Category: Poetry

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,Poem~ EEEK! Mouse In the House!~

One mouse in the house 
Two mice in the garage
Three mice in the barn
By Gerardine Baugh

 

Surrounded by farm land, and

Open fields of untouched soil

Winter is cold wet and frozen

Spring brings a thaw of rains, and  

Flood waters and open creeks

Those swell to streams

And then…they come into the house

One mouse in the house
Two mice in the garage
Three mice in the barn

How tempting a treat to a cat

Hawk or coyote

In a pet shop

You are worth a couple of dollars

To me your cost is closer to a thousand

To fix the damage, when

You, you tiny rodent

built a condo inside my car

Within the air ducts and around the engine

One mouse in the house
Two mice in the garage
Three mice in the barn

Time for Feisty Sanosuke, Kenshin, and PJ

To play with those Sweet little mice

In the garage,

Furry and fat scamper off my walls

I hear your nails scratching, and

your teeth gnawing

Your days are numbered

One mouse in the house
Two mice in the garage
Three mice in the barn

I have to insist,  give up your license

To my car, and my house

Your cash is shredded in this years nest

And plastic is not accepted

So run, run little furry mouse

Sanosuke, Kenshin and PJ want to play,

Tomoe just wants to watch

I will set out sticky traps

And search in every corner

One mouse in the house
Two mice in the garage
Three mice in the barn

Are just one too many mice in my life…

Picture from clip art;
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I Refuse To Sleep With A Small Furry Rodent!~

One mouse in the house
Two mice in the garage
Three mice in the barn

 

It was two AM on Tuesday. I woke up to the cats boisterously running through the hallway and sliding into the bedroom.  They bumped into the bed, the walls, and the vertical blinds. I rolled over and drifted back to sleep.

Michael sat up and started talking, “I wonder what’s going on?”

Without looking I muttered, “They’re just playing behind the vertical blinds”

Michael crawled out of bed and carefully stepped in front of the bed, searching the shadows.  “No! Something’s up.”

He came around my side of the bed and flipped on the light. “Look at Sano?”

I sat up and Sano was sitting all pretty and proud with a mouse dangling from his mouth.

“It’s fake!” I muttered and tried to lie back down.

“No, that is real” Michael laughed and Sano nodded his head so the mouse, who was being held by his tail, swung upward  then came down and was hit against the rug.

 Sano’s eyes narrowed; when Tomoe walked up to him and sniffed the mouse, which I need to point out was very much alive. Then Sano growled.

Tomoe glared at Sano as if she wanted to smack him. Michael immediately told me to do something about that growl.

Sorry, I have had one too many mice dropped on my chest while I slept. I am not fond of the critters.  To show how much of a chicken I am, I pulled the covers over my head and told Sano to stop growling and take the mouse to his brothers, downstairs.

Instead Sano dropped the mouse. The mouse ran in a circle. Tomoe hates getting bitten so she stood a healthy distance away and just watched.

Sano played with the very fat grey and white mouse like he was playing a pinball game. He wouldn’t allow the mouse to run under the dressers, but he did let him disappear under the bed.  The one I was cowering on.

I jumped out of bed and ran in a circle flapping my arms yelling at Michael, “Get that mouse out of the bedroom!” Then I headed out into the hall and called Kenshin and PJ.  They recognized my frantic, Oh my!  A mouse is in the house!  Hysterical call and ran up the stairs to see what they were missing.

With the two older males now trying to find the mouse, I crawled back under the covers. Tomoe crouched on the edge of the bed, hanging over the side and stared at the floor and at Sano, who was carefully scooting out backwards from under the bed.

Michael muttered something I couldn’t understand. So I peeked out from beneath the blanket.  He held Sano up for me to see. Sano had that mouse clenched in-between his teeth and once more swinging by its tail.  Michael held Sano over the waste basket, and asked Sano to “drop it” -the mouse- into the wastebasket. Michael had to repeat his request three times before Sano opened his jaws and the fat mouse plopped into the plastic bag.

Sano was confused as to where his mouse went to and searched franticly with Kenshin and PJ’s help under and around the bed. Tomoe kept an eye on Michael and followed him out if the bedroom.

At this point, that mouse was out of my sight and I hoped Michael had given him a first class ticket to the moon…

Or, maybe toss him out the door.

The last mouse that was tossed out the door had been caught in a sticky mouse trap.  Michael was afraid the cats would get into the garbage and get stuck in the glue. So he had chucked that sticky mess out the door.  He figured on scraping it off the grass in the morning.  Instead it landed right in the path of a coyote.  Yapping loudly, that coyote raced across the fields with a rectangular piece of plastic and a struggling mouse stuck to his nose…

Picture from word clip art..
Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry

Poem-Pussy Cat Playing With Pussy Willows~Spring Is Blooming!~

Pussy, pussy pussycat

Playing with the

Pussy, pussy Pussy Willows

Pushing pulling at the soft tips

Knocking off their nails

Grabbing the branch and tipping the vase

Making for a perfect Pussy Willow race

Across the kitchen floor, under the rugs

Swept up in the fun of a catkins chase

Slipping, sliding bouncing off the walls

Finally tuckered out and surrounded

By Pussy Willow tails

The pussy, pussycat

Falls into his catnap garden

Chasing his dreams with

Pussy Willow sticks

 

