Tag Archives: photography

WOE BE TO INTRUDERS

Posted on July 15, 2016 by | 4 comments

 

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Clinging to a willow branch
above the cattails, singing
across the pond at dawn,

this world is small enough
for herons and mud hens,
a loan goose and bullfrogs—

all the drama necessary
for a rich full life
of trying to get along.

 

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2016

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OSPREY

Posted on July 14, 2016 by | 4 comments

 

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The poles were new
after the Flood of ‘55
serving granddad’s pump

in the river,
serving cross-arms,
serving Osprey

nests of sticks
shorting-out
and burning-up

into a hard rain
of spring, 2010.
Platforms now above

the wires, they watch
from a distance
of distrust.

 

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2016, Ranch Journal

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Wordless Wednesday: Deacon in the Garden

Posted on July 13, 2016 by | 2 comments

 

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TURKEY VULTURE

Posted on July 12, 2016 by | 4 comments

 

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Busy with cleanup,
little time to say hello
or come much closer.

 

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Posted in Haiku 2016, Photographs, Poems 2016

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Nameless

Posted on July 11, 2016 by | 2 comments

 

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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.

 

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Posted in Photographs, Ranch Journal

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TWO BLACK VIRGINS

Posted on July 10, 2016 by | 2 comments

 

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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.

 

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2016, Ranch Journal

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RIPE

Posted on July 9, 2016 by | 2 comments

 

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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.

 

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STRIPED ARMENIANS

Posted on July 8, 2016 by | 4 comments

 

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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.

 

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2016, Ranch Journal

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SLOW DANCE OF SUMMER

Posted on July 7, 2016 by | 3 comments

 

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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.

 

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Great-tailed Grackle

Posted on July 5, 2016 by | Leave a comment

 

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Posted in Photographs

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