Opal Reflections
Perspectives through Prose, Poetry and Photography
Between
Between the Elms and White Birch boughs,
He swoops to seek his sustenance.
Between the thrush, the finch and doves,
He jockeys for a place perchance.
Between their flurried rush he sees,
His opportunity to dance.
Between his talon flaws he snags
the rusting iron grate, in his grasp.
Between the intersecting bars,
His beak discovers seeds, en masse.
It never ceases to amaze me that hordes of songbirds descend upon my yard each year, rediscovering my ancient, rusting feeders and reward my efforts to provide sustenance with an always-changing and ever-brilliant symphony of song. Each species has their strengths and needs, though I marvel at the capabilities of the White-breasted Nuthatch. This backyard denizen, usually seen pecking away on tree bark, has found his way to my feeder, where while gripping with his claws, he easily hangs upside down, poking his pointy beak deep Into the tiny feeder tray. Squirrels and chipmunks may reach the matrixes, but they cannot squeeze their snouts into this well-designed feeder. My feathered friend knows that at this feeder, he optimizes his chances for success.
This was posted in response to The Weekly Photo Challenge: Between
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/between-danielle-hark/
Summertime (Photo Friday: Simplicity)
*****
Lazy, languid morn,
Dampened, sparkling blades of green
A dogs life… indeed!
*****
I marvel at the calm serenity I feel on viewing this photo – a simple snapshot of my Cavie’s first trip to the back yard on this dew-dampened morning. He stops, listening for the bunnies and the chipmunks, as he poises for the imminent chase. He never catches them ( thankfully), but I love this penultimate moment of focus; knowing that in a split second, I’ll see ‘his fluffiness’ flying in hot pursuit, through the blades of grass.
Extra! Extra!
Extra, Extra
This was written for the Weekly Photo Challenge: A beautiful photo is one thing, but a photo with an unexpected detail has personality and pop. This week, share a photo that has a little something extra.
My lens at the ready to snap the feathered friends that visit my backyard feeders, I am usually fortunate and content to catch a few colorful songbirds, vying for position as they scrap for seeds and a prime spot in the birdbath. On this day, though tempted to pass by the commonplace robins that are regulars on my lawn, I snapped this fortunate forager; and as a bonus, his ‘meal’ (Extra! Extra! Indeed)!
I don’t know what he plucked from between the blades of grass, but I suspect it was a tasty morsel, a wonderful find for this under-appreciated American Robin. Perhaps it was a fattened, juicy, green caterpillar, an unfortunate victim of nature’s never-ending skirmishes to achieve balance.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/extra-extra/
Acuity
“He taught me how to read people’s eyes.”
To know it’s never as it seems; it’s grey.
He told me, too, to hear beyond the words
of those who chose to obfuscate; betray.
He showed me when to peer beyond their veils
To delve ‘how’ water flows upstream and ‘why’.
He whispered softly, but I listened well,
My senses taut, I know now: It’s disguise.
He taught to strip illusions to their core,
My eyes have (sadly) seen the truth – and more.
Written for the speakeasy at Yeah Write. This week’s sentence prompt line: “He taught me how to read people’s eyes;” a provided by last week’s winner, Karen, must be used as the FIRST line in your piece. And the art prompt, which you will find below, is Waterfall, a lithograph by the master of impossible constructions, M.C. Escher.
My Father’s Garden
It was the antithesis of his back-breaking days and skin-cracked nights.
After a workday of job-site floors and walls, back-splashes and hearths – unique patterns, lovingly placed, grouted, washed and polished; he’d grab a beer and head out back.
Raising a plucked “Better Boy” to his face, he inhaled its promise of lusciousness, while gently rubbing the shiny, smooth skin against his face; a sharp contrast to the dry, cracked joints of his epoxy-eaten fingers.
His garden is now and will forever remain symbolic of his legacy; a legacy of passion, family, love and joy in simple pleasures.
🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
This was ‘prompted’ by Velvet Verbosity 100 word challenge: Heiress.
http://www.velvetverbosity.com/100-words/
http://www.velvetverbosity.com/blog/2014/6/9/100-words-382-swooning-over-vintage-books
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Room: No Vacancy
No Vacancy
They cluster as they always have before,
While hidden in the bramble bush I spy,
Awaiting welcome sign that beckons, sure
I’ll fly to join the flock before they hie.As sun descends, the evening set is nigh,
While shadows, long, obscure that I am near,
The time grows short to hunt for room, or die,
For feral prowlers hearing, soon appear.A fleeting lapse, off guard, I’d disappear
without a trace, save feathers’ flailing fall
My finch-like friends still disregard my fear,
A-flurry, busy at the tree-perch, tall.No room, no vacancy, no niger seed,
No room at backyard feeder, I concede.
Written and posted in response to The Weekly Photo Challenge: “Room”
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/room/
Perspective…through the chain link fence (Photo Friday, Haiku Friday)
*****
Through the chain link fence,
Poised, line drive headed my way,
Second to first: Out!
*****
Back to School
This week is the run-up to BlogU 2014, and though I will likely be the most ‘senior’ blogger in attendance, I am looking forward to sharing a blog-focused weekend with my daughter, a fantastic writer, self-published author and blogger (I’m Still Learning).
We’ll drive from home in New Jersey to Notre Dame of Maryland University campus in Baltimore, and after settling in to our functionally (if sparsely) outfitted dorm room, we’ll register for the long-anticipated festivities. For months we’ve communicated via the BlogU Facebook group or Twitter, and though I have been more observer than participant, I am curious to meet the women who’ve been excitedly selecting their retro, prom dresses for the Saturday night, themed dinner.
I’m not a total newbie to blogging conferences: Last year my daughter and I attended BlogHer in Chicago, and though our interests and session selections led in different directions at the huge McCormack Place Convention Center, it was fun to run into her on an escalator or across a vast and packed dining room; we had a couple of nice Chicago dinners and experienced a lovely evening at the Navy Pier. (My observations of that trip are captured in a poem I wrote and posted, entitled Rainbows of Our Lives).
This experience, I expect, will be different, partly because of the more intimate venue and smaller enrollment, the fact that we won’t have the luxuries of a swanky Chicago Hotel and tourist distractions, and because my daughter is on the faculty and assisted with the planning of BlogU.
For these reason, I expect to glean more practical tips for my blog, while focusing on my learning edges. The full day of Saturday workshops, should offer an intimate classroom setting and ample opportunity to share and benefit from the wealth of knowledge at my disposal; while allowing me to experiment with my digital SLR, a Pentax K30, in a mode other than “Auto”.
More importantly, I will have a bird’s eye-view of my daughter, in her milieu, while spending a pleasant weekend ‘on the road’ with my personal mentor.
Uncertainties
“There is no warning rattle at the door.”
It blusters open; sudden, threatening gust,
Sets hearts off-balance, birdlings unsecured,
Alas, the squall uproots, destroys, disrupts.Unwilling gamers both, yet play we must,
As choices tear our lives asunder hard,
But soul-mates are forever tied, a trust
‘tween best of friends, though now we are apart.We know not whence tomorrow paths depart,
Or bring to us a happy-ever-after,
Still, day by day, we navigate our charts
on stormy seas, without a clear forecaster.Our lives still interwoven, thick and thin,
Perchance we’ll find new place to ‘be’ again.
Submissions must be 750 words or fewer. Submissions must be fiction or poetry. You must include the following sentence as the FIRST line in your submission: “There is no warning rattle at the door.” You must also include a reference to the media prompt.
Fences
We’re taught as tots to build our fences tall,
From early days; protection from the world,
We learn from watching those we love, appalled
the flag of honesty is rare unfurled.We imitate, as guileless children, little girls
and boys, who strive to be like noble men,
While shrinking soft inside, our own selves curled
Like ever tightening coils, as tensions spin.With e’er increasing frequency we bend,
To harsh demands of others who aspire,
We aim to please, downplaying discontent,
Whilst tossing silent dreams upon the pyre.Someday our sturdy fence-gates open wide
Unleashing soul’s emotions from inside.
These 100 words were written in response to the Friday, May 30th Light and Shade Challenge, prompting the following quote, as inspiration:
“Don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”
G K Chesterton
The Light and Shade Challenge
Lighthouse in the Mist, Cape May, NJ
Bandit
Festive View from the Pub, Peddler’s Village – Lahaska, PA.
Home Sweet Home
Opal Reflections 