When doctors and nurses
Let us into their sanctuary
We are humbled

As of this moment
I will accept past mistakes
And forgive myself

Some ducks on the lake
Are having a conference
A lot of quacking up

Love waxes and wanes
Like the moon. It does
Not go away

I dreamt of skimming
Across the luminous lake
In a rubber boat

Red sun like a cherry
In a mouldering grey sky
Smoke from faraway fire

To forgive is as if
It never happened,
Memory’s still there

I’ve reached the age of wisdom
And the age of forgetting
At the same time

Rose hips and snowberries
It’s autumn, even the fireweed
Has dulled down to embers

A dragonfly zoomed
Like a Cessna A-37
From the tall marsh grass

How high is the water?
Two feet lower than last year
The wells are shrinking

Laughter releases
Opiates in the brain
A legal drug habit

The rains came as they should
Tinkling on the rooftops and
Sprinkling in the wood

Sunlight in the treetops
Golden blaze ‘cross darkened sky
Glimpse of what’s to come

Touches of gold in the
Foliage, golden glow in the trees
Gold is everywhere

To those whom I love
And there’s more than a few
I don’t care how you vote

Watching the ducks convene
So many ducks on the water
A political rally?

Geese flying in a perfect “V”
One’s flapping in the middle
A nonconformist

Birch trees flap their limbs
In the wind, crinkly leaves fall
It’s the senior season

Frost on the pumpkin
First hard frost since May
Four frost-free months

Wind blew cold today
Gathered up summer’s fun
And stored it away

Swirly, puffy clouds
White, grey, silver, in blue sky
Like abstract art

Sun peeps through clouds
Illuminating nearer ones
Something like love

Chilly in the morning
Dark too soon at night
Time to wear long underwear

White moose in front
Of my car. Oh my, ugliest
Horse I ever saw!

More gold than green now
Wet with a three-day rain
Next year’s fire protection

Brown bear feasting on
Ants doesn’t care that he’s
Categorized as “black

A teeter-bum bird
Stood on a rock singing songs
Oops…he’s teetering

In the Autumn of my life
I absorb the glorious colours
Not the muddy underbrush

Crocodile smiles.
Anticipating dinner? Or just
Mentally healthy.

All the flowers died in
Their earthy pots under
The Northern Lights sky

Pieces of gold on the lawn
Does the mama tree miss
Her leaves when they fall?

Silver Birch tree’s aghast
She’s not suitably undressed
For the weather

Music feeds my soul
It seeps in through the ear canal
Fills the empty spaces

Old woman decompresses
Takes off tensor wraps, girdle
Bra, compression socks

There’s a war going on
Invaders are tiny but ruthless
Immune system on alert

Crinkly brown leaves
What’s left of autumn’s beauty
Await the snowfall

Wind blows from the East
A sharp edge that cuts the cloth
Feels like ‘snow cold’

Beyond our birthing
And the in-between, we
Have made a difference

I love the Silver Birch
Its leaves cling to the mother
Until December

Our loved ones pass on
We cannot talk or embrace
But the love is still there

Looking for the light
But if I open my heart
The light will find me

Chickadee sings his winter
Song. Snowberries are shiny white
Lights in the shrubbery

God’s all embracing
Love like whipped cream
On strawberries

Eyes feast upon beauty
Ears absorb music
Mans’ Art gifted by God