Tumbled agates
are polished nuggets
of rich, earthy color.

Gun smuggling thugs thrive
on human suffering.

Six gangly, tangly legs
made the bug stumble.

leafless branches
eagerly telegraph
their encrypted communiques
in crisp little clicks and clacks

Sunlight filtering through
a gap in the curtains
burnishes the nutshells
to a rich mahogany.

Succumbing to temptation
is not necessarily
a mistake.

Snow falls
so silently, that
I am momentarily convinced
of my own deafness.

I will define
a cataract;
the naturally occurring analogue
of a frosted pane
of glass.

the textured exterior
of Ethel's refrigerator
resembles a schematic
of the Amazonian river system
 

A poet
is a sculptor
of words

Breath the steam
of jasmine tea
to disperse
angst

Buds are starting to swell

on branches still bare;

yet, at the end of a single twig

a tiny flower has

opened alone.

Fog
smudges
the horizon line.
The darkness
of night
erases it.

today's frustrations
settled to the bottom
of my wine glass
with the dregs

our old stone

birdbath

is hosting

the ablutions of the

local sparrows

splotched

oilcloth

protects

the studio

table from

paint

spills

twelve years
of tangerine seeds
created
an orchard

My large
armchair
has a hidden
lever to
launch
the unsuspecting
visitor

ship
at anchor
rides
the rising
and falling
tides