even i

retribution, ‘getting even’

are the steps a child takes

before she realizes her inner

strength and ability to ‘live

and let-live’ in the effort

to heal, not only herself

but those around her

message

the crumbling wood barn

warped boards garbling the message

“God bless America”

still speaking of our country’s love

of our Creator

musky trial balloon

wealth does not entitle anyone

legally or morally to propose

 ‘punishment’

for a special counsel serving

in his appointed office

so, your suggestion of rebuke

sent out to judge popular response to

public reprimand for an individual

doing his job will expose

the offensiveness of your intentions

nor does power warrant

retribution against fellow officials

who have disagreed or opposed

such actions fragment the rule of law

which is the foundation

of our democracy depends

respect comes hard

respect comes hard

when money is valued

when those who gave time and health

to serve others are deemed ‘suckers’

respect comes hard

for those who do not honor the sacrifice

by those whose lives are then given

in love to care for the damaged

family of three

fawn nearly sure on spindly legs

gangles away from slender stag

to stand in the intersection

traffic slows, stops, drivers and passengers smile and wait

as doe peeps over the wooden

fence she has leaped to get to a garden

fawn struggles up on the lawn

stage follows, peers at doe, finds

tall grass beneath a coastal pine

until doe leaps again the fence

nuzzles her fawn, springs over

the north hedge, which the fawn

traverses between low trunks

and stag bulls through

gracious response

quietly proud

of those who can

return graciousness

for devastating lies

making dignity

great again

in the meantime

our whiner in chief

to heal what he has broken

bit so many harmed

expect

if truth not honored

or  ‘other’ deemed inhuman

expect betrayal

frank

deciding to be frank

when all subtle clues escape notice

i have privately warned the offender

that tolerance will no longer be gifted

treasures are personal

no room in the inn

for treasures i’ve loved and lived with

i won’t give them away to family

as they have loved treasures of their own

so, a sale and lots of donations

are in the not-too-distant future

this down-sizing is almost as grueling

as getting old

family chooses

haiku

family chooses

joy of mountain view for me

with green trees for peace

trials

i disagree with the plea to

“save us from the times of trial”

because it is through trial

that we grow and earn depth

trials will happen

the sooner we accept that as a fact of life

the less we lose of time and effort

to “why me?”

i pray instead that our lord

please stay with us

to strengthen us through them

paper to recycled life

paper to recycled life

more than two decades’ worth

of saved piles, notebooks, filing cabinets

accumulations of old poems, duplicate

plays for multiple readers, sketches

of scenes, descriptions of characters

now shopping bags filled for recycling

and, oh, the surprise found:

grandchildren’s stories and poems

in fat, just-learning-to-print letters

preference

competing priorities

configuration v view

bookcases v snow-capped mountains

home-like arrangement without peaks

v panoramic beauty and trees

and open area with western foothills

only a lovely walk away

dawn sings

sunrise glows muted

through light fog

its brilliant awakening of day

hushed but still singing of the glory

of our gifted world

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learning to accept

parking my car a block away

because construction equipment

takes all nearer spaces

i look at the seven-story structure

i am looking to move into

the thought comes to my mind

and lips: “I am coming here to die”

surprisingly, i find i am at peace

with the thought

it is where i am in my life

although i know i will fight

to treasure as much as i can retain

until i know the end is mine

inherit the joy

spending my children’s inheritance

but they don’t even want to hear

my apologies

“I want you to be happy, mom”

what greater proof could i have

that i am the luckiest person

i’ve ever known

laughter here, and joy

prospecting for a new home

away from this haven on the hill

with its view for seventy miles

to the snow-capped Cascades

this gift my husband gave

in love and joined me in fulfillment

in joy when hosting the family

in contentment watching birds

squat and squawk at the feeder

California quail dust bathing

with one too many to fit in the bowl

deer peering into our windows

fawns learn young to jump fences

elk herds mow down the wire fences

an ancient cow elk guarding

the calves frolicking in our lower field

there has been laughter here

and joy

view of Nature

view of Nature refreshes my soul

nourishes what is creative within me

blindness might coerce me

into taking in what i have heard

without assimilation of sounds

chirps, trills, clicks, hisses

rumbles, snaps, growls, crashes thunders, squeaks, peeps, crackles

barks, yaps, yelps, snarls, roars

whines, yips, bays, murmurs

Nature touches our pitiful attention

in many ways we keep too busy

to hear, feel, smell, taste with the degree

of richness given to us