April 13: I Stumbled Into Daisies

 

 I Stumbled Into Daisies

 

 Hiking to the mailbox this morning in the fog,
I cut across a meadow, misty and hazy
And stumbled on a clump of grass
And planted my face in a patch of daisies.

They smelled lovely so I laid there awhile,
Contemplating the softness of the verdant  Spring
Rolling over on my back I took a little break there
In the grass. The fog over me a live thing creeping

It took a while to get my feet back under me,
The fog began to slink away across the land
So, I followed it resuming my early stroll
To the mail, a fistful of letters in my hand.

From the road back up the lane to home
Little patches of sun play among the leaves
Along my path, burning the dwindling mist away.
As upward the little wisps of vapor weave.

There are days like this that sneak up on you.
Days that leave my collar damp, and air
That thickly hangs, then all in a sudden sunburst
I can breathe again and the morning's fair..

© 2024 by Tom King
 

 

 

April 12: Music From the Other Side of the Woods

Music From the Other Side of the Woods

Coming down the stairs just now I heard the sound
Of children's laughter drifting through the trees.
Like tinkling bells on the other side of the wood.
Carried on the scent of fir and cedar all the way to me.

I'm gathering evergreen boughs for my darling girl
 To festoon bookshelves, window sills with verdant drapes,
The sort you need to proclaim the coming holidays
 With red and green and just the right touch of snowy 'scapes.

I set off in the direction of the those merry voices...
And found a grandmother with two kids in tow
Exploring the woods behind their Grammy's house;
Giving names to puddles, ditches, trees that grow.

That dry ditch they named Collin's Creek, anticipating
  That seasonal rains will provide them water in the Spring.
The patch of grass ringed by evergreens like Christmas
"Is Evelyn's meadow," Grammy says. "Where wrens and juncos sing."

I can't reach the branches of the Douglas firs high overhead,
But a couple of drooping cedars give up boughs for free.
The breezes sigh among the treetops. I walk and listen;
Laughter of children, wind like music in the forest sings to me.

Finally, loaded down with fragrant bundles, I turn for home;
My old knees crackling, popping protestations all the way back.
I smile at the noises of my well-worn bones - percussion that
Compliments the music and woodland scents that waft along the forest track.

The chill breath of autumn riffles maple leaves and sends whirligig seeds
Twirling down, brushing past me on their way to earth.
I'm glad to be gathering holly and cedar boughs on a day like this.
Reminds me what a woodland walk can to a soul be worth.

© 2024 by Tom King

April 11: Where Lies the Tempest

Where Lies the Tempest

Tempests and teapots are linked inside my head,
   A word association some shrink would likely find
Troubling should he stumble upon it testing me
   To check my fitness to roam loose with such a mind.

He'd have a field day tracking the dusty pathways in my skull;
  Oddities that lurk along the crooked tracks inside my mind,
Collected there during a life  not entirely sure just where,
  I was going or what next thing I was going to find.

I can't say any of it was very easy all in all,
   Surprises have a way of being quite uncomfortable.
My friends who disapprove of my politics or religion,
   Find my haphazard pursuits the height of unsustainable.

Good thing the God I serve sees what's up ahead
   And knows precisely how it all works out.
He, unlike those who think my life is unsustainable,
   Speaks to me in whispers. He has no need to shout.

I hear Him when I wander woodland paths and forest streams,
   Nudging me to take the trails He knows I ought.
Comforting me in rain, the wind or summer heat,
   Reminding me that tempests often originate in pots.

I find I can rest assured trusting no other guide than He,
   Just His whispers in my ear when thunderstorms arise.
From teapots in their majestic insignificance.
   He tells me hold until the latest howling tempest dies.

 © 2024 by Tom King