Not So Bad

Solicitude wells up like that unwelcomed guest

that comes at the most inopportune time

like when the timer on the stove is going off

and have to pull the pizza out of the oven

Change creates a moment of lip licking

contemplating a new response

while fear wants to shout at me like my

little league baseball coach when I strike out

Then just sigh as I process the mental gymnastics

swinging between the parallel bars

gyrating hoping grip holds

desperate to nail the dismount

The adrenaline surge when it's over

and wanting to do it again

learning it wasn't so bad

didn't even hear the crowd

Poem 21-194v

#highplainspoet, #westernnebraskthoughtsandlife, #anxiety, #change, #fear ©

Blazing

Blazing

Platinum sky
a gossamer sheet
smoky haze 
bashfully veils
the sun

Vivid tangerine
sinks below the horizon
leaves that soft 
sunset orange afterglow

Linger as the gentle breeze
brushes against damp skin
that matches the sunset
of this mid-July day

Poem 21-193z about the sunset last night
#highplainspoet, #westernnebraskathoughtsandlife, #western_US_on_fire, #beauty_of_sunset, #high_plains, #western_nebraska

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

That crooked road
winds between bluff and canyon
through passes and onto plains
looking for internal manifest destiny

Caught in the open
storms that weep ice
heat that sucks life like a leach
sting of the not yet home

Poem 21-192x
#highplainspoet, #nebraskathoughtsandlife, #pilgrimage, #home

Soft Words

Soft Words

Soft words float in the evening breeze
like the cotton from the cottonwood tree
dancing in currents of air
lighting softly on only to
be caressed in the wind and
carried away once again

Poem 21-191y
#highplainspoet, #westernnebraskathoughtsandlife, #love, #tenderness, #intimacy

Stripes

Stripes

Merging stripes us
in tints of velvet cake red
delicious to the eye
seduced

Poem 21-190y

#highplainspoet, #westernnebraskathoughtsandlife, #tulips

Somber

Somber

The melancholy cry of a dove

emotes the moans of

what's been locked away

all of these years

Dampness of morning

still clings to leaf and blade

as grief evaporates with each moan

in the warm breeze of pain

as time frozen parts thaw

Shamrock green of early summer

before relentless heat withers

leaving only roots and nubs

tears like rain trickle down

finding the genesis neglected

from generations past

Soon an oasis appears

from tears planted

the well tended internal garden 

where hope springs

that life rises from ashes

Poem 21-190z

#highplainspoet #westernnebraskathoughtsandlife #recovery #hope #redemption

Buffaloberries

Buffaloberries

In the irrigated grass, down the hill
a doe stands meandering until
she senses me and Molly the dog
in the distance, we at the top of hill
she down below in a standoff of sorts
until she has enough and goes under
the three wire fence and glides over the electric fence
to the edge of the property where 
buffaloberry bushes and scrub blend her
invisible to my eye so our walk can resume

Into the pasture where the gurgle of water
rushes through plastic ditch and
boots splash in song with the satisfied loam
Molly pauses to cool her paws
always on the lookout for the wayward snake
today the shovel only is used to 
deflower those invasive Canadian thistles that
easily breed like rabbits to ravish a pasture
with thorns on the thistle and deceiving purple bloom
a twist of the beauty of a wild pink rose 

Poem 21-186z
#highplainspoet, #westernnebraskathoughtsandlife, #summer, #ranch_life

Hush

Hush

Last night,

another apricot sunset

leaves parched lips

puckered in anticipation

of a sloppy wet kiss

This morning,

the young doe rises

 in the long shadows of dawn

 from the verdant alfalfa field

leaps gracefully over the electric fence and

concrete irrigation ditch in one smooth motion

in a reminder of the beauty of God's creation

So I pause once again

as the babbling of water

through blue and white plastic ditch

calms my wound tight heart

pondering how the holy hush of daybreak seduces

and remembering His goodness to me

Poem 21-188z

91 words

#highplainspoet, #westernnebraskthoughtsandlife, #nature, #beauty, #holiness

Come and Go

Come and Go

Ebb and flow
  they come home like the rising tide
  excitement of son and daughters
  reunited once again
  unloading the car at the door
  like a cargo ship at the dock
  they are in between ports
  today they are safe at home

