Author: cfblack
-
The handkerchief
Dad pulled it from his left back pocket folded to a dry spot and said, “Blow” It grossed me out one small square of cloth for all my siblings lined up in a pew To save my dignity I carried my own handkerchief quit sniffling in church or using my sleeve Sixty years on, I…
-
Good Friday
I dreamed sugar sweet pink Peeps lined the road to the Supreme Court, waved palm fronds and sang Hosannas. Redneck, washed up Nashville musicians played three part, off key harmony and got drunk on cheap beer. Chocolate bunnies masquerading as chickens in drag scattered colored eggs for Eostre upon the state house lawn, because it…
-
haiku for a breezy day
sitting on the porch watching wind dance with the trees nature’s playlist rocks 4-7-23
-
Mary Catherine
Mary Catherine walks her neighbor’s foster dog in the park and she smiles as it drags her along behind. Mary Catherine stops at the bench where I am sitting, because the dog wants petted by every stranger he sees. Mary Catherine says she often sees me sitting in our side yard as she drives by…
-
Anatomy of a wave
She walks two sets of dogs each morning, rarely smiles or says a word in passing, waves from across the pond. You wonder how many emotional and physical acts of misogyny she has endured to bring her to this point and resolve to respect her downcast eyes and silence in passing and wave back from…
-
Rain watcher
no dog walkers, no tennis players, no rim rattling gamers, birds and leaf blowers have all gone silent tires slap wet pavement, carpets of clouds rub together, static electric tympani rumbles overhead, wet snare drum plays in the trees Carol watches the Weather Channel, I sit on our porch watching the rain, wishing I’d cleaned…
-
Before the sun is high
Emerald-headed mallard swims through trees set adrift in a blue, blue sky before turtles line the shoreline like city folks at Hilton Head resorts, before bright green anoles emerge from nighttime hiding places, before a frog chorus gives way to bird solos before swarms of tadpoles are consumed in the coming feeding frenzy, you recite…
-
haiku for nesting season
in the top of tree black bird makes a two-toned caw only crows will love 3-23-23
-
after the equinox
On the second day of Spring 2 Baha, 180 B.E. Offer a prayer for a friend having surgery Go to the gym Buy Carol a strong, large coffee on the way home Take a walking meditation in the park Bumblebees imbibe at the Azalea Bush Bar Turtles sun themselves on a muddy beach No mallards,…
-
The day before
1) The ebb and flow of tide changes the shoreline, laps high up on dunes. Turtles lay eggs in sand. Walk careful, do not disturb those still waiting to be born. 2) An old man stands in hot sand trying to keep grit out of his shoes. Another year to plan the future. On the…
