Alaska 25

Courage

A lily liver

My lip a quiver
No show?
With hope a sliver
My spine a-shiver
I know
the real Joy Giver
is like a river
I’ll go

Alaska 24

August 27, 2013
Trip Coordinator

People pay big bucks for wedding coordinators

to insure the multitude of things that could go wrong
don’t.

I’m trusting You to be my vacation coordinator

so the multitude of things that could go wrong
don’t.

I trust and acknowledge You (not me) wholeheartedly,  

so you will keep my paths straight. And worry I
won’t.

Alaska 23

August 26, 2013

Five more days till my trip.

Sixteen to the anniversary
of September eleventh 2001.
And thanks to that day I have nervous
thoughts flitting through my mind
like a bunch of stressed-out butterflies.
What to pack, what not to pack
not for my comfort and enjoyment
but for what won’t set off buzzers,
hold up the security line,
or incite any embarrassing inspections.
But  I look forward to my vacation
with joy and peace,
At least, I’ll try with God’s help.

Poetic Bloomings -- Baffled

What Could it Be?

My sisters and I, home alone,

The youngest—two, one almost grown.
From dark of night, we couldn’t see.
Kerthunk, kerthunk, what could it be?

The eldest sis scared us the most.

“Perhaps a mischievous ghost!”
A spooky sound, like a heartbeat.
Kerthunk, kerthunk, what could it be?

At seven I didn’t believe.

“There’s no such thing!” I stamped my feet.
“So you go out,” said older three.
Kerthunk, kerthunk, what could it be?

And so I bravely went out there—

A beagle in a rocking chair!
I laughed at them. “What did I see?
Kerthunk, kerthunk, what could it be!”

My sisters and I, home alone

Kerthunk, kerthunk, what could it be?

Alaska 22

God’s Submarines

Four orcas park side by side

dorsal fins and flukes up
Get their fill of fresh air
and gawking tourists
Submerge

Alaska 21

The Dall Sheep Ram

The ram stands

with curly horns,
looking forlorn
and a little wise
with squinty eyes.
His nose, heart-shaped.
His mouth half smiling and moving
like an old man chewing tobacco.
I feel as curious as it looks,
with his tiny ears perked up.
What’s it like climbing
the tallest peaks
carrying all that load on its head?
Does it every want to turn upside down
with its small cloven hooves up instead?

Alaska 20

An Orca

How much thrust does it take

to get that much weight

to breach the ocean’s surface?

Does it catch a glimpse

of Alaska’s purplish mountains

before landing with a splash

and disappearing to the depths?