Day Lily

Balancing on slender stems

Seeming to spring from nothing,

Like sunlight stored in green pods 

But, really joy, growing, swelling

Beginning to stir to life,

Can stay penned

Up inside no longer—No

Not another hour,

Not another minute!

Pop! Sunburst!

Tilt-a Whirl

Spinning colorful blur like a

Spinning fairways ride, a

Spinning, whirling, twirling 

Spinning circle of color— pink rose

Spinning to sweeter music than caliope

Spinning in softer places than carnivals

Spinning without glimmer or glitter

Spinning a place in my imagination.

Summer Soup

Sandy Seashore
Scalloped Shells
Splashing Surf
Soaring Seagulls
Simple Sweetness
Songbird Serenades
Sunny-Suckles
Silent Starlight
Sleepy Songs
Summer Simmeries

Gardenia

Waxen petaled gardenia

Scented sweeter than a rose,

You have no fancy colors;

White ivory with touches of cream

Against glossy green leaves,

You are a beauty in your own right.

Red Wing

In a uniform as elegant

As a guard at Buckingham Palace

Black bird stands watch

Over a rice field—stands

Ready waiting for 

An errant insect to pass his 

Fenced boundaries

Sentinel top 

An overgrown fencepost

Door

The door is closed on the past

We cannot enter and see

Who once lived inside this room.

There remains no memory.

Who turned this china knob?
Who opened this inner doorway?

Who dreamed a dream behind this door?

Who wished for a better day?

Who hoped for a future bright inside?

Who painted brickwork gray?

Who left and never again came back?
Who gave up and walked away?

The door is closed on the past

We cannot enter and see

Who once lived inside this room;

That remains a mystery. 

Friendship

Friendship like hydrangea blooms

Well in shady places 

Where a bit of evening sun and morning light

Touch it.

With the right soil its petals are pink,

But time and changing soil 

Shift its color paler or change it to purple

Or sky blue.

Changing soils affect friendship too

But make it no less beautiful—changes only

Like hair dye changes brunettes to redheads

Or blonds, 

Not the person inside 

No less a friend—no less a lovely flower 

Hydrangea, whatever its color

It blooms.

Sanctuary

Blaze of summer light

Heats the Oklahoma pavement,

Haunts the shadows,

Hot—a stack of quilts over the town;

Yet inside the old stone church

Blue and green glass filters the sun

Bathing the room with coolness
Making it a perfect

Sanctuary from sweltering days

Sanctuary cooled with arched ceilings,

Swiveling fans, and colored light, 

Touched with candlelight,
Kissed by God's light

And brightened with snatches of blood red,

Sanctuary from sin and temptations
Sanctuary—joyful place

Bell in the tower sings out.

Aunt Jessica

Every girl needs an aunt to love,

A special gift from God above

To snuggle beside, look up to and trust,

Whisper a secret, giggling's a must.

A sister cannot take this place,

No mother ever fill this space.

An auntie's a blessing, that's for sure;

You'll never quite get over her!

Wild Bouquet

Cone flowers, clover,

Brown-eyed Susans

Bowing dancers on a stage;

Show's not over

In the meadow

Many days the grand revue

Shows on.