Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Morning song


 Alborada(sp)

Morning Song.


The new fall begins;

To thresholds Holy guide

our steps into the temple

in which you reside.

Grant us the halt and lame

to your portals ascend

light anew the waning flame

A new fall to begin.

In the sweet


 In the sweet 

Johnclarestokes 


Soon comes the time

To grind the cane

Strip the stalks

Standing in the field

Gather the strainers

Sharpen the machete 

Scrub the kettle clean

Grease the rollers

Stack the bottles 

Teach again the oxen

The routine of

clockwise circling


Pleasant Hill

Kentucky

We hung summer


We hung the summer

John Clare Stokes 


In the loft above the straw strewn

in the cool dim air pungent with

the fields yield of toiling long

fading to the muted hues once

we knew vibrant to the light reaching

through the autumn 

through the winter 

to the spring returning

In lofts we hung the dying 

to the fields of summer giving life.


Pleasant Hill

Kentucky

Monday, September 21, 2026

Owl


 Owl


It was a loud evening

The crows in the pines

Treeing the great horned owl

Trespassing in their hood

Long after dusk 

When the crows had given

Up the chase

Over me

The owl silently soared

From the outer pines

I would have offered 

him a chicken or something

But they were on the roost

Home


 Home


It’s not one of those fussed over

Bragged over type places we envy

It doesn’t get myriad likes for decoration

And that is fine

I’d so dislike living in a magazine place

Where every angle coordinates with the theme

No, give me incongruity

Even a splash of tacky

Cat scratched furniture

Dog scented throw blankets

I don’t need to impress you with the place

We’re content if you come

And leave saying

Glad we don’t live there

Nothing matches

Colors are off

Don’t they know anything

About decoration?

Imagine


Moon sitter


I want to sit with the 

Moon

Keep it company

If by some chance

It’s attacked

Sliced open by a

Southern flying Delta

That would be tragic

Imagine

A dying moon

Dark evenings

Pining away the night 

Sunday, September 20, 2026

Shaken up

 Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill

Harrodsburg, Kentucky


I can already feel this shaking within

The simple line, the swirling,spiraling

Upward, upward, we are spinning

This shaped note upon my lips forming.


The light


 The light it's wondrous circuit takes

Upon no creature does it wait

In shadows night they turn

For in the dark they learn

To align just so in the way

For but a touch of His day.

Life goes on


 Life must go on

Dwell not long

Upon words bygone

Break out in song

Alone


Of course

Calling me home

 I hear a language unknown

I travel in a wilderness alone

I sing the strains of a forgotten song

I think the long gone are calling me home.


Craftsmen


  In the hinder years the salesmen came

Promising Craftsmen in every yard

And so we left our Deere’s of green

For the promised land grass was so hard.

Cicadas


 It’s not a random thing

The cicada color scheme

I’m always in awe

Of the artistry in creatures

Who fly and crawl