
We must keep our sky-blue lakes lined with pastels, not plastics.
–Photo by me

We must keep our sky-blue lakes lined with pastels, not plastics.
–Photo by me

the summer came
it all happened again
just like every year
it all happened again
sixty-four times now
it happened again
much bigger than me
it happens again
–photo by me

–photo by my son, Aaron

our minds
are mostly
make-believe
with model friends
and model trees
and cubicles
we are assigned–
all constructs
of the mind.
what’s out there
is not in here,
and life is
but a dream;
it’s all illusion,
mass delusion–
nothing’s as
it seems,
yet there’s a
common fantasy
to which we
all agree:
the mass
hallucination
that we call
reality.

each daisy catches
a drop of sunshine in its
upturned, white-gloved palm
–photo by me

As I approach the edge of an old mine dump overlooking Lake Ore-Be-Gone in Northeast Minnesota, a lone, white-tailed fawn and I have just spotted each other. He could easily leap over the edge, and run down the hillside to escape me if he wanted to, but he just stands there, seemingly confused. I don’t know if it’s my long, “white-tailed” beard or what, but slowly he begins to make his way toward me.
Suddenly, he catches my scent, and his confusion clears right up. He turns, leaps over the edge, and soon disappears into the woods below–the very place his real foes lie in wait.
***
a lone, dappled fawn
flees the unbeknownst safety
of my company

–Photos by me

–photo by me

I’m staring at the clock;
I can hear the cog sounds
As I’m kneeling here to pray
For some simple, true sights,
But people come and knock,
And my faithful dog sounds–
So I’ll make them go away
And go look for new sights.
I stop down at the dock–
You should hear the frog sounds!
And walking all the day,
I find quite a few sights,
Like a farmer and his stock
Both making hog sounds,
So a warning, if I may:
You cannot undo sights!

This shot shows the intense focus my new cat Loki has, and yes, he certainly lives up to his name. Isabelle was 17 years old, and slept most of the time; Loki likes to tear around, bouncing off walls, and generally causing trouble, but he’s very lovable as well.
–Photo by me

lightning
beautiful, deadly
flashing, exploding, booming
a hair-raising experience
thunderbolt
–photo by me