A Prairie Storm

Low, distant grumbling thunder wakened 

from a troubled sleep. 

Heard long before the wind 

raced through the trees 

flogging them with no regard

to the stately green giants.

Flashes of lightning flicker.

Rain flung at the world.

streets ran with icy water 

sloshed from the heavens.

Tiny hailstones raced

ahead of raindrops.

In an hour, 

exhaustion is all that’s left. 

The calm after the storm 

drips in the evening chill. 

“Nature makes no noise. The howling storm, 

the rustling leaves, the pattering rain are no disturbance, 

there is an essential and unexplored harmony in them.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

(Journal, 18 November 1837)

A Balancing Game

What do I write about tonight?

Something short, intelligent and brimming with wisdom 

~ or not. 

While my head 

senses my balance, 

I sense my discomfort, 

my lack of balance. 

Where does it come from ?

The inner ear, 

some kind of brain function 

 ~ both in agreement?

Or maybe something unknown?

Regardless, balance was restored 

by a good chat with a friend this afternoon 

and an evening out with other women 

to discuss matters of entertainment and food 

while watching others win door prizes.

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, 

then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.”

~ Robert Fulghum,

(Author of All I Really need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten)

Brain Fog

It was clearer today 

as though a gust of wind 

had brushed aside 

gathering cobwebs ~ 

flinging them into 

muttering thunderclouds,

washing it clean in 

raindrops and cool air.

“Sometimes it all gets a little too much, but 

you gotta realize that soon the fog will clear up.”

~ Shawn Mendes, singer, song-writer

When Nostalgia Beckons

Yesterday went as all 

yesterdays go, into the 

never never land of the past

With lopsided memories of 

     good times

      unfortunate times

        impossible times 

          pleasant times 

even mundane times 

 may pop up unannounced.

All categorized and filed 

in gauzy memory banks

Taken out and savoured 

when nostalgia beckons.

“Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days.”

~ Doug Larson, American journalist

(1926 - 2017)

Any Other Day

Any other day 

could have been filled 

with sunshine or raindrops 

but today is 

not like any other day 

even though filled with 

the decisions of any other day. 

Which mug to fill with tea, 

which task to do, 

which part of life to live, 

which time to be here or there, 

which friends and family to enjoy. 

Any other day 

could have been filled 

with sunshine or raindrops 

but not the same ones that filled this day.

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”

~ Muhammad Ali

(1942 ~ 2016)

Momentum in Flight

Dedication to anything is 

as a bird in flight 

muscles and mind 

working in harmony 

to get to the nest, 

to forage for wants and needs

flying through

  

   rain clouds, 

     

      open air, 

         against hostile winds.

At the end of the day 

to rest and sleep 

readying for 

the next day’s flight.

“Our self-acknowledgement has to be bigger than our fear.”

~ Rod Stryker, author

I Would Have

Otherwise, I would have 

let my imagination roll 

out a carpet of poetry, 

yet the day just lived 

didn’t lend itself to such 

flights of fancy. 

Otherwise, I would have 

looked at the raindrops 

on green leaves and seen 

the mysteries in each 

glistening drop of water.

Otherwise, I would have 

raised my navy umbrella 

to the misty rain that 

gently reminded me 

of Vancouver Island. 

Otherwise, I would have 

seen the blackened crust on 

my bread as a failure but 

the tender inside was delicious, 

butter and honey spread thick.

Otherwise, a day will come 

when all of these things may 

mean nothing to me. For today, 

they are the sweet stitches 

that hold memories of today. 

“I got out of bed on two strong legs. 

It might have been otherwise.”

~ Jane Kenyon, Otherwise

*Author’s note: my poetry tonight inspired by 

the poem Otherwise by Jane Kenyon

A Day

Photo today: June 2, 2026

This is the day 

when I saw 

spring lilacs in bloom 

in a day 

fraught with potholes 

a day 

when my bread 

rose beautifully 

a day

when the wind ruined 

any semblance of hair style 

a day 

when music moved

my thoughts to calm. 

This is a day 

when life was real 

and I am grateful.

“It was the possibility of darkness that made the day seem so bright.”

~ Stephen King,  Wolves of the Calla

"Stay Wonderful and Breathe" ~ TODAY - Theme for June 2026

 

This is the day…..

Otherwise, I would….

Dedication to ……

Any other day….

Yesterday went……

“Today is a most unusual day, because we have never lived it before; 

we will never live it again it is the only day we have.”

~ William Arther Ward, author

(1921 ~ 1994)