tree swallows swooping
out and back over the field
just because they can

some day he'll be gone —
what can we work to build now
that should exist then?

belted kingfisher
waiting patiently beside the lake
until we find him

slanted evening sun
picking up the purple seeds
at the tops of sawgrass

coastal flooding —
hurricane season 
reminds us who's boss

 yellow flicker —
the day squeaks open
on a rusty hinge

orange skimmers on
the zinnias, then the yarrow —
so many choices!

birdbath bluejay —
the flashy red cardinal 
waits his turn

he sends us selfies
so we can appreciate
his first dress shirts

tiny bits of down
left behind by the birds
after their bath

so far up the oak
we have to look straight up —
yellow-bellied sapsucker

anniversary —
fourteen years of saving
room for dessert

stealthy hermit thrush
pulled by curiosity
comes to check us out

city street trees — 
leaves hanging low
in the summer heat

brush trucks
scooping up all our trimmings —
metallic soundscape

we cut back bamboo
to give the ironwood room —
sky is to be shared

Venus the brighter
with Jupiter edging in —
our pre-dawn light show

children moving out —
my friend and I trade stories
of stifled advice

remembering
that not looking sometimes works —
a few more fireflies

trying to picture
the world as it could be 
starting from this place

scared day laborers
translating for each other
at the council hearing

four am brain whirl —
lining up letters for my
next protest sign

stilt grass erasing
the footpath along the lake —
we walk the memory

getting older
yet every full moon
remains the same

chickadees in front
cheerfully sharing the news
of the safer spots

smoke from faraway
fires we can't even see —
the birds fly lower

peach season —
we dream of the feeling 
of juice dripping down

a chipmunk shrieks out
a warning as we walk past —
we scary monsters

watching the stream
of wasn't meant to be
flow on by

sweet corn season —
my mother asking us to
husk it on the stoop

the lightest rain
resurrects a childhood dream —
dodging the drops