i’m here to visit stephanie,
but let me tell you what i see:
the cats, who’ve come in from the barn,
are huddled balls of mottled yarn,
the dog stares out into the distance,
pondering his own existence,
and skittles, she’s just glad to be
a human being, like you and me
–photo by me
–Photos by me
It’s no surprise that in the land of ten thousand lakes, portaging (carrying your canoe from one lake to the next) is a viable means of transportation. In fact, in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, it’s the ONLY way around, as motorized access is not allowed in the pristine wilderness.
You’ll notice that in the photo above, there are no boats, houses, or people anywhere. It is this solitude that Edgar Allan Poe, yes, the Master of Macabre, wrote about in his poem “The Lake”, of which I’ve included an excerpt:
“In spring of youth it was my lot
To haunt of the wide earth a spot
The which I could not love the less
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with rocky bound
And tall pine trees that tower’d around.”
–Photo by me
So many young folks get married without actually understanding what true love is, and consequently end up in a stormy marriage, always battling for a love that seems to be forever beyond their reach. This tanka is for them:
the battle you fight
for love can only be won
by surrendering
for love cannot be taken;
it must be given to us
–photo by me
winter, it seems,
uses classical schemes
to whitewash the woods
with a fresh coat of rime,
and she’s even coyer
than good ol’ tom sawyer
for she dupes jack frost
into doing it each time
–photos by me
i envy
those who hibernate,
not knowing
winter’s sting–
and to what do they awake?
lilacs in the spring!
–photo by me
When a sudden storm appears,
You won’t hear me complain,
For in these final, golden years,
I’ve learned to love the rain
–Photo by me
heaven is a place
of earthly greens and blues–
a beach without a trace
of the latest breaking news,
for in their frantic pace
of opinionated views,
it seems the human race
has forgotten greens and blues
–photo by me
winter’s dancing winds
spin and frolic out on her
makeshift ballroom floor
–photo by me
there once was a planet from hell
on which spock was marooned for a spell;
there a beast, on a whim,
taught the mind-meld to him–
thus he learned of the nerve-pinch as well
–photo/art/? by me
michaeljordahl 