Too Short
smashing gold
of maples strikes
me from the blue
as I ride slowly
through woods
these dates in October
but the time is
too short
the time for paint
in the trees
is fleeting
a time I grab
with both hands
mostly a camera
possibly paintbrushes
quickly snapping
this glaring palette
before it flees
Spring Blue
In the heart of the nation
no ocean
so I carve time to indulge
in the widest blue I know:
bluebells blooming
in the woods,
only for a short time
since branches above
show tiny yellow-green
petals-of-leaves
which in this overdue
warmth will enlarge quickly
masking sunlight feeding
this sea of blue,
stealing my ocean,
leaving me once again
on dry land.
May, 2018, Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL
Spring Blue is May prize winner at Wilda Morris Poetry Challenge; photograph by Marilyn Peretti.
October 25 in Morton Arboretum East Woods
October’s Colors
Yellow and green
and orange buttons
and more green
in paddles of fungi
red of sumac
and red of maple
and red in my heart
burning with autumn
look at the colors
flying like flags
blazing a sky
before ice grays it
Green “paddle” fungi
Little white umbrella!
Tiny (3/8″) orange buttons with sister moss
flowers made of air
petals dense in color
colors beyond palettes
sky bluer than ever
blue I can breathe
spring surging
beyond expectations
fulfilling hopes seeded
in coldest times
Morton Arboretum April 23
could this be spring
the blue too blue
tiny greens
alight with yellow
barely peeping from
high ink limbs
all fresh and full
of hope
Morton Arboretum April 23
