lightning-charged
bursts, the smell of gunpowder,
the rockets' wiggly
red glare

sometimes, when life
doesn't go quite the way
you had planned,
the unexpected can yield
exciting results

Fantastic fourth,
full of sizzling
fireballs,
the air crackling
with electricity

Well don't look at me
like I got you in this predicament,
you managed to get your
head through that fence

And it's up to you
to get it out

because I'm laughing
too hard

if I had a green thumb
this is what I might do
with it

but none of my thumbs,
and I have a lot of them,
are green

still, I won't
stop trying

still seeking that pocket
between ordinary
and bizarre

ordinary day
but hot and humid
ordinary neighborhood
but so still and quiet

then from among
the rows of toyotas
and neatly trimmed
sidewalks I catch

sight of
extraordinary

and my jaw drops
in wonder

Under a mango sunset
I counted shooting stars
and you howled at the moon

Hydration provided by Cruzan

Such a long, long
time ago.

sometimes when the tears
get old
you've just got to laugh

did you ever have
one of those days
when just about every
single thing felt wrong/
off/out of sorts?

trying to put my
finger on it
but even my finger
doesn't seem right

It's not summer yet
but already I'm wishing
for chattering teeth
hot chocolate
and frost on the leaves

Dear Lord,
thank you for shade
air conditioning
and smoothies

neon moss roses,
against a backdrop of backyard trees
attract me and the butterflies

What a difference 5 days makes! And then *poof* our baby was gone.

The miracle of life!
May it continue
without interruption
by the next door
neighbor cat.

under a denim sky,
blossoms,
heavy with fragrance,
soak up the mist
like fluffy
sponges

stars plummetted from heaven,
coming to rest at the foot
of an unsuspecting mailbox

hiding in the shadows,
brick can't conceal
the beautiful scent of these iris

peony powderpuff
hides ant family
amid bountiful petals

The Dresses for Haiti
project I worked on,
somehow my focus shifted
and the dozen ended
up being dresses for
Alabama.

Not much, really,
in the face of such devastation,
but it's what I do
and maybe there are
little girls in Alabama
who will know
that someone cares?

I still play dress up,
but now I use fresh
camellias from Mom's
garden. Doesn't this make
my tennies snazzy?!!

"Dogwood"?

Really? Who came up
with this name and how
can we get it changed?

strings of pearls
pale by comparison
to strings of bleeding hearts
loaded onto bowing branches
sprinkled with morning's dew

inspired by what I see out windows,
what I put together mimics
mere colors and general appearances

but what the Creator
has done
humbles me
to the core

the gift of being alive:
isn't it grand?

Whenever I close my eyes
all I see is red and white,
glowing embers that
warm my soul,
coaxing me to move
from human being to human doing
But for right now,
I just want to bask in the memory
and I'm pretty sure that's o.k.

God must smile
when He makes
pussy willows