Rocks in the Water

rocks in the water
your feet are getting wet

rocks in the water
but i don't care a bit


rocks in the water
i never say your name

rocks in the water
you think it's just a game


rocks in the water
you don't know what to say

rocks in the water
why don't you walk away


rocks in the water
pebbles on a beach

rocks in the water
you can never reach


rocks in the water
boulders on the shore

rocks in the water
sand grains on the floor


rocks in the water
your feet are getting wet

rocks in the water
but i don't care a bit

Shadows and Sunshine

this is the season
of shadows and sunshine

afternoons are cooling now
mountain tops sometimes

are frosty now in mornings
white icy death sings
where we won't go


we'll keep our feet warm
in these icy nights

these freezing nights
these freezing days


where does it all start
seeds on wet spring earth

roots grasp wet earth
reaching down for strength
reaching down for water

sunshine warms everything
green leaves happen

many plants reach up
for photons to power
a complicated process

plant chemistry looks
so simple but isn't


but we avoid the mess
look to the bottom line

leaves lose green
and leftover colour
is sometimes beautiful

all that chaotic colour
shadows and sunshine

Real Surreal

watch the floor
beneath the skylight
the shadows jumping
flashing bright

know it's clouds
up in the sky
flitting (and flying by)


here we see shadows
and sunny patches

not much else besides
our vision is practical
but a little surreal

we've seen it before
but never quite noticed


among mossy branches
shapes and shadows

something in a nightmare
twisted shapes with
awful twisted meanings

we dare not rest our case
when things are so unclear
unreal but real surreal

No Parking

No Parking

a sign says no parking
as if someone had a right


before this was a farm
there was a village
but it was taken

(from those who
called it their home)

something governments
might forget  about


but people lived here
before this was a farm

a flat area (field below a hill)
where a creek emptied
into a wide slow river


maybe we buy time
on the land we say
we own indeed

who owns this land
or anything in truth

what is and isn't ours
might be a subject
for some discussion


but then we own nothing
when we move on
to our next great thing

Balcony and Doorway

someplace in Italy
while walking on
this old street

a vision of a balcony

someplace a young girl
might sigh about her 
real or imaginary love


poets might write sonnets
about the words she'd say
maybe (indeed) a three act play

romeo romeo (why romeo)
all the trouble he'd be
sure to cause

a strutting boy
with sword in hand
(why love her romeo)
she wants to understand


balconies are good too
they say for watching stars

falling stars foretell doom

and sure it comes
oh foolish girl-child 
go straight to your room

Something Bright

in the garden
something bright

makes the day
and also night


gleam a little
in our minds

and our hearts
(not far behind)


leap and gambol
like a puppy

bright just like
a vivid orange carp

crazy colours until
everybody's happy


something about colour
warms our hearts

powerful chroma
vivid in our tired eyes

 
we see something purple
in the flower garden bed

it brightens up the garden
like the lady said

From the Hillside

looking down at the river

the hillside is a good place
to stand and watch
as nothing much (it seems)
happens down there


burnt trees from a fire
that burned for miles

once they were green
but lightning struck
(fire burned for days)


the sweep of the river
bare blackened trunks

they sing us a history
somewhat stark present
slightly dubious future


still there are fish
in glacial fed waters

green water for days
healthy half frozen trout


so few places remain 
where a person might
wish to explore

Another Dandelion

i feel a strange kinship
with a common weed

uncommon vision
of what i maybe am
(what you are too)


a common image
wild dandelion flower
gone to seed

partly blown away
partly inspirational
(to some people)


i keep trying to find
better ways to photograph
this common thing

and almost every time
i'm drawn back to try
to make the best picture
that i can make


about six million
people have tried to do it
some of the pictures are good

still i try to do it my way

Hillside and Rock Face

gray granite rock face
across a treed hillside

something seems to call
i know it looks like home

in these unknown places
i know dangers lurk

maybe bears and panthers
are among those trees
could be anywhere


thoughts of going out 
into that wild forest

call out to something
quietly wild inside me  

something that wants me to 
to walk through the trees
over to the rock face


and climb it if it looks
nearly impossible

some kind of challenge
(ignoring all the possible
bears and panthers)

Orange Tree Bark

Orange Tree Bark

exotic trees on bare rock
leftovers from before

dinosaur comet damage
(huge shock many fires)

when the earth rose
high and fell back

starting a global winter
(maybe a hundred years)


arbutus trees survived
on the north american
west coast on rocks
on hills and mountains

long before our time
(we've been here 
for such a brief time)


we never saw the world
that was when the
dinosaur asteroid hit

orange bark arbutus trees 
look like something

from another world
as they certainly were
(a dinosaur world)