Thursday, November 21, 2013

Thanksgiving

I have so much life around my house
Coyotes howl
Owls in their pas de deux calling
Fox, red and grey, weasels, racoons
Bushy tailed squirrels, chipmunks, and quail
Slithering snakes—garter, gopher, and king
Blind moles, burrowing badgers
Turkeys gobbling, deer prancing, skunky stinks
Feral cats, bobcats, roof rats, bats
Cougars in the valley, a peacock on the roof
Waddling possums cross my path
Horses of course
And multiple wings—
Blue birds, black birds,  red wing
Hummingbirds thrumming
Sparrows fighting, swallows swooping, wrens" chirrup
Cedar wax wings, thrush, orioles
Cowbirds, grackles, chickadees, crows
Red tailed and red shouldered hawks
The great blue heron
Dark shadowed vultures
Seeking their prey
Crawling creatures with bellies so low
Lizards leaping, frogs a hopping, crickets whirring
Daddy-long-legs dancing up the door
I have so much in life to be grateful for.


This poem comes from my book EVERYDAY MERMAID POEMS.  A book I am collaborating on with the fabric artist Deidre Scherer.