See (Me)

Water Ways

photo by PSC

Water Ways

These dragonfly days

she chooses to wander the waterways,

synchronizing with the whispering wind.  Inhalations,

exhalations mingling into chanting song,

trilling her forward, trolling her aft.

Loose, liquid lap-slap of water soothing,

relaxing, waxing a lulling lullaby.

Sunning turtles watch warily,

slipping into water as she passes.

Startled frogs flop, plop into muddy weeds

at the unexpected company.

Complacent in her presence,

monarch sips on milkweed, while

cattails wave their welcome from the shore.

Wonderful bubble streams

shoot to the surface,

exploding like tiny sky rockets.

A flock of geese scoots out ahead

seeking escape in the shallows,

leaving behind a flutter of feathers —

a trail for her to follow.

Embraced by bullfrog banter,

she harmonizes her treble hummmm

into their bass confabulations.

Enveloped in a flurry of blue-green damselflies,

she’s captured, enraptured

by their stunning conjugations -- aquamarine duets

performing pageants on her paddles.

Pure white and pastel pink

water lilies glide past.

Speckled leaf-shadows

dance on the sandy floor.

Green-polka-dotted fish

(long, lean, lithe) leisurely trolling below

nods a cordial hello.

Wafting slowly past a rope swing, she sees once more

those grinning boys from days before:

their wild, whooping, swooping, splashdowns,

blue-lipped faces superimposed on those from years ago;

sunny memories intermingling,

her intertwining recollections mixing up

the sweetest summer concoction.

PSC / 2014

An Eruption of Ducklings

A dog barks

on the trail up ahead,

nosing into the wood,

his leash stretched

to its limits.

A squirrel, I’m thinking.

But when I reach that spot

I’m startled instead,

by an eruption of ducklings:

this fumbling flurry of yellow fluff,

a convoy unaccompanied, unattended,

tumbles from the tall grass,

spills, scrambles onto the path –

a rumple-feathered, muddled,

adorable jumble of baby birds.

Disheveled, in apparent disarray, they

scurry ahead forming a huddle –

binding together and disengaging,

separating and recombining

in conspicuous confusion.

Lickety-split eleven ducklings

plop into the pond

paddling for all they’re worth –

a delightfully ducky skedaddling.

Their seemingly mussed tussle

 (I am convinced) is actually

a finely orchestrated distraction,

instinctive defense

designed to foil potential predators

such as this disconcerted wanderer

too startled and charmed

to capture anything

but a smattering

of haphazard

and fuzzy

photos.

PSC/2015

photos by PSC / 2015-June

 

This poem was penned to share an experience I had while hiking in the woods just this morning. 

Summer has truly arrived!

 

 

Below is a YouTube link to an old favorite summer song by John Denver - "Season Suite – Summer".  

Hope you enjoy the music and the season!

   ==> John Denver's "Season Suite – Summer"