Lashing water thrashes in whirls
pouring masses of rain flood the
land in front of the house in only
five minutes drowning vision and
senses with sound and light when
suddenly a miniature, dark
silhouetted body speeds out of the
swirling blinding rain on lightning
fast wings weakening, but arriving at my
hanging feeder, drenched, clinging
on the foot rest for ten, fifteen
minutes and I wait with him until the
worst of the wind passes and he spirits
home to tell his story to the family
At the uttermost end of sunset, the duskiest of dusk,
I glance out the kitchen window, where I usually
spy on birds during the day, and notice
flashes of random lights traveling
short distances up, down, over, sideways, onward, back,
circular, flickering, flashing, flitting, all appearing like 3-D
window reflections of car lights, or Christmas lights, or airport lights,
fooling the eye a bit. I stop glancing and gaze with unashamed
delight at the field full of lights everywhere, close, far, over there, or there, oh here…
“Sweetie! Come look!” I say breathlessly, afraid to scare the lights off.
Against the faint bluish glow of day, we attend a
spectacular laser light performance
for free.
TR
“I found a fwag!” said a little, blonde, pigtailed girl, tugging at my blouse to get my attention.
I said, “A what?”
“A fwag! Come see!” and she turned, beckoning me to follow.
We walk toward a grassy area west of the church parking lot, where two other little girls surround something, gazing down. I move around until I can’t help but smile, seeing a little two-inch frog crouched among the rich, green grass blades.
“Fwag!” Three sets of eyes turn to look at me, then the bodies they belong to all squat down to get closer to the fwag.
Little girls and frogs.
What a sight.
TR
(We drove through Liberal, Kansas today and noticed this scene)
Fresh, delicious, inviting water
flows freely throughout the many
rides in the large water park
No youthful splashing, jumping, laughing, running
even with the sun scorching through the heavy, humid air
on the sizzling August summer day
Oh, wait!
Summer has ended—school just began
TR
The tall, slender, teenage girl
skate-boarded on the city sidewalk
shifting the board from nose to tail
pushing, racing forward like a pro
a young human whirlwind
on a hot, humid, summer day in Oz
Where will she land?
TR
Prose Me 