The Greeter

Funny little donkey,
What makes you so cross?
Your tone is quite demanding,
Who made you the boss?

Hee haw! Hee haw !

Hee haw! Hee haw!  

Hee haw!

Children run to pet you
You frighten them away
Your head raised up, your ears back, 
Belt out your throaty bray

Hee haw! Hee haw !

Hee haw! Hee haw!  
Hee haw!

Nest

Robin, your nest is as disarrayed

A home as mine feels some days.

Your sticks a hasty clutter

Sighing against order

Battling precision

Fighting organization,

Just finding shelter,

Sweet peace.

I know you loved this leafy retreat

Where spring's green grew around 

You and shaded your family

Where voices were close by

Still you could hide;

We are not too much different

You and I.

Pampas Grass

Wave in the autumn sky

Your plumes like feathers

As I pass by.

Sweep summer from the air

Erase the dust of heat

And webs of care.  

Sweetgum

Beauty of the autumn

Ah, sweet sweetgum tree,

Bearing pointed star leaves

And prickly spheres of seed.

They're the bane of every lawn man

And still yet it seems to me 

There is no greater beauty

Than the sweetgum tree!

Your foliage turns a yellow

Then orange as pumpkin rind

Red like candied apples

Then purple as fine wine.

Bushel Basket

Bushel of bounty

Pecans from the leaf-lovely ground

Nuts for Thanksgiving pies,

For Christmas candies,

For caramels, fudge, and divinity

Pecans for banana bread, 

For brown sugar pound cake

For cookies and ice cream

Sundae toppings!

Red Flower

Late bloom

Afternoon light

Shines yellow through

Your red petals

Makes you glow

Like flame

Like heat left behind

By summer is inside.

Picket Fence

White picket fence 

A housewife's dream

Shut the traffic out

But let the light,

Let friends,

Let sweet wafts of fragrant air,

Let leaves, and summer, 

And flowers, and sunshine, and wonder 

Stay.

Fallen Tree

Once towering above the sand

Once waving a leafy head above the water's edge

Now the tree lies resting. Retired? No, still busy providing food, refuge, shelter

Providing windbreak and helping hold the sand 

from erosion in the wind

Making a seat for a traveler, 

a balancing beam for happy children,

Still ready to be wood for a fire, fuel for cooking. 

Tree-- ever a servant, a gift, a joy.

Dinner Setting

On a day we've set aside for giving thanks

To God for our plenty, I notice

He gives us a huge dose of more plenty.

Our thanks turns into more blessing for us.

Are we confused? Have we missed the point?

Or is that the point?

We serve a God who provides for us.

We serve a God who shares instead of demanding.

We don't bring bowls of food to set out for Him;

He gives bowls to us instead.

Thank you, Jesus,

Thank you for being you.

Violets

Atop the green of leaves 

Flowers sit like beauty queens

On the open tops of convertibles

Though the air is cold,

Though the parade-goers rowdy,

They smile.

They wave, never ruffled

In their sparkly sequined dresses.