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SERVED COLD
We had better hope that naturedoesn’t adopt that old adagethat revenge is a dish best served cold.Come to think of it, perhaps shehis toying with it now by her actionsgiven the climate changes we have wrought,And us always thinking nature wouldsomehow become subservient to us.But you can only defy the lawsof nature for so long,…
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ONCE A HOME
They arrived again as the sunprepared for impending departure.The wetland is verdant and smallan area the developer reluctantlyset aside for nature, not knowingor caring that the birds who oncecalled this whole area home,a thousand and more each eveningare now crowded into this aviantenement, gone are their spacious homesgiven over to ours, but the birds knowwhen…
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A TIME ONCE
There was a time when wewould go to the desert or shore.Now the desert comes to usand we know the oceanwill arrive not far behind it.We learned to shape our world,mold it to our desires, perceived wants.The world has grown weary of ustinkerers never satisfied, moreour watchword, enough forgotten.Now it demands that weacceed t o…
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ON THE CUSHION
The day has slipped away,or mostly so, as they often doas if nature provided a hiddengrease that lets them outof our grasp no matterhow hard we try and hold them.It is little consolation, laterin life, that nights demonstrateand equal unwillingnessto remain very long, as ifour dreams must be hurriedas are our days and nights.Sitting on…
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NO BIALIS
It shouldn’t be all that hardreally, it should be almostsecond nature, after allI grew up Jewish, and keptto it until I was past fortyand I still have half my genesthat should remember for me.But here I am, sweating bulletsfollowing arcane directionsand hoping for a decent outcome.You wouldn’t think thatmaking bagels would beall that difficult, but…
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WHENCE
When you ask me from wheremy family comes, do notlook surprised when I answerthat it depends on the directionof the wind, but with natureas no more than a passive observer.In my case it is the fickle windsof war and diplomacy that markmy origins, my maternal rootsdeeply planted in soil Lithuanian orperhaps Russian or briefly Polish.And…
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ACTION
The question is, he saidwhat we intend to do about itwhen it happens, as it inevitably will. He got no response, had notexpected any response despitethe critical nature of the question. He knew no one wantedto talk about it, nor even to thinkabout its onrushing consequences. But it was the world that hewould inherit from…
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PLAYIN’ WHAT’S NOT THERE
Some say Miles said it’s the space between the notes –that’s where the music is.We heard him, we smiled,we anticipated the nextnote and the next.Outside my windowa blue jayrecites his morning prayer,the child’s laughbreaks the frozen skyand shivers the maple.Then all is silence –even the windholds its breathnot in anticipationbut to create the voidthat nature…
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EVER FAITHFUL
We are, after all, merely humanso we are fraught with questionsand lacking answers, willingto take things on faith on occasion. Take God, for example, althoughsome say He is uniquely exemplary,we want to know if God is a he,a she, or to cover all our bases, a they. And when we ask for a sign weoften…
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RECESSION
The lake is slowly receding, fading,the lake we created arrogantlyassuming that when it cameto nature, we could be godlike.It’s withdrawal has revealedcars, boats and bodieswe had not expected there,put by intention or accident,laid bare by nature, onceour devoted servant we imaginedthen a prophet we so callously ignored, nowin a retribution carefully ordained,the angel of destructionvisiting…