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I have come to gaze

The remains of an old house near the shores of Willow Lake, Prescott, Arizona
I have come to gaze
on the clover and milkweed.
They are thick this month;
great drifts of leaves and stems
flare up
around the foundation
of the old farmhouse,
where something tiny
glitters on a stone.
The midday sun
is hot enough
to parch or melt
the thing that glitters,
and if it perishes,
who will keen for it?
Poem and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Shadow Shot Sunday 2
More Sunday’s Whirligig #110
More Poetry Pantry #352 at Poets United
More Shadow Shot Sunday 2
More Sunday’s Whirligig #110
More Poetry Pantry #352 at Poets United
Coat

A snowy forest in northern New Mexico
first days of the year—
even the old pine forest
puts on a new coat
Haiku © 2016 and photo © 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Whirling with Amy

Each vignette begins with a phrase culled from “The Kingfisher,” by Amy Clampitt.
~~ 1 ~~
poetry is gone—
the miner and the farmer
clench their teeth with toil
~~ 2 ~~
a downtown churchyard
where old women holding court
leer at three old men
~~ 3 ~~
A dazzled pub crawl—
what shall we give the barkeeps
for their jollity?
~~ 4 ~~
pastoral nightfall
under the crossed oak branches
a tryst by moonlight
~~ 5 ~~
ruined nunnery
celibates used to live here
now skittering mice
~~ 6 ~~
on Fifty-fifth Street
threading the intersection
with thundering heart
~~ 7 ~~
a Sunday morning
somewhere across the ocean
where no church bells toll
~~ 8 ~~
some grizzled spruce bog
where creatures keep to themselves
and no one sees them
~~ 9 ~~
seeing how his hands
go searching through the haystack
for missing needles
~~ 10 ~~
stunning tapestry
woven with thread of gold and
the blood of martyrs
~~ 11 ~~
Through the long evening
one expression recurring—
“You don’t understand.”
~~ 12 ~~
among its headstones
one in the cemetery
bringing you to mind
© 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #219
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 179
Whetting

Palo Verde tree at dawn, Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona
wilderness morning—
old raven whetting her tongue
to cut the silence
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Our World Tuesday
More Haiku Horizons: “Cut”
Old Newspapers

an absurd story
above the fold on page one—
yellowed newspaper
~~ ~~ ~~
she stifles a groan
reading her granddad’s obit—
an old newspaper
~~ ~~ ~~
weak old newspaper
crumbling to dust in her hands—
the same old story
© 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday Scribblings 2: “An Old Newspaper”
More Three Word Wednesday: “Absurd, Groan, Weak”
Streams

Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris) in bloom, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
a single blossom
renewing the streams of light
in sorrow’s old house
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Ruby Tuesday Too
More Shadow Shot Sunday 2
More Sunday Scribblings 2: “Renewing the Streams”
Perhaps

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México
behind the old door
perhaps a quiet courtyard
where pilgrims may rest
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Carpe Diem: “The Way of St. James”