Odd Dove Out

The dove has more than earned
its frequent flyer points in
excess. Arriving without fail
in the gregarious company
of its cohorts to forage at our
feeders in a flock of a dozen
paired for life with only one, the
thirteenth without a mate. The
lonely dove might prefer its 
single state of existence,
arriving often on its own to
complacently settle on our porch
resigned or perhaps grateful 
for its solitude, resting in the
hug of our home, coddled by
the sun, feet cozied under its
plump belly, dozing serenely
as befits the symbol of peace.

April Fools

This is the day of the year
that Nature has set aside to
celebrate laughter through
trickery. In its honour she has
donned her jester's peaked and
belled hat, her blueprint for
the day brimming with barely
suppressed mischief. Aware
of the generalized anxiety
of  fools eager to bid winter
adieu, she has prevailed upon
him to yet linger awhile,
discreetly. Her bait of the sun
riding high in an ocean of blue
an innocent breeze wafting
the exquisite fragrance of spring
to enchant and disarm
migrating birds, she suddenly
unleashes the artillery of gales
of raging wind accompanying
dark skies crowded with clouds
prepared to release lashing
snow and ice pebbles, soon
to transform into freezing rain,
laughing uproariously all the
while in her capricious humour.
Cowering, poor sports that we
are, we mutely protest
we are not one iota amused.

The River

It is a mighty river,
deep and wide, silent now
and bound in winter ice
capped with snow left
behind by the departing
season's snowfalls. Above,
a sky so blue and broad
it is as though a playful
giant hand turned the
landscape upside down,
creating from a winter-frozen
lake under a clear blue sky
a cloud-topped ocean 
absent the winter arras.
The spring sun gathers
its heat to melt the river's
burden, to release its solid
state back to liquid form.

Spring Cleaning

The housekeeping tasks
devoted to Spring's entrance
have finally begun. An
embarrassment of rudely
impolite detritus is slowly
released from their rigid
icekeeping as the soft
cleansing of spring rain
tips generously from the ceiling 
of grey to wash the world
below of its tired burden
of winter's leavings. A wan
silvery nimbus suggesting
heat and light struggles
vainly to penetrate the
grey to release the imprisoned
sun eager to fulfill its spring
function. Soon enough it
will prevail, bringing green
shoots to life, fodder for
a host of returning migrants.

 

Naughty Mischief

They are not yet all that
removed in their young lives
from the black balls of frantic
fluff we first saw and brought
home with us as mirror images
of one another, brother and
sister scamps whose curiosity
and compulsive perpetual
motion entertains and exhausts
us, simply that now we have
become more familiar with
their delightfully idiosyncratic
tics, she we dub Miss Chief
the fount of their flirtation
with devilish pranks, and he
Master Naughty whose penchant
to cuddle and kiss he augments
with dashing scampers avoiding
those caught-in-the-act exploits
of lightning-strike stealth
swift and symbolic of some
never-seen arcane presence
unfairly attributed to our two
dark marauders transformed 
from innocent puppyhood to
anarchists in residence.

Incomprehensible

The world is an incredulous 
village that thrives hungrily on
and thrills to its daily quota of
gossip. As vast as the globe seems
and as diverse as its peoples are
the universal appeal of gossip
dignified by the title of "news"
remains the constant universal
culture satisfying a deep-seated
human craving for curiosity
rewarded by revelations certain
to amaze, shock, entertain and
terrify the avid searcher-after news.
We are never so complacent than
when a people removed in geographic
distance behave in ways that confirm
our belief in our own infallible
superiority, nor as bewildered
that they fail to recognize the
functional entitlements we deserve
resulting from our exemplary values
and mores. More's the pity they
refrain from emulating our example.
On the other hand, if they did, what
then would serve to scandalize us?

My Friend Smiles

Think of someone and 
mysteriously they happen 
to appear, despite a prolonged
absence. And there he was,
his features relaxed, smiling
a greeting, his faithful little dog 
by his side, walking without
apparent effort for a man
dependent on the helpful
thrust of a cane. His bearing
despite infirmity and age, a
testament to his military past,
this quite peaceable man.
There were many laboratory
tests and specialists to pore
over X-rays and the results
of more sophisticated medical
devices peering into his body
but no conclusive diagnosis
to explain his sudden, anomalous
collapses leading to emergency
admissions, one, then another
and a lengthy convalescence.
But he looks well and I tell
him so, and my friend smiles.