday’s thick inches and pallid

fog created of my lawn and evergreens

my personal, enclosed, white world

this morning’s dusting brings

the distant blue close ‘round me

white world today

white world today

with icing of snow

and marshmallow fog

only foraging birds have color

goosebumps

i remember snow in late May

near Williamstown, Massachusetts

but here in western Oregon

heavy, white flakes seem unseasonal

this late in March—the daffodils

and crocuses shiver in the chill

new blades of grass cower

as do Oregonians unaccustomed

to such inclement weather

dis-covering dawn

ribbons of fire-orange slither

between blue-black clouds

insistent upon announcing

life’s blanketed dawn

languid dawn

the blue-white of morning

snow draping evergreen

brittle-stocked queen anne’s lace

woodpile beside the barn

stubbled slope of hill

neighbor’s distant roof

quiet, i watch the eerie blue

diffuse to nearer white

as the sunrise stretches

toward a languid dawn

like mama, like fawn

inquisitive doe strides the yard

sniffs at the flower bowl bird feeder

rejects (thank goodness) the taste of nasturtiums and birdseed

and moves on to further inspection

toddled after by tiny fawn, no longer speckled but as curious

as mom and startled to look around finally to find her gone

it scampers after