Category: Nature
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Weather II
What I forgot to say is what I don’t want to say,Namely, that I know the weather is changing,The climate is shifting,The days growing warmer,The rains staying away longer,And I feel helpless, Even, sometimes, hopeless. I forgot to say how much I love all the little places of the world,And how I want to hold…
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Weather I
The weather where I live has exhibited signs of bi-polar disorder as of late. One day, really hot, in the upper 90’s. A few days later, a cold front, grey, drizzly, like my college days in Oregon. In fact, two days ago I felt like I was holed up in my dorm room again. Restless.…
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The Sound
Somewhere an otter ceases her frolicking.She sniffs at a sound coming from high above her.Her pups pay no heed,So enthralled are they with their watery playgroundAnd the crunch of crayfish.She moves her head from side to side, now up and down,Rearranging the whiskers on her glistening face.Somewhere, something is calling to her.She can’t locate the…
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Unsaved
You slimed onto this sidewalk,Following an instinct,Oozing toward a scent.Or, you ended up here by mistake,Your mistake.Congratulations! You make mistakes that are yours and yours alone. When I first glimpsed your slithering mass,I flinched,Then immediately softened, basking in all your glory.I took a picture, Wanting to remember how beautiful you were in your no-shell vulnerability.Birds…
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Body of Water
The ocean. The Pacific Ocean. The Monterey Bay. West Cliff Drive. The cliffs themselves. The smell of ocean air, seldom as fresh as poetry pretends. A mixture of acrid salt, sand-heat rising like baked bread, rotting kelp, Pelican dung, and the occasional human off-gassing of Aqua Net, coconut tanning oil, and the incense of semi-legal…
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The Day I Die
Someday I will die. I will die on the beach with its salt scent in my nose. The flies that were swirling orgiasitically upon some rotting kelp will catch a whiff of me and will shift over to attend to my passing. I will die with wet feet covered in sand and with seagulls squawking…
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Very Giant Rock
One of my sabbatical goals has been to find a new Sonoma County hike each week. So far so good. I told Carla, my massage therapist, about this goal and she said she knew of a hike in the coastal mountains that only locals could find. She said she’d write down the directions, which she…
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Afraid of Ghosts
I once spent the night alone in a cabinSweet solitudeNo reason to be afraidThe wind softly scraped the branches against the decaying shinglesThe rafters and the floor boards crackled in concertThe bunk bed springs creaked even as I lay perfectly still In the pitch black I could hear scurrying and perhaps heavier footstepsI forced myself…
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Sex Outside My Door
I walked out my front door yesterdayAnd the scent of sex clapped me full in the faceI looked around to spy the sourceHalf-expecting a cassanova crouching in the bushesAll I found was a shrubCovered with pink coquettes‘Looking for a good time?’ it asked me‘Uh, maybe,’ I said‘Well buzz on over here and give us some…
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Death and Life
On several of the hikes I’ve been taking lately, I walk through burn zones of recent fires. This time of year, the golden state is a spring green state. Everything looks fresh. Except for the trees. Wildfires have swept through these open spaces in Sonoma County in the last few years. I hiked in Foothill…
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