Grocery List of Insomnia

pollen count surrounded by allergies and too much information

cedarness a cardinal not good at hiding itself

skunk hour every hour on cool nights

1/3 moon 1/3 owl 1/3 dog the grocery list of insomnia

political theater ushers stumble over their own words

gun talk lies same arguments different day

side effects the unknown road of covid vs. the vaccine

late afternoon a water strider's ballet

mourning dove feathers puffed out in a battle with the frost

driftwood anchor an otter surveying the icy water

pintail duck in midair I could use a wingful of energy

may apple on the forest floor the sun finally reaching your bones

bewick's wren the lilacs can't be far away

a bullfrog's swim through the fallen leaves of the last storm

abandoned field fireflies creating their own path of light

years' past the pink columbine from Colorado here, too

allred lake the cypress older than our republic

wild geranium bloom I, too, have life lines

castor river the granite forms of resistance

rest stop the monarch shielded by a sunflower

orange sky the stained glass of sugar maples

gnarled cedar how many revolutions have you seen

cardinal bright morning the red notes of someone else's song

a ring-billed gull its wings tilting towards the new year

Inspired by 2013's Natural Events Calendar

snowstorm no one expecting the bluebird

morning hike a cottontail standing in the snow

ice crystal tethered to the briefness of winter

swift current the sycamores tinged with rust

hughes mountain a fog drifts into our silence

trail guide each black-eyed susan

snowy owl how many miles did I walk to get here

a white tail negotiating the riffles

female cardinal red enough to be a beacon in the cedar

spotting a gray fox every color in the crayon box

lunch time a butterfly in a field of thistle

a scraggly wildness in the milkweed blooms

no one knows how they got here gooseberries part of the fence

sunny umbrellas the gray headed coneflowers

it's not spring until the redbuds open

sleepy hollow the sudden gold of witches' butter

the purpleness of a prairie in september

rain clouds on our last walk together

Inspired by 2020's Natural Events Calendar

Option Z

talk of the nobel peace prize before trump's next tweet

crayfish hunting the long shadow of an ozark hellbender*

same branch of cedar the song exchange between a cardinal and robin

overnight magic the new carpet of dandelions

park vending machine my coin rolls into clover

option z I need more letters

poetry slam first the wind, then the barn door

grief journal my last entry between cloudbursts

mushroom sightings the UFOs have landed

unmarked path a lone turkey joins me

home is wherever the groundhog decides to dig


______

Ozark hellbender is an endangered species of salamander

cloudy morning the garbled song of a distant cardinal