Winter Lament

The snow melted quickly followed by a soft rain.

The hardscrabble road is muddied, it does not drain.

Vehicles parked at road's head, a brisk walk ensues.

The snow is blinding white, playful glistening hues

Where are my cross-country skis? I was not ready.

Watching the pros, they make the sport look so heady.

I fall and get up again, only wounded pride.

I, the novice, barely learning to stop and glide.

Next time it snows, determined to not be sidelined.

To join the venturing crowd, for this I have pined.

Lost Recipe

Family traipse to West Virginia hills

Song of lulling creek leads to places stilled

Yon simple world of all set right

Grandmother’s kitchen of harvest home due

Collards with ham hock, pintos on to stew

Sour milk cornbread's waft of delight!

Wains banished to reap apple tree’s bounty

Greening promise of lush Logan County

Ancient tilled verdant valleys bright

Winter's Duties

Chased from the garden, wind biting

The season's change unexpected 

Dormant perennials resting

Winter sunshine is soft to the eye

Promises of spring to succor

Beckoning by cloudless blue sky 

Soil to prepare, no easy sod 

Holes to dig wielding mattock and shovel 

Thin soil tops layers of thirsty clay clod

The smaller garden lays fallow 

Fruit trees fan out to provide shade 

A quiet space, sparse and hallow

Blackberry hedge, verdant running  

Uncrowded roots relish rich soil

Enlarged space succulent spreading

Soil easily tilled hides hardpan

Mattock breaks brittle compacted

Clay, to mold with ashes and sand

A windbreak of branches and limbs 

Gales unrelenting, bring havoc 

Shredded plants appear sparse and grim

Summer growth is coaxed and nurtured

Birds feast on pesky grasshoppers

By vociferous swarm perturbed 

I will build dwellings for their nests  

Will provide water for their drink 

They keep at bay the garden pests 

Up at dawn, simple existence

Songbirds to awaken the day 

The eastern sky in pastel tints