Wednesday, November 20, 2024

“Winter Campouts”

Poem of the Day, Wednesday, November 20, 2024


“Winter Campouts”

Boy Scouts love winter camp,
enduring freezing cold weather,
tromping through lots of snows,
and playing steal the flag for hours.

One winter campout,
typical of eastern Idaho winter days—
freezing cold, a touch of wind, and deep snow—
stands out as an event to remember.

We followed along Snake River
to the Deer Parks and set up camp.
Standing around did not become us
because of the briskness of almost evening,
so we kept moving, playing games,
yelling and screaming through the woods,
returning often to the roaring fire
to warm up and eat tin foil dinners,
the meal de jour of camping.

We tried to time them perfectly,
watching carefully, until somehow
they burned anyway.
We still ate the half-cooked carrots
and potatoes and crispy meat.

We didn’t die, mostly
because of the licorice
stuffed in our sleeping bags.

Around 11:00 p.m. or so,
we gathered around the fire,
performed the Scout ritual
of staring into the fire,
absently stirring it with a stick
until sparks flew up into the brisk night,
disappearing somewhere out there.

The cracking and popping of the fire
were interrupted by shooting guns
somewhere in the distance.

We grabbed our flashlights
and headed to where we thought
the poachers were—a bunch of Scouts,
bundled up in coats, running pell mell
across an open field, our flash lights
bouncing on the snow, looking
like a bunch of oversized fire flies
heading for the flame and possible death.

Luckily for us, we didn’t find anything
except for intestines, still steaming,
and fresh tracks hightailing it out of there.

Disappointed and relieved simultaneously,
we trudged back to camp, sipped hot chocolate,
stirred the fire a bit more,
climbed into our thick sleeping bags,
stuffed with blankets, and prayed
for morning to come quickly
and a hot fire to warm us.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

“The Ebbing of Time”

Poem of the Day, Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Flowers along the Oregon coast

“The Ebbing of Time”

Just had a birthday this month,
not a big one, but a year older
and wiser (I tell myself).

I looked into the mirror
that day, wondered
what had happened to the time
when I had more hair,
auburn and cowlicks
both front and back,
and a younger face.

I had seen this face, shaved it,
washed it often, even admired it,
every day for decades,
but that day I was taken
aback, a bit startled actually
at what the ebbing of time
had done to me, almost
without my consent.

Now, as I return from the gym,
I no longer feel as healthy
or as strong as I used to be.
Exercise has turned surreptitiously
into pure maintenance.

Yet, as I watch others come
and go to the gym, watch them
struggle up the stairs
with their canes, hanging 
tightly to the handrail,
or exit the elevator
with walkers, others just slow
and easy, shuffling as they go,
I realize I still walk fairly fast
and upright, most days,
run some when I really want to see
my younger self come alive
(and pay the prices later),
row lots of meters and minutes,
and then climb back downstairs
and out the door, feeling pretty good
about the morning workout.

Even when I look in the mirror
on those gym days, I try to still see
some youthfulness through my trifocals,
sometimes without glasses
just to see if there is a difference
and marvel at the ebb and flow of time,
now mostly downhill to awareness
looming large in the distance.

Monday, November 18, 2024

“The Redwoods”

Poem of the Day, Monday, November 18, 2024

Joanne staring up!

“The Redwoods”

The Redwood titans stretch
almost to heaven,
stoic yet worshipful.

We stand there look up in awe,
wonder what has happened
over the last 2,000 years,
hoping they will distill
upon us their stories—
their birthing, the bonding,
the fires, the scarring,
the subtle whisperings
among the trees
from the Tolowa,
their roots interlaced
in a spiritual connection.

Lucious ferns and other flora
and fauna flourish
among the redwoods,
providing splendorous canopy
for both the still standing trees
and the dead ones,
now lying in rows
where they fell
with a thunderous thud
or stuck in crooks of trees,
their decaying matter seeping
into the lives of so many,
slowly, protectively, reverently.

For us, to stand beneath
these bemouths gentle giants,
these ancient of days,
even for a moment, breathing in
their auras of light and life,
is a sacred experience.

Their sacredness hangs in the air
like rays of sunshine
and permeates our very beings,
and we reach out and touch them,
gently, reverently, knowing
one simple touch
makes us kin to them.

The sun shining through the redwoods!


