iss 15th anniversary commemorative montage (nasa gift to roscosmos), 2013
imminent embrace, 2013
beauty and light, 2013
'old mill idyll,' 2013
'a day at the zoo,' 2013
autumn at mabry's mill, 2012
mabry's mill - virginia (portrait), 2012
the quarter, 2012
preservation hall, 2012
the riverboat 'natchez,' 2012
cafe du monde, 2012
closed for the season, 2012
snowy egret, 2012
(aside: i had myself a grand old time recently, watching a pair of ibises and a snowy egret do their thing... the egret was particularly interesting to watch as he put on a fishing clinic. he was quite adept at it and yet i had to chuckle at his one spectacular miss - he looked around as if to make sure no one had witnessed his ungainly embarrassing flop, then stretched out each wing in turn, as if to shake it off. my mirth soon turned to wonderment, as this large, ungainly creature deftly snagged a fish on his next attempt - neat what one can observe from one's balcony, eh?)
the sunny sky appears grey today its promise of joy lies scattered in pieces upon warm soil grown suddenly cold the blush of love usually evident upon the world’s cheeks seems similarly blanched their rosy glow leeched away by the tears coursing gently over them no words make sense their ability to comfort drained by a loss too profound to overcome, for the music that is her soul shall not grace our hearts again the butterfly flutters no more
dancing in the dark with norah
the song began slowly, almost uncertainly though its entreaty was unmistakable ‘come away with me in the night’ she sang along softly breathily into his ear as they swayed together bodies gently moving as one shuffle-dancing to the dusky vocals transcending the smart-phone’s tiny speaker to transform the darkened hotel room into a private lounge, with norah at her piano playing, just for them
beyond the sheers clothing the windows like an open negligee city lights swam, bobbing lazily in concert with the lovers’ dance rendered indistinct by the myriad liquid lenses left clinging to the windowpanes by the recent rain gently swaying white christmas lights striving to remain identifiable to myopic eyes
he, not wanting the dance to end, nor for her to have to leave again breathed in deeply the faint perfume of her hair drank in with all his senses the delightfully feminine form of his beloved moving gracefully within the loving confines of the dance frame within which he held her memorized her every fluid curve consumed her every nuance with the nearly desperate hunger of a condemned man savoring his final meal, for with all the certainty of the passage of time she would this hour on the morrow be gone from him
the sultry songs segued one into the next as did the accelerating minutes and his slowly drowning thoughts tomorrow he’d yet again have no one to hold no one in whose ear to whisper his hopes and dreams once more would their love be held at a distance were they forever destined to share one soul yet live apart?
the lights and rolling thunder of a jet departing the neighboring airport caught his attention as the water-smeared nav lights arced low across the glowering sky he first thought the rain had returned for the windows to appear so bathed then realized he was merely viewing his world through the warm stinging curtain of his welling tears
~~~
the bean jar
as with many storied beginnings there once lived a young couple so very in love that the world was theirs
they had grown to adulthood in the shade of the mighty oak of best-friendship the arms of which strengthened about them as childhood friendship matured to love ‘long shall they live in peace and happiness!’ prophesied family and envious detractors alike as the date of their much-heralded nuptials drew nigh
among the myriad gifts and well-wishes showered upon the blissfully betrothed that day alone one stood out as much for its commonplace simplicity as for its mysterious bestower
kindly of visage yet unsettlingly odd in the iridescence of his sparely cut suit and the dragonfly-wing translucence of his ancient skin the well-meaning stranger turned many a fair head en route to the reveler-beset young lovers
‘to bless you and your imminent union have I these many leagues traveled,’ declared he ere presenting them with an oversized glass jar and a like-sized burlap sack of beans for theirs was a love, he explained far deeper and promise-filled than most he’d seen in his countless years the full potential of which they would surely realize if faithful to his admonishments they’d be... ~~~ ...read the rest on the poetry & fiction page!