Tag Archives: double etheree

Singing with Abandon

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A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. ~Chinese proverb

I
Looked out
My window
And saw these two
Curious finches
Perched in a dogwood tree,
Glancing into the distance.
I couldn’t help wondering what
Their tiny, beady eyes were seeing
As they peered into space … and perhaps time.

Flitting from branch to branch, the two finches
Kept up a constant chattering sound,
Filling the air outside with a
Delightful round of music.
Would that people, too, felt
Free to sing their songs
Shamelessly and
Fearlessly,
Without
Qualm.

Note: Poetry form is Double Etheree. You can find out more about this form here.

Tiny Tree Update, 2023

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Of the living gymnosperms the conifers — pine, cedar, spruce, fir and redwood trees — are the most successful biologically. The needle-like leaves of these evergreens are well adapted to withstand hot summers, cold winters and the mechanical abrasion of storms. ~Claude Alvin Villee, Jr., American biologist and long-time teacher, Harvard University

Why

I felt

Compelled to

Check up on my

Tiny Tree after

A bitter snowstorm is

A myst’ry, but I did and

Voila! As you can plainly see,

He (or she) is growing and thriving

And celebrating its second birthday!

Tiny Tree is an Eastern Juniper.

Also known as red cedar, this tree

Measures forty-eight inches tall!

Who’d have given it a chance

To survive in such a

Harsh environment?

Somewhere below

Ground lies its

Bright red

Scarf!

Note: This poetry form is a Double Etheree.

Bunnies Times Two

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I

Stretch up

To the sky

So I can reach

Something good to eat.

This green thing looks okay.

It’s not what I’d like, but it

Will have to do because I am

So very hungry and I don’t see

Anything else the lady has put out.

It’s raining and I have to wonder why

This lady has a camera on me.

Doesn’t she have anything else

To do with her time than click

At me when I’m hiding

Here beneath this bush,

Trying to stay

Oh so dry

In the

Rain?

 

Note: Poetry form is Double Etheree.

Butterfly of Happiness

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If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies. ~Author unknown

When

I was

Cleaning up

Some nasty weeds

The yard men ignored,

I saw a fluttering

From the corner of my eye.

Looking closer, I saw it was

A gorgeous butterfly of unknown

Species, resting on the rocks below me.

 

Silly woman, pointing her phone at me!

Has she never seen a butterfly?

Well, then, I’m a Red Admiral —

Quite common really if you

Would keep your eyes open.

Monarchs get all the

Attention but

I deserve

Some praise

Too!

 

Note: Poetic form is Double Etheree.

 

 

 

 

Memories of Dallas

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I wish you enough good memories to see you through the bad times. ~Pam Brown, Australian poet

Dallas, April 2015

I

Am still

Missing you,

My beautiful

Soul Dog Dallas, and

I guess I always will.

Two years now. You departed

Right as the Pandemic began,

Leaving me sad and broken-hearted.

At last you’re free from pain and misery.

Time really has helped me process the grief

Of your passing, and I must admit

So has the arrival of a

New Sheltie puppy, Monkey.

He’s not you, nor will he

Ever be, but still

It helps to have

A puppy

Under

Foot.

Note: This poetic form is called Double Etheree.

Milestones

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Happiness is a warm puppy. ~Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist and creator of the Peanuts comic strip

Time

Passes.

One day you’re

A little pup —

Weak, needy, clingy.

And then I blink my eyes.

You’re all grown up. Beautiful,

Full of energy and ready

To take on the world (or your back yard)

You’ve become a lean, mean, Sheltie machine!

Experts say you’re fully grown at one year;

However, I’ve learned that it takes more

Than twelve months to grow a Sheltie.

You still need to learn to mind

And never poop indoors.

Now please settle down

And take a nap

So I can

Have some

Peace!

Note: This poetry form is Double Etheree.

Deserted

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It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home. ~Author unknown

I

Sit here

All day long.

Vacant, empty.

Dreaming of the past,

When I was loved. Needed.

When I kept a family safe

From storms, robbers, and other ills.

Love and laughter filled my rooms, and I

Felt secure in fulfilling my purpose.

Now my family’s gone, and I sit alone.

My lawn untended; my paint peeling,

Grass in cracks, weeds overflowing.

Who will fix me up again?

Will someone please buy me?

Will someone love me?

I can give much!

Don’t let me

Go to

Seed.

Note: Monkey and I pass this ranch-style house on our morning walks, and it never fails to sadden me. I hear the elderly owner passed away several years ago, long after his wife had died and their kids went to live out of state. A daughter came to look over (and, I assume, take what she wanted) after his death, but she hasn’t been back since. There’s no For Sale sign outside. This poem is a Double Etheree.

Cycle of Life

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Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet

Frost
Whitens
Fallen leaves.
Outlines their veins,
Bestows a beauty
Gone since they turned color
Earlier in the season.
Something sad about the Autumn
When trees become bare and look like sticks.
As they prepare to rest for several months.

Don’t cry because leaves are not here today.
They served a purpose and now they’re gone.
Nestled together on the ground,
Sheltering grass and insects,
Enhancing the landscape.
Perpetuating
And renewing
The cycle
Of life —
Mulch.

Note: This poetic form is a Double Etheree.

Growing a Novel

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It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.  ~Edmund Hillary, explorer, mountaineer, and one of two climbers confirmed to reach the top of Mount Everest first

The

path lies

straight ahead.

Put one word down

and then another

until you reach the end,

confident along the way

that you’ve written the best story

you can under the circumstances.

And won’t it feel great to finally finish?

 

Staring at a screen, forsaking playtime.

Growing a novel isn’t easy.

Maybe that’s why others don’t try.

Stop complaining and fretting!

Tackle the task at hand.

Watch the word count grow

as you write scenes

and chapters

someone

loves.

Note: This poetic form is called Double Etheree.

Wolf in Sheep’s Skin

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Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level. ~ Joyce Brothers, American psychologist

Waiting for the other shoe to drop perhaps?

You

pretend

to be so

solicitous.

Offering umpteen

suggestions and gimmicks

designed to show me that you

aren’t the Mean Girl I fear you are,

that you have my best interests at heart

and there’s no way you’d ever bring me harm.

 

Why, then, do I lie awake pondering?

Why, then, are my dreams tormenting me?

Why do I wake up shivering,

my heart pounding, out of breath?

Wait, now I remember —

I’ve been here before.

Intuition

is at hand,

warning

me.

Note: This is a Double Etheree.