Fall's Garden (poem)

Springtime is lovely, so they claim

I dare not strip it off its fame

Of earth’s awakener, yet I

Have grown to find Spring rather tame

Each year it urges me to try

To turn back clocks and be the shy

And silly child I used to know

Oh no, the apple of my eye

Aren’t you, sweet Spring, and long ago

My childhood like a timid doe 

Ran hiding in the falling dusk

Away from me, its biggest foe

No, I’ll stay here until I must

Go with the changing leaves I trust

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

prompted by dVerse

"Strange Image": Echoes of William Morris' "November"

I meant to take a picture of this pumpkin, then realized I accidentally took a self-portrait :)

Here's my "face in the woods" creation (can you spot another laughing pumpkin in the lower left corner, and a somewhat stern looking creature to the right of me, leaning in and looking straight into the camera?):

"Yea, I have looked, and seen November there;

The changeless seal of change it seemed to be,

Fair death of things that, living once, were fair;

Bright sign of loneliness too great for me,

Strange image of the dread eternity,

In whose void patience how can these have part,

These outstretched feverish hands, this restless heart?"

--  William Morris, November

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Fall (square poem)

Leaves fall

Fall leaves

This couplet became part of a collective poem "Grass of Leaves" prompted and put together by David Lehman.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Falling (poem)

free for a shining moment brief

fall’s printed folded airborne leaf-

lets sail the blues on winter’s eve

let’s fail with grace, then take our leave.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Flower Power: Harvesting Marigold Seeds

Marigolds -- the last thing standing in the vegetable garden. We planted them there to help keep pests at bay; and besides, they just look and smell nice. 

If it hadn't been for the warm dry weather in which marigolds continue to thrive, and for this post by Janet, I would have made a very silly mistake: I would have finished cleaning up the garden throwing away whatever's left of marigolds -- pods and all.

For some reason it never occurred to me that I can harvest seeds from my marigolds. Well, lesson learned. Here're the pods I've collected today, and there's plenty more where that came from:

Each of these pods is full of seeds. And I could've wasted them!

I'm going to let the pods dry a bit for a few days, although most of them are pretty dry already. Then off to the fun part of fishing the seeds out. I'm curious how many seeds one pod contains on average...

Any guesses? 

Will keep you posted.

Happy harvesting!

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Spring into Action: Planting Bulbs in Autumn

The daffodil, tulip and hyacinth bulbs are sleeping in the shed under the sand blanket. Cannot wait to plant them, but here in Maryland, especially with the record high temperatures we've been having, it's still too early...Not ready yet.

Are you ready? Once the temperature drops to below 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the soil, it's safe to plant your spring flowering bulbs.

Bulb planting isn't rocket science, but there's a few tricks to it.

Watch this short video to see if, for instance, you know:

• what flowering bulbs love
• why you shouldn't treat them as "little soldiers"
• how to protect them from chipmunks, squirrels, etc.

I found the layering technique particularly interesting, and will definitely try it myself.

Happy bulb planting!


Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Trees, leaves and shadows

 Cannot get enough of them

Live for the Love of it,
Happy

Friday the 13th

Hang in there...

Live for the Love of it,

Happy

Carpe diem

Seize the day, hurry, the boat of October's about to sail...

Improvisation 26 (Boat)
1912
Vasily Kandinsky 
State Gallery, Munich, Germany

Improvisation without end
2015
God
Everywhere you look

Live for the Love of it,

Happy

October haiku

water droplets fall

having wandered the tall skies

return back to earth

It's a gray, rainy first day of October. I love autumn, and rain, but I miss summer today.

This garden sculpture is alive. The expression of this being changes all the time. 

(Don't blink! "Doctor Who" fans will know what I mean.)

My angel is kind.

Live for the Love of it,

Happy

November 2014 Poem-A-Day Chapbook Challenge: Day 29

Hold on to autumn, to this fragile ray

The sun has reached you with, it will not last

This free fall of November, time won’t stay

Suspended what’s to come and what has passed

Between, so hold them close, these final hours

Still clinging to the calendar, for ours

Are those short-lived bright moments that we touch

Without a hope of keeping them, they fleet

And yet remain, and reappear with such

Stark clarity, it sweeps us off our feet

When in the midst of winter’s endless plain

We glimpse our autumn, falling once again.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (a.k.a. "Happy")

prompted by Poetic Asides

image credit

November 2014 Poem-A-Day Chapbook Challenge: Day 25

 

Fall’s drawing to a close…bewildered trees

Tread softly on the mantle that has slipped

Off their hunched shoulders. Beggars-mem’ries tease

And taunt the yester emperors now stripped

Of glorious crowns and all they used to own–

Or thought they did–when summer would enthrone

And serve with teenage passion of July

Their perfect bodies and exuberant youth

But summer’s gone. Impressed upon the sky

The trees stand raw and naked like the truth.

I wish they knew how beautiful they are

In their November majesty by far

Exceeding the presumptuous royal green

Back in the day they flaunted, wish they saw

Through summer, saw July for what it’s been–

A kid, no more–I wish they knew. In awe

I read their bark, the weathered wisdom of

The aging trees who’ve learned to live and love.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (a.k.a. "Happy")

prompted by Poetic Asides

image credit