When I took these pictures, I had to keep telling Sano, “don’t touch!” As soon as I put away the camera he knocked over the vase and started playing.
The vase is on the floor because no one would stay away from it as it sat on the table. Safer on the floor! 
Poem for Jingles Thursday’s poet Rally:-)
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The First Full Moon of Spring, Persephone Walks With Her Mother~

Roll me an egg across the fresh garden grass

Speckled with colors blues and greens, reds and yellows

Hidden among the daffodils, crocus and tulips

Set inside the stiffen arm of a tree

I move and stretch, warmth courses into my bones

I watch Persephone walk by with her mother

Passing on the light of color and warmth

Dressed in a ruffled dress of buds and flowers

Lilacs resting in her hair rose buds at her feet

Small hands collecting the painted eggs

Hidden beneath the dried grass and emerging life

Her touch awakening colors

That spreads like golden water ahead of her footfall

As her basket fills, so does the air

With sound and scents and vibrant warmth

Roll me an egg across the darkening sky

The first full moon of spring, hearken

Persephone walks with her mother

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Look Up! Spring Is Putting On A Fashion Show~~

      Yesterday and this morning I took my walk looking up. The trees are just starting to bud. And the flowers are just beginning to show their colors.

The ground is littered with dried left over leaves, brittle and grayish brown, crunching under foot. Even as the grass makes an attempt to turn green, as the moss pulls on its most brilliant lime  green coat  of the season. The main show is taking place above ground; branches are turning colors as spring moves through them. Don’t miss the show!

“In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.” ~Mark Twain

Within the past two hours, I have seen heavy fog, thick dark grey clouds, and a bright blue sky, that shifted to a pale whitish-blue.

A bellowing cloud of smoke passed through my house as the farmer burned off the dried grass around the creek bed. The thick heavy smoke made it a little uncomfortable to breathe. So Uriah and I headed off to the mail box and I took pictures of the blooming, Pussy Willow as Uriah disappeared to wade in the pond.

Uriah  came back out of the cold  pond and  pulled his fat tummy across the grass, this is his way of toweling himself off…

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Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Rambling Writers Site

Thinking Out Loud~

 

Why is it

              when the air cools

                                          I can feel the past,

                                                                     I shiver and sigh…

The sun rose slowly, over a humid, cool and very clear moment. The air was still. I watched as two dozen Robins pacing out the yard. I was an interloper into their world, for this moment, they let me stay.

I gripped my hot coffee cup, held it close and stared out over the empty field. The sun was hidden behind the clouds that sat on the horizon, I looked up the sky was shifting to a sleepy blue above me, without a slip of a cloud.

This time of day holds loosely to a cool silence.  Where nature is kind and allows us to wake up slowly as nocturnal animals drift off to sleep.

I use to walk out in this quiet, barefoot. I would step easily around and over rocks and spiders. It is the spiders that are awake; they weave and repair their webs all night catching insects unawares in the darkness. Now those webs shimmer with icy dewdrops and I stay on the deck.

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Poem…I Was A Perfect Stuffed Monkey~

I was a perfect stuffed monkey

Reddish fur with a beige tummy

face and feet

Until an animal got to me

Now, I lie here without arms, legs or ears

Even my tail was chewed off…

Maybe it was coyote

A raccoon

A fox

or possibly… a skunk  

Could have been that rat

                                    That rat

That steals Uriah’s food and rawhide bones

                                    That rat

that digs the holes around the kennel

under the garden, and

tunnels alongside the horseradish plant

One day the hawk will come by, and sit

Quietly on the railing

waiting for that rat to make a mistake

when he is dancing

on the top of the kennel

Just under the floor boards of the deck

He will scramble up

to look in the kitchen window

at that point, the hawk will strike…

And that rat will be no more

To late for me, I lie here without arms,

or legs, and ears… even my tail is gone

I have all the time in the world

To wonder

Now what..?

Check out everyone at Jingles Thursday poets rally-

http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/thursday-poets-rally-week-11-march-24-30-2010/

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Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Rambling Writers Site

This Bird~Poem For Jingles Thursday Poets’ Rally~

This bird

now featherless

its coat dropped carelessly

in a pile, under a leafless tree

on a patch of washed-out grey leaves

one could hope he forgot where he left them

if not, their velvety softness will be reused in a nest

for warmth, and comfort with instructions on hunting

                                                                                    This bird…

posted for:

http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/thursday-poets-rally-week-10-march-18-march-24-2010/

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Something Was In The Fog~Or, Take Bets On Who Pees First!~

This happened two nights ago…

It was only eight o’clock at night. I needed to bring Uriah inside. He was still outside in his kennel.  

A couple hours earlier I tried to coax Uriah in the house. But he wanted to sit outside. With the sun setting, coyotes would be coming closer to the house, so I locked him inside his kennel.