Sunday, November 17, 2024

“Sunday Ponderings”

Poem of the Day, Sunday, November 17, 2024

Sunrise, Idaho Falls Temple and the Snake River

“Sunday Ponderings”

My mind often ponders
on Sunday between the prelude
and the Sacrament

about the meanderings
of my mind during the week.
Did I maneuver off the beaten path

too much or did I spend
enough time in the scriptures,
mediating and praying along the way?

Sometimes the shivers of past sins
clamor for attention before
I can yield them to Him

before the Sacrament
comes to me. I think
about all these things

more intensely, more profoundly,
praying and hoping
I know the true meaning

of the Sacrament, Christ’s Atonement
and sacrifice for me
and everyone else on the planet.

The moment I touch the bread
or water to my lips,
I sense a relief that I am enough,

that I can move on once again
for the week, knowing
I will continue to plow forward,

more diligently, knowing
that I must do more to earn
the grace that He proffers me,

knowing that it is I
who must align with Him
because He is already there,

ready for me to come unto Him,
arms always outstretched
for an eternal embrace with me.

Saturday, November 16, 2024

“A Host of Haiku”

Poem of the Day, Saturday, November 16, 2024

Sunrise on the Snake River, Idaho Falls, Idaho

“A Host of Haiku”

Orange and red sunrises.
We stare at their majesty
Knowing we are blessed.

White calla lilies
Float against the back wall
Graceful, elegant.

Wisteria hangs
Sways in early morning winds
Like lace and honey.

The swaying of grain.
Their golden sheeves announce fall
Engulf us in love.

A cock pheasant crows—
Its call carries a message
upon the night wind.

Shoveling deep snow
In the frigid morning light
Initiates wonder.

Morning light creates
The ripeness of raspberries
Makes my mouth water.

The condensation
Of bubbling mountain waters
Quenches thirst in all.

Smiling sunflowers
Bequeath goodness to beauty
In early morning

Bleeding hearts leave eyes
gaping and longing for more
in my own garden.

Bleeding Hearts



Friday, November 15, 2024

"The Lariat: A Tribute"

Poem of the Day, Friday, November 15, 2024

A Dennis Hammon Photo: "Menan Buttes"

"The Lariat: A Tribute"

We knew that night
after the last crack of the bat
echoed toward the Buttes
and after the 150-watt Sylvania lost
its shimmer we would trudge over
to the Lariat for a chunk of apple pie

made fresh that day
and an Orange Crush over ice.
We knew the pinball machine
would chatter and ding
and then whimper for more dimes;
that the table hockey puck

would sizzle and clack
as it banged against the sides
and then the pleasing clanging
into the hole for a point;
that the ancient juke box
would struggle through

“Wishing you were here”
or “Takin’ care of business”;
that we would finally pull up
wooden chairs, stools,
around the graffitied tables,
while sipping Orange Crush,

gobbling our pie a la mode,
reminiscing, talking all at once
about the awesome play
at second base, the homerun
in the fifth with two on,
Big Dave’s “plumbing” disaster

early one morning last winter
at the Church before BB practice,
the Saturday night dances
and all the trappings of teenagers—
all punctuated by the periodic zaps
of the formidable bug killing machine

this moment indelibly etched in our minds.




Thursday, November 14, 2024

“Pigs in my Kitchen”

Poem of the Day, Thursday, November 14, 2024

Picture from YouTube

 “Pigs in my Kitchen”

When the sows farrowed
in early spring, usual thick with cold,
they usually nosed out
at least one runt from the litter.

We didn’t want them to die,
so we brought them indoors
out of the cold, placing them gently
in an old box on the floor in the kitchen.
Gunny sacks from the shed served
as their first blanket, their first home.
It was just the thing we did
to save runt piglets destined to die.

We learned early how to parent
by feeding the runts warm milk
through eye drops at first
and then nipples on pop bottles.
We didn’t think much about piglets
in our kitchen until I brought
my future wife home to visit.

She moseyed over to the box
of piglets, stood shocked, a look
of wonder at first sight of them
in our kitchen but didn’t say a word
until we were trundling down
Lewisville Highway to her home.

About, she gathered her courage,
breathed the words, quietly,
almost whispering, as she snuggled close:
“Why do you have pigs in your kitchen?”

It’s hard to explain to others
just why country folk do what they do.
Some say it’s just in the DNA.
To me, it’s life in the miniature.

Nothing more poignant than watching
runts, babies really, snuggling in,
calm-like beneath old burlap
and new straw, a lamp
from the dark basement,
leaning over the box,
warming them just so.