Tag Archives: photography

Nameless

 

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While waiting for the water tank to fill yesterday morning, I took the big lens to the stockwater pond that is receding to see if I might get some clearer photos of the birds I posted on July 1, still unable to identify them.

 

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Rather drab birds except for the pair of white tail feathers, about 10-12″ long overall. They have been circling the shore of the pond looking for grasshoppers in the water that they have flushed from the surrounding grasses. They are busy birds with rather large feet, somewhat comical to watch.

 

TWO BLACK VIRGINS

 

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Coming through the dry
blond stems of wild oats,
late spring rains

in their eyes, two black
virgins weave their way
to water as they discover

the near reaches of womanhood
that simmer within—come
to a boil from time to time.

And they are beautiful,
and innocent—just unable
to see what’s ahead.

 

RIPE

 

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Through distant time and space
the child comes along just to see
how things turned out—

expectations shed like clothes,
courses changed as we ricochet,
learn the hard way.

I will never have those eyes again,
never yearn to star in dreams
that now surround me—

come alive with color and texture
as momentum slows, ready now
to make the most of it.

 

STRIPED ARMENIANS

 

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Fences down, cattle wild,
my father warned, ‘Don’t
let the ranch run you—’

when it was like slaying
a dragon or stealing a ride
to dream of such control.

Armloads of cucumbers
like firewood to the kitchen
for pickling after boxes

of vegetables to give away
each morning, we could say
the same about your garden—

knowing that acreage
has nothing to do
with the life we choose.

 

SLOW DANCE OF SUMMER

 

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The difference between 105 and 110 degrees
is fifteen hundred gallons more each day
for a hundred head of heifers

five degrees
thirty minutes
one pint of gasoline

to keep them happy
and alive, without worry
about water—

about engine, pump or pipeline.
Grazing to and from the shade,
our twilit landscape in motion,

we know this slow dance
of summer, this plodding grace
of man and beast.

 

Great-tailed Grackle

 

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In Production

 

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EXCHANGE

 

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Gas for water,
morning altar
in the summer.

 

Who are these guys?

 

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The size and behavior of a grackle working the shore of a stock water pond that is drying up.

Tarantula Hawk

 

Photo: Terri Drewry Blanke

Photo: Terri Drewry Blanke

 

Terri, Robbin and I weren’t the only ones busy early, yesterday morning.