My Grandfather

(Photo by Kathie, June 30, 2008 Nikon D80, sepia tone.)

He could fill a door frame
standing tall with his fedora,
leaning on his cane,
pipe between his mustached lips,
smoke curling around him
in a pungent hug.

I hold the old cane now
in my stucco southwest home
far from the doors of New England
and the good earth that he rests in
next to my nana
his only love.
~Kathiesbirds (June 30, 2008)

Happy Birthday Nana who would be 102 today if she were still alive.

Prompt 18: Doors

Skywatch Friday: Summer Solstice Moon

(Mt. Fagan with Summer Solstice Moonrise: pastel on paper by kathiesbirds June 2008)

A sliver of shining silver
slips from behind the stones,
the rocky, craggy, mountains,
and throws
silver light beams over the desert,
silver moon rays into the sky,
a glistening,
............glowing,
.....................moon balloon,
in a summer solstice sky.


~Kathiesbirds (June 18, 2008)
Skywatch Friday is hosted by Wigger's World
To view my other Skywatch post visit Sycamore Canyon.

The Silver Song of the Desert: OSI

The silver song of the desert,
from the black throat of a bird,
a sparrow sitting in sunlight
on an arid desert morn
perched near a cactus thorn
its melody floating around me,
its presence a mystery still,
this silvery voice in the desert
is calling me, calling me,
still.

~Kathiesbirds (June 22, 2008)

Prompt 17: Melody

Best Dressed Flowers In the Garden

The clematis is a bridal gown,

the spiderwort a hat,

the creeping thyme a chorus

asking of the weed, "what's that?"

~Kathiesbirds (6-20-08)

Once again I was inspired by someone else's blogpost. I wrote this one today after visiting Nature Girl's Blog. To see the photos that inspired this poem, click here.

Skywatch Friday: Shuttered

(Photo by Gus taken May, 2008 with Nikon D80)

In darkness I peer out

Through the shutters of my mind

To find a world of color

Playing in the sky.

~kathiesbirds (June 19, 2008)

Skywatch Friday is hosted by Wiggers World.

View my other Skywatch photo at Sycamore Canyon.

Purple Martin Home

Purple Martins and Saguaro photo by Kathie, June 12, 2008

Purple martins fly
wings that slice through azure sky
green saguaro home
~kathie (June 15, 2008)

One Single Impression prompt 16: Transience or Permanence.

Skywatch Friday: Things That Sway

(Photo by Kathie, June 12, 2008 6:23 p.m. MST)

I love things that sway in the wind;
The flowing grass,
The dancing trees,
The willow boughs,
The bamboo leaves,
All caught in a breeze,
Or windy gale,
Toss and sway
And sigh and shake,
Reflected in an azure lake--
Their fluid motions
Their restless leaves
Reflected in my inner sea.

~kathiesbirds (27 February 2008)

Purple Fountain Grass and Whirling Butterflies (guara).

To see other Skywatch photos please visit Wiggers World.

Skywatch Friday: Idaho, My Love

King Mountain in Spring painted by Kathiesbirds 3-18-99 Acrylic on Canvas

Idaho, wild Idaho,
I long for you so much!
You are in my heart
You are in my soul,
And I desire to be in you.
What is this hold you have on me?
Why this terrible love?
You are a place, just a place,
On earth.
You draw me as a lover,
With a love I’ve never known before.
Why do I feel this need
To be immersed in You?
I want your mountains surrounding me,
Your aspen trees,
Your golden sunlight.
I want your wild-ness.
I want your rivers pouring over me,
Your wildlife running through my eyes,
I want to see eagles playing in the skies
Once again.
I want the Sandhill Cranes to dance
In pastures near the cattle,
I want to see a pelican
Fly overhead at lunch,
Or Great- Horned Owls perched
On phone poles in the morning
When I am hanging wash out to dry
With potato fields beyond.
I want to see newborn lambs
Gamboling across the landscape,
Or bald-faced calves in spring,
Curled in the pastures
When I am driving into town
On highway 93.
Idaho, my Idaho,
How I love you, love you so,
When will I return my love
To my place of being?

~Kathiesbirds (March 28, 1998, revised June 5, 2008)

To see more Skywatch Friday photos visit Wigger's World.

Turtle Poem

Simply silly snoring turtles,

sunning on their sacred stones

‘till the turtles tumble into

waiting waters that are home.

~Kathiesbirds (June 4, 2008)

This poem was inspired by this photo posted by Chrisss at Tranquility Cove

And Mom Said We Could!

I remember a thunder storm

A day when we played in the mud

And Mom said we could!

I remember sliding,

Gliding in

Black sticky ooze,

And laughing, laughing,

All of us laughing,

And Mom said we could!

And my brothers

And sister and I

Were all one

In the fun

Of the sticky, black oozing mud,

And Mom said we could!

~kathiesbirds (12 May 1988)

Click here to view other poems from One Single Impression: Freedom