Poem 20-229A from 8/16/20
#highplainspoet, #westernnebraskathoughtsandlife, #family, #empty-nest

Epigenetic Memory

Epigenetic Memory

Midsummer's heat
relents in the cascade of dawn's
long rays of soft yellow that
dance upon the golden corn silk
stalks waving in the Nebraska breeze

Awakening this buried place of haze
as walk upon parched earth epigenetic memory
of a slight taste of Eden's glory
a shadow of former days and
days to come

Poem 20-230A
8/17/20
#highplainspoet #nebraskathoughtsandlife #nebraska #nature #redemption

Gnaw

Gnaw

It's one of those fourth of July's
that wrings the moisture from the air
where the heat is stifling
like a suffocating wet blanket

Pasture's thirst for water
greedily gulping in the irrigation water
having to add plastic ditch to
prevent it from dehydrating the next 90 feet

Horses miserable in the stillness
tails swooshing attacking all things buzzing
bucking when can't free from
tormenting horse flies who win leaving a welt

And here I am observing it all
drenched in sweat fending away
all the mosquitos and gnats
that gnaw at the ankles

Poem 21-185y
#highplainspoet #westernnebraskathoughtsandlife
nature, summer, heat

Unpredictable

 

Unpredictable

Summer on the high plains

is as unpredictable as a politician

in the morning starting out as friends

by evening cursing like sailors at each other on Twitter

The rain of yesterday hammered in fury

a gully washer with intermittent pea size hail

like a cowboy without a spittoon

spitting away with that cheek bulge of chew

It did clear the air between those politicians though

like one of those infomercial things

wondering if the warranty is good

because of how the parts don't quite fit

Meanwhile, back at the ranch the wind is stout today

out of the southeast with a sticky bite like hard cider

that's never good, its an open invitation for another storm

fermenting this afternoon like the head on good amber ale

Less than a month ago on a Sunday in June

with malice the sky opened

raining golf balls like lead grapeshot

shredding the siding like harsh words on a tender heart

The insurance check came two days ago with

the unwanted strings attached to it

the lender like that unwanted investor

gets their say in how we repair our own home

So, in this sticky air I'll check the irrigation early

to see if any of the syphon tubes have plugged up

irrigating is a symbiotic rhythm of having horses

so when the cold winds and bitter chills come they stay plump

Maybe I'll find another red-tailed hawk feather

those small things that catch my eye

I carry it as a trophy as I walk through the fields

letting my thoughts fly around in dizzying circles

Poem 21-183y

263 Words

#highplainspoet

Just a summer day in July and practicing using metaphors. © 5 minutes ago, Brian    misc • life • rambling • ranching   

Upon the Wind

Upon the Wind

Like the ache in joints before the storm
memories ride upon the wind
with highs and lows expanding and contracting

Dust swirls upon tongue taste of you
before the first drops of rain
upon this parched heart

Soon softened as thunder booms
shadows of past flicker with each lightning strike
exhausted in the aftermath of the deluge

Poem 21-135z
#highplainspoet #nebreskathoughtsandlife #love #memories #journey #relationship

Thoughts

 Thoughts

 Over the years

    the ruts get deeper

     as remember all the times

       together we've traveled

 

Tree roots

   like fingers

    poke across the path

     tripping me with fond memories

 

A bed of pine needles

  line the sides of path

    and fresh pine cones scattered

      randomly in the worn ruts

 

Just like my thoughts

 

21-099z Thoughts

A poem about walking in the Wildcat Hills with memories of our kids and family hikes so many years ago.

#highplainspoet #nebreskathoughtsandlife #family #memories #journey