Across clear blue skies,
Wings glisten in the sunlight:
A dragonfly glides by.
Across clear blue skies,
Wings flicker in the sunlight:
A lone bird flies by.
Across clear blue skies,
Wings spread wide in the sunlight:
A hawk soars up high.
Waiting for a truck,
We step off the path to smell
Sweet scent of crushed herbs.
Peering from the bridge,
Deep into a rippling stream,
I watch fish shadows.
by MJD
Among parched brown grass,
Two pairs of color hover:
Butterflies mating.
On a parched oak leaf,
Vermillion volcanoes erupt
From gall wasp larvae.
Against dull gray rock,
Flashes of red burst open:
Skyrockets in bloom.
by MJD
Before heading down,
I stop to tighten my boots
And hear birds chatter.
by MJD
Autumn rains pour down;
Everywhere green sprouts spring up,
Even through cow pies.
by MJD
From black ashen earth
Soaked with recent autumn rains,
A green carpet sprouts.
by MJD
Between tall pond reeds,
Listen to batting lashes
Of dragonfly wings.
In the morning sun,
Watch gossamer wings glisten
Between tall pond reeds.
by MJD
While the sun tries in vain to shine through overcast skies,
we listen to the silence,
broken only by a softly flowing stream,
bird chatter and whistles,
the squawk and calls of birds of prey,
and a friendly greeting.
We take deep breaths of ozone,
punctuated by the scent of deer musk,
damp fallen leaves and anise beside the path.
We spy ducks gliding on the stream,
brown grass fringed green and a cascade of oak galls.
On this morning Sycamore Grove is rain happy.
Girl With Viola
An Impressionist Poem a la Matisse
By MJD
A solitary figure in a darkened room
Sits upright in a straight-back chair:
Black shoes, black pants, black blouse.
On broad shoulder rests
The curves of a viola held firmly
In place by a jutting chin.
Elbow bent and bow in hand
Move back and forth in rhythmic motion,
Vibrating over strings
Which slender fingers firmly press
Against a narrow neck
To create a melancholy melody.
Long neck, dark face,
Hair more brown than black,
Dark eyebrows frame dark eyes,
Fixed intently on notes,
Dancing across the staff on a sheet
Placed on a tall and stable black stand,
While notes waft upward out a window–
On a breeze drifts a sweet scent
From white blossoms clustered
On an orange tree branch above
A pond of frogs
Whose chorus accompanies
A girl on viola in a dark room
On a sunny day.
