Knowledge is factual, whether or not we learn it.
Truth is timeless, whether or not we believe it.
Love is powerful, whether or not we practice it.
Beauty is exquisite, whether or not we behold it.
God is present, whether or not we recognize Him.
where is spring?
24 Apr 2013 Leave a comment
Bobbing tentatively on frosty feet,
fluffing out their thin feathers,
pecking at crunchy iced worms,
maybe the poor robins should
use their frequent flier miles
for a return trip south !
(photo from http://www.askthebirds.org)
The bi-polar brain is…
21 Apr 2013 28 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: bi-polar, circus, mental illness
a three-ring circus on caffeine;
incredibly entertaining as long as
you can keep the wild tigers in their cage.
In the first ring, imagination’s clowns
and their colorfully-costumed dogs
perform fantastically frisky tricks.
Random elephant thoughts
plod tails-in-trunks in the center ring;
going round and round under hot spotlights.
In the last ring, fast ideas on noisy
motorcycles race recklessly within the
locked, metal-meshed sphere of the mind.
Rising upward, visions of long-legged,
feathered women twirl dizzily from tethers
until the human cannonball is shot high into the air.
Unexpectedly, the glaring mania of lights
dim to reveal the surreal threats of a
thousand glowing souvenir light sabers.
The mood suddenly trips over an
empty cotton candy cone and tumbles
head-over-high-heels down the steep steps;
Rolling from the upper nose-bleed section,
plunging past shocked spectators to crash
into depression on saw-dusted floor of arena.
Ladeez and genteel-men, may I have your
attention pleez: be sure to take your medications
or risk falling from the sky with no safety net below.
april fools’ pantoum
14 Apr 2013 Leave a comment
in Uncategorized Tags: ice, weather, winter
Winter’s final assault of triple fury:
freezing rain, glazed ice, heavy snow,
worse than a typical blizzard’s flurry
deals a vengeful, destructive blow.
Freezing rain, glazed ice, heavy snow
covers fences, rooftops and trees;
deals a vengeful, destructive blow
to spring’s warmer, mellow breeze.
Covered fences, rooftops and trees
break under weather’s weight, or melt
to spring’s warmer, mellow breeze.
as seasons’ changing moods are felt.
Break under weather’s weight, or melt,
a snowman kneels, then dies on grass
as seasons’ changing moods are felt
by robins confused after blustery blast.
Weather reports could not predict
worse than a typical blizzard’s flurry;
soon sunshine returns to contradict
winter’s final assault of triple fury.
Calving season (the good, bad, and ugly)
09 Apr 2013 Leave a comment
in Uncategorized Tags: calving, cow
O the joyous wonder of this sunlit morning
to watch new spring calves cavorting together
sprinting across the dirt yard, tails held high,
playing tag between their mooing mamas and
stopping suddenly for a warm satisfying nip.
O the awe-full agony in that moonless night
to see a cow laboring to birth a calf turned wrong
coming with back feet first, needing human help in
pulling out with hope a live calf, followed by horror
of bloody uterus and desperate heaving to push it inside.
Next day, wife asks, “How’s the calf?” and farmer answers,
“Lonesome…with no one to lick him off.”
For my brother
09 Apr 2013 Leave a comment
Yesterday, you and I hiked steep slopes above timberline together.
Yesterday, we scrambled to the mountain’s rocky summit, shouting;
Yesterday, both of us could see for miles into the future’s glorious vista.
Today, we sit on this boulder, gulping for oxygen and squinting at horizon.
Today, trail is precarious scree and semi-obscured by fog of fears, tears
Today, we rub our aching muscles and commiserate with breaking hearts
But tomorrow…tomorrow will dawn brilliant where sorrow will be no more!
Esperanza es Esencial
09 Apr 2013 10 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: coffee, farmers, Nicaragua
(a sestina)
The hollow stares of hungry children
along the rural dirt roads of Nicaragua
haunt us; we wonder how they will grow.
Family squatters on plantation farms;
laborers for landowners, not partners.
Who will help people aching for hope?
Corruption feeds the raw hopelessness;
political powers disregard needs of children.
Fathers must go find work, leaving partners.
Hurricanes and earthquakes rock Nicaragua.
Disillusionment fills the stomachs of poor farmers.
Can the rainy season inspire lush dreams to grow?
Restless longings of youth and age are growing
like howler monkeys hanging on vines, hopeful
in spite of elusive prospects that leave farmers
without funds to buy school shoes for their children.
Dignity and determination possessed by Nicaraguans
may yet transform desperation by a strong partnership.
They need land loans and encouraging partners
who will water dormant dreams to boldly grow.
See machete-wielding campesinos of Nicaragua
clear parcels of land and build better houses on hope.
Families together enrich soils of mountains and children,
planting red beans, coffee and fruit trees on their own farms.
Linked together, North American and Nica farmers
join hearts and hands in prayerful partnership;
envisioning a new future for bright-eyed children
and encouraging their greener dreams to grow.
Providing opportunities which renew hopefulness
by reaching out to our neighbors in Nicaragua.
Norteamericanos can learn much from Nicaraguans:
Value simple blessings and family-friendly farming
The practice of contentment fills one with hopefulness
Mutual respect breaks down barriers to partnership
Stepping beyond comfort zones makes faith grow
Real vision for future and education, will feed children.
Building hope-filled partnerships
between Nicaragua and Iowa farmers
offers growth opportunities for all God’s children!
scientific classification
05 Apr 2013 Leave a comment
in Uncategorized Tags: rainbow, zebra
The kaleidoscope zebra, Equus exoticus, native to S. Africa, is extinct due to inferior breeding and failed camouflage of its rainbow-hued stripes.
El toro
05 Apr 2013 14 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: bull
The bull stands
bulky in black velvet
with formal white face
above thick muscled neck
and massive humped shoulders.
He flares paired nostrils
and paws with front hoof,
tossing broad head and
flinging dirt past rounded rump.
We admire this brute power…
looking over rail of sturdy fence.
innocence lost
05 Apr 2013 Leave a comment
Best friendships can be
fragile in first grade. The
dark-eyed boy lived in his
brown brick house only
two blocks away from
our yellow stucco, just
a short walk to play.
I accepted his shy,
unexpected gift of the
ceramic Navajo woman
painted with raven black
hair and azure skirt lying
in graceful folds around
the seated figure. She
wore a squash blossom
necklace, held a diminutive
basket of maize in her lap,
and smiled delicately.
As I turned her over in
my rapt, trembling hands,
she slipped to the sidewalk
and broke into ugly shards,
shattering our young hearts.
I fled home to Mom who gently
tried to glue all my sobbing
pieces back together.
holy week haiku
26 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Uncategorized Tags: haiku, Passion, risen, stones
The stones will cry out,
“He is coming, He is here!”
Palm branches salute.
This king washes feet,
“Break my body, drink this cup.”
Heart of stone betrays.
He’s crowned, whipped, bleeding;
“My God, have you forsaken?”
Dies on stony hill.
Sunrise in garden;
“Tell me, Sir, where you laid him.”
Stone tomb cannot hold.
memories up in smoke
26 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
Out-dated landmark peeling red paint,
the wooden corn crib burned down late
on monday morn after holding ripe ears of
harvested gold, countless kernels of many
hard-working years. Could say it was arson
by the farmer and his son who poured on
gas until the flaming roof fell in at last and the
surrounding snow dissolved into nostalgic tears.
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