December 9: Howe Hill

deer track hieroglyphs

marking the blueberry field

the color purple

Posted with Blogsy

December 8: Consolation

Sunset before 4,

glorious hot pink and gold--

light another candle.

Posted with Blogsy

December 7: Day at the beach

This morning I birded with my friend Derek at Reid State Park, which features two lovely, long, sandy beaches washed by sparkling surf. At one point in our ramble up the strand, a very loud ship's horn sounded. We later learned that this noise came from a new stealth destroyer that had just launched and was headed out to open ocean from the Kennebec River. Earlier, we had seen people standing on the Bath bridge looking down on Bath Ironworks, where the ship had been built, obviously waiting for the launch. Derek had commented then that it cost over $1 billion to build; hard to reconcile a toy of war with such a bright and peaceful winter's day.

 

morning beach walk

we scan for sea ducks

new destroyer slips out to sea

 

Posted with Blogsy

December 6: O Tannenbaum

Selling Christmas trees--

hands smelling like balsam sap

the rest of the day.

Posted with Blogsy

December 5: Christmas-by-the-Sea

Harborside tree
full of yellow apples--
thought they were ornaments.

December 4: Birthdays

Today is the birthday of both my co-worker Susan and my best friend Susan, who lives in Vermont.

Eating chocolate cake
to celebrate one Susan,
thinking of another.

December 3: Five for silver

Making a racket

heedless of the pouring rain--

shiny, joyous crows.

Posted with Blogsy

December 2: Dutch Masters

I've been reading the catalog for the current show at the MFA Boston, "Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer," which we hope to see in person in the next few weeks. I've also been engaging closely with several specific paintings from the Dutch Golden Age for a poetry project, soaking up the luminous light and rich colors, flirting with the complex symbolism of a past time and place, and becoming familiar with ordinary humans painted extraordinarily well.

Hours with Dutch paintings
transform the bleak afternoon--
chiaroscuro.

December 1: Flight

Over Hannaford

two herons flying to roost

while I lug groceries.

Posted with Blogsy