so this is valentine's day

valentine's day 2021 another low another record broken

valentine's day blizzard the frozen tears on his mask

valetine's day the deer antlers sticking out of the snow

hearts on iron fences a reminder it's valentine's day

wind chill below zero it's valentine's day

a pond you can walk across it's valentine's day

trumpism alive and well it's valentine's day

the absence of birdsong on valentine's day

miles from home the sandhill cranes refueling in a farmer's field

a veil of mist reshapes the canyon

morning coffee some flower dust on a honeybee

notes of sunshine the seconds trilled away by birdsong

aquarium a young boy's laugh finding the clownfish

the red lichens with their own language scrawled across the rocks

I catch my breath on a steep hill--the gumbo lily

fern green the lushness surrounding the waterfall

hands of a climber the rolling hills before the mountains

tanawha sunrise the hawk's profile

first snow the cat runs back into the house

this winter a siskin's moment with the goldfinches

haiku inspired by my journal and a 2021 nature calendar 

moving on if only we were more like water every time we fell

wolf moon coyotes howling somewhere in the distance

prairie burn the short-eared owl perches on a charred cedar

cave entrance we only go as far as the sunlight will take us

longer days a pair of goldfinches just passing by

spring peepers no way to adjust the volume of their chorus

swollen feet the many reflections of tupelo

cattle egret in the middle of the day both of us at a standstill

red, yellow, orange the indian paintbrush with an autumn palette

the water boatman ferries itself across the pond

cedar apple rust creating its own type of bloom

buckeye butterfly we share a moment on the sandbar

blazing star quenching my thirst for color

frost extends the borders of a red oak leaf

glade reverie in each ladder of success another flower

a grayness follows the farm plow bonaparte's gull

the sugar maples already dressed for winter

Inspired by Natural Events Calendar 2002

january news a river fog blurs the crystal blue sky

icicle clinging to the greeness of a canyon fern

a young woodcock blending into the leaves of this year and last

arbor day the planted tree a few feet from the fallen one

the mockingbird's red mood guarding the holly berries

violet hepatica spring vibrates with each pulse of color

raccoon disturbance the evening's just getting started

lowbush blueberry I'd never expected to find scarlet here

spotted fawn everything looks new in the old hayfield

a milkweed pod filled with possibilities

strands of dew add prisms to the spider web

cushion moss using the rocky hillside for a pillow

whirligig beetles the future of water in every turn

barn owl peering out into the dusk of winter

Inspired by the 2003 Natural Events Calendar

presidential inauguration I will remember Bernie Sanders' mittens

falling snow the bluebird makes a spot for itself

sunset not much time to find the end of the trail

leaf litter I spy a striped chipmunk

fox kits the smallest one hiding behind its siblings

hummingbird the red rubies of tail feathers

glade coneflower the petals purple the air

busy june a swallowtail convention on a sandbar

redistributing the wealth a sweat bee spotted yellow with pollen

a waxwing crown almost invisible in the cedars

heavy rains the voice of water tumbling over rocky crags

waning summer a skink sliding over splintered logs with ease

midwestern fall hard to enjoy the scarlet leaves here

                         with a landfall hurricane in the south

cool september the smartweed caterpillar wearing its coat of many colors

3 deer each 1 looking at november from a different direction

tall grasses the brief splash of gold on a sunless day

Inspired by the 2016 Natural Events Calendar 

 

political angst the gop has given elephants a bad name*

*referencing flak I got for something I wrote because it referenced Elephant Rocks State Park and democracy. It was interpreted as a pro-Trump message instead of a message of hope that is found in nature. Rocks that have been around for billions of years are still with us today and that is my hope for democracy and freedom, however naive that hope may be. 

I thought about taking the post in question down but decided against it. Words can be interpreted in many different ways regardless of what I intended. People will see what they want to see. It also gave me perspective on what people who are conservative and labeled "far right" go through on a regular basis. I just got those same slings and arrows.

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