Beyond Fences

beyond fences

go ahead
try it
or remember how it’s done
this puzzle’s been around for years
                    .     .     .
                    .     .     .
                    .     .     .

connect nine dots with four straight lines
although some manage three
don’t lift your pen or pencil
or you could use your thumb
there might just be a hint there
waiting
waiting
crickets
now that you’re back
from wandering beyond fences
consider the wisdom in a Jewish proverb
that if you face two action plans
you should always choose the third
pause there
more crickets
remember beyond fences
good luck
blessings
and take care

Bonnie Marshall

In the Weeds

Great Piece of Turf
Albrecht Durer, 1503

In the Weeds

Let your mind slip to his painting
and breathe rank earthiness of bog
to contemplate the chaos
of Durer’s grand anatomy
of a humble clod.
yarrow…hound’s tongue…
heath rush…pimpernel…

Note the absence of earthworms
of beetles or of bees,
for this exclusion is perplexing
from a detail-loving master,
though perhaps it was on purpose.
germander speedwell…dandelion…
creeping bent…burnet saxifrage…

Roots knocked of mud
beneath this plant profusion
he exposed for closer viewing,
though perhaps it was on purpose
for our understanding
of nature’s worth and balance,
or…interrelation of our own humanity.
greater plantain…cock’s foot…
smooth meadow grass…daisy…

Bonnie Marshall

Mantra Against Rainy Days

Mantra Against Rainy Days

For good luck she told us to say,
“rabbit…rabbit…rabbit…rabbit…”
many times…one in-out breath…
upon waking on the first day
of each and every month.
The jumble sounded silly,
yet she’d promised it had power.
Since we were just children
and still loved fantasies…
like Alice did in Wonderland…
we thought that on that day
we’d find a genie bottle
abandoned on a shelf,
or long-buried treasure
hidden in the woods.
Now that we’re much older
and still hopeful…secret believers…
on the first day of the month…
especially if it’s raining…
we both whisper the mantra,
and buy a lotto ticket,
and look for change
forgotten in old jackets.
Yet, we’re wise enough to know
the prize is in the promise
and the hoping and the dreaming…
or perhaps that happy silliness
of quickly saying,”rabbit…rabbit…rabbit…
rabbit…rabbit…rabbit…rabbit…rabbit…”

Bonnie Marshall

Crystal Scattered Sunlight

Crystal Scattered Sunlight

Crystal scattered sunlight
rainbow flashes on a wall,
or fresco visions on an Italian ceiling…
both are prisms of reflection…
both are worthy of distinction.

Some trick of intellect…
some clear bright line of thought
evaluates the difference…
comprehends the implication…
of  star light, star bright Venus
to a single firefly’s glowing
against an evening lawn.

Bonnie Marshall

Dreaming Portals

 
Dreaming Portals

Strong indian tobacco.
Shamans’ visions…
  entoptic eyesight blurs,
     diamond sliding rattlesnakes,
        spoke radiating circles
          and morphing wombs in mazes.
Shamans’ visions…
   paint on pale stone canvas,
    blood-red, clay white and charcoal
      illusion memories
        inside dreaming portals.
Shamans’ visions…
  shape-shifter bighorn sheep 
    incised on blue-black basalt cliffs
     with granite hammerstones.
 Shamans’ visions…
   time-space suspended
     through eras of earth spinning
        spell cast in holy spaces…sacred places.

Bonnie Marshall