no hens

No Hens

almost nightly as the evening descends

i stop myself from heading to the chicken lot

no hens there

the yard is a cloud of white

tall wild asters

summoning the ghosts of my hens

to a wild reckoning

Mary North

from the motion sensitive camera in the woods

Like a Woman

if I find the words

will I change, will I

not panic at the small

will I not jump

at surprise

if I can speak the lesson

of my life

beating

can I open up enough

to read the hieroglyphs 

on my inner screen

can I wake from

this heavy handed

voice

zen master

with a stick?

Mary North

title is odd, but trying to make suitable for a theme in a journal which i hope doesn't know i have a blog....it is a soaking kind of scene outside, an excellent day to seek discipline and work on some scraps of poems. 

Trying a little discipline

Twin

my sister wrapped herself in all the family karma

(a psychic said within the womb, you think?)

she gulped the dark, as if the best chocolate

(like granny hid for herself)

she wore the garment drama

(a twin dressed in rainbow scarves on Mardi gras)

false joy, teacher’s pet,

a dare

there was no reward

but death

(the kamikaze suicide, the single car wreck)

I had no words 

but felt the blast of raw undress.

Mary North

why am I negligent

It is not in my routine, not even with chickens expunged from routine, not even since the grandchildren have with their parents gone to Dominican Republic for the winter escuela and tonic. I have become a prisoner of my own making, fairly prepared for a nursing home with a jigsaw puzzle laid out on a card table. I do walk with my dear dog to the river or up the road daily. I do busy myself with soup making and meetings and teaching qigong, recently adding an evening of qigong class in Floyd. I regularly practice Spanish on Duolingo - hope to try out at least a few words at the supermercado this Christmas. I feel somewhat rudderless. 

And here is a neighbor of the night, coyote, caught on the motion sensitive outdoor camera we have set up by the creek. A here is a bear! Lots of deer and raccoons  have been photographed, occasionally a turkey, blue heron and river otters.