untangling the web

poetry about and photography of everyday happenings and sights

Category Archives: poetry


by 3 Comments

While I Work

While I work,

she softly sleeps

on the tan couch,

head on its arm,

paws touching,

a parcel of

brown and white,

curled in a ball of warmth.

 

I wonder what she is dreaming.

Is she sniffing her way around the pond,

testing the thin ice on its edge,

pausing to smell a cedar tree,

jumping when a heron takes flight?

Or is she in the dog park

cautiously greeting other dogs,

racing around the perimeter,

stopping occasionally to

make sure I am still there?

 

What a comfort to know that

when I move,

she will open her hazel eyes

and track my every step,

waiting to see

if it is time to follow.

What more could the world offer

at this moment, this very moment?


by 4 Comments

There is No Other, We are One

There is no Other, we are one.

 

Hatred is a heart disease, it

can be cured and

it must be cured.

We can cure it.

 

11 innocents shot down and

13 bombs mailed.

Thousands marching

Just to be safe.

 

One young woman living in a

sanctuary

church, unable to

enjoy Fall’s beauty.

 

Hatred is a heart disease, it

can be cured and

it must be cured.

We can cure it.

 

There is no Other, we are one.

 

Inspired by Ruth King’s keynote address for the Chrysalis Institute


by 3 Comments

Early Sunday Morning

Striding ahead on Pine Trail

in Powhatan State Park,

energized by cooler air,

I almost trip and fall,

and am reminded that

I might be missing that

for which I have come,

so Luna and I

stop, look, and listen.

 

A canopy of trees overhead

keeps us almost dry

as the gentle rain hits

leaves far above

and plops on those below.

 

I see wet and glistening

Sassafras, and

shy, striped Wintergreen,

soft green moss,

and a path strewn

with rusty pine needles.

 

I hear birds chattering

to their neighbors

and squirrels foraging.

Only a distant plane

interrupts the peace

that comes to those

walking in the woods.

 

Who could ask for more?

Right here, right now,

I have everything I need.


by 2 Comments

Mr. Bluebird

Fiercely protective of

his territory and brood,

a male bluebird pecks on

a downstairs window,

attacking the enemy.

 

He flies up and

begins anew on

an upstairs window,

seeing the image only

as one who will do him harm.

 

Even though we understand

the mystery of a reflection,

we are much like this bluebird,

unable to see who

the real enemy is.

 

As Pogo said, “We have

met the enemy and

he is us.”

 


by Leave a comment

Giving Up Indifference for Lent

Backlit by rising sun, bare trees,

branches stretching,

reach to the sky

while I question

 

what to do when opinions based

on ignorance

appear, often

boxed up and tied

 

with a bow by politicians

hoping to fool

those immersed in

indifference.

This poem was inspired by two events: hearing about a teenager who gave up indifference for Lent and hearing a friend’s important dream.


by 2 Comments

Orvis

 

 

On his last day he sat between

his parents in

the front seat with

the wind ruffling

 

his fur, and reviewed his old haunts,

ate fried chicken,

and enjoyed full

attention, love.

 

When the vet came to put him down,

he showed no fear,

as if he knew

the end was near.


by Leave a comment

The Earth Gives Thanks

A faint rumbling in the distance,

some trembling leaves,

branches dancing,

a door banging,

 

as unseen forces amble east

through the county.

Lily faces

turn upward

 

as rain swishes on padded feet,

gutters gurgle,

wood chimes chatter

the earth gives thanks.