It was time to bring him inside. I flicked on the outside light and without waiting for the light to come on I stepped out the garage door.  I was met by a wall of darkness. I looked down at my hands and could barely see them. A heavy fog had settled in close to the ground, which caused a curtain of blackness to fall over everything. Silence assaulted my senses. For a second I contemplated going back into he house until the lights came on.  I shook off the uneasy feeling and clutched my ski pole.  

I walked forward, then turned to the right and headed around the back of the house towards the dog kennel. I hesitated again! The silence was over powering! I called to Uriah. He didn’t answer.  I looked up at the light; it was taking its time turning on. Maybe the dampness or the cold air was the reason.  Or maybe I was being paranoid!  It takes time for that light to heat up.  I couldn’t hear anything moving around out there in the dark. But something felt wrong.

I laughed off a trickle of fear and called to Uriah. He didn’t make a sound. Something else did in that heavy darkness! An odd, growl and movement, then the sound of a branch breaking came from the direction of the apple trees.

I stopped and peered into the foggy blackness. Silence! A deep heavy silence!  

I told myself, if there was something out there I should be able to hear it again and there wasn’t a sound anywhere around me.

“Hey Uriah! I really think I should have waited for the light to come on.”  He didn’t answer me.  I knew he was alright, I was talking to him through the window earlier; as it got colder I closed the window and watched him as he stared out into the yard.

I shuffled to the kennel door, opened it. Uriah stood there watching me but didn’t make a move to leave.

I stood at the open door and waved at him to leave.  “Come on! You have to come inside!” 

Uriah turned away from me and stared out into the yard towards the apple trees. He was pacing in place.

I turned and looked out over the wall of blackness. A chill ran up my spine and I fought the urge to step into the kennel with Uriah and close the door. Not a smart move! I would be locked outside, not inside the house.

Then I just made a bad mistake!  I allowed fear to creep around me…

Animals can smell fear. Uriah came up to me and leaned against my leg. Great! He was nervous too…

“Ok, here’s the plan. We walk out of here. You pee! We get into the house fast! Just pretend we don’t think anyone is watching us.”

Brave Uriah whimpered and looked out towards the apple trees, again..

I muttered. “That’s not helping!”

 I coaxed Uriah out of the kennel. He stayed as close  to me as he could get -behind me and under my coat.  I didn’t like this situation…

Then I got mad…

“Alright! Whoever is out there, get the hell out of my yard!”  Uriah perked up immediately and walked in front of me and wagged his tail.

Then I heard a clinking sound, similar to tags on a dog collar. I thought I was imagining that sound.  But Uriah’s head turned to the sound as fast as I had. It came from the apple trees…

I yelled out into the darkness and stepped forward. “Uriah are you going to pee now?”  Then I turned towards the driveway and started to walk.

Uriah followed. I stopped, he urinated and we slowly waked back to the garage.

I kept thinking. “I am not afraid!” Still, I could feel that tickle of fear creep up again. Fear is one scent I really didn’t want to send that out into the yard.  Once an animal catches a whiff of fear, he will attack. I was so glad there wasn’t a wind and we were nearly in the house. And I wasn’t sure what type of animal was out there watching..

Uriah pushed past me and was inside before I had the door fully open.

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The Three Brothers~ Or Water, Water Everywhere!

This morning was gorgeous, humid, but a beautiful day. Every bird bellowed out a tune. The rains had stopped for now and I could see clouds moving in from the west, not the heavy menacing dark clouds, just a soft grey over cast type, the ones that will defuse the bright sunshine and hold in warm air.

I walked over to the path, hoping to be able to take a longer walk. I had my camera out I took some pictures of moss, melting snow and water. I was able to get a lot of pictures of water. The path was overflowing. I could see the line of water running through the neighboring fields.

I headed back to the house.

 All three of my male cats were sitting by the kitchen door. The screen was keeping them inside, as they sat and stared out at me in my bright orange coat.

 I have small red garden shed that had seen better days. The roof is leaking and with the past few years of flood waters pouring though it, the walls are rotting. I moved the square paver stone that held the door closed and I pulled the door open. A rush of rodent odor over powered me, and I stepped back and took a deep breath, then went in looking for a rake. I untangled the old red rake from the garden hose and quickly shut the door and pushed the rock back into place.

Uriah followed me as I scraped around the flower beds that bordered the front of the house. Three sections set in-between each five foot evergreen bush.

I had cleared a lot of the leaves out in fall, so I only had a sprinkling of dried leaves from the Tiger Lily’s and Catnip.  As I cut away last years died leaves from the Lily of the Valley, I was surprised it hadn’t disengrated into the soil.

Uriah always helpful laid in the flower bed right on what I was clearing off. He wanted a biscuit from my pocket. I know!  I was training him to be in the way, because every time I told him to move I would toss his milk bone over my shoulder. I quickly ran out of treats, at that point he fell asleep and I worked around him.

From between the soil and rocks tiny black spiders poured out over my hands, as a large black ant raced away from me. I was near the old bird bath, the top section sits right on the ground, I have to remember to bring out a pan of warm water and rinse it out. Right now it has dark water from the leaves that sat in it all winter. A black toad, the size of my hand slowly pulled himself out of my pile of grass and leaves, and lumbered back into the garden to the bird bath…