Black Squirrel

      Black Squirrel

Black squirrel leaping out

and dashing -

in a world of gray

you are

exquisite depth

like an eye's pupil

widening in the dim

of winter lit woods.

 

 

                       poem copyright ©2023 Anne Selden Annab

Dear Randy St John - Pulling Us Into Understanding This And That

 A Poem for a Beloved Teacher 

                    by Anne Selden Yellott Annab

   Pulling Us Into Understanding This And That

Dear Randy St John,  

I liked you because you liked  teaching

and all your students- everyone of us, 

the bright the dull the difficult 

the awkward the shy the brazen

the clutzy the smooth

the spark of brilliance

in every one.

You were fair,

and funny

with your handlebar mustache.

You were also astounding

with your model gorgeous wife

(Cindy) who stayed with you

studied, became a librarian.

You two together were 

the best role models I knew

the best guides on how

to find and navigate books

and people... and life.

You both truly liked books

and shared your passion

pulling us into understanding this and that-

enjoying and exploring symbolism 

and metaphor and poetry

and other such stuff

like the power of words

and simplicity.

But you also liked sports-

and the great outdoors.

Hunting fishing

real life as it is:

The beauty

of fly fishing

on a creek.

                                                                         poem copyright ©2023 Anne Selden Annab

So I Slow

 

     So I Slow

Some pain

(such as youth yearning thwarted

love betrayed

dreams dashed etc)

is all emotion. But other pain

such as this hard lump on me

tangled up in muscles and motion

is all reality- sharp smart

cringe crippling

no matter what

so I slow...

slow to savor

today

coffee. egrets.

rain on the creek.

yesterday's walk outside

with summer wind.

So I slow, hoping

I'll wake after surgery

and my heart will be strong enough

to take me through old age

or at least another year.

  poem copyright ©2023 Anne Selden Annab

Spring is memory- refreshed!

                                                       Spring is memory- refreshed!

Days are again getting longer

last night's moon seemed fuller

seen through naked branch trees.

Spring is memory- refreshed!

Our winter brown garden earth

is pushed aside bit by bit

here and there

as bright burgeoning green

surges slowly up up up up up

reaching for sun- glorious sun,

that yellow

that blue

that breeze,

that perfect balance,

that memory of last year

and of all gardens and beauty

and time itself marked

by seasons

and starts...

Step by step

we bloom

... and dance.

                                                               poem & photo copyright ©2023 Anne Selden Annab

caprice

            caprice

bright clear round

the full moon rises

huge

until

a pelican cloud arrives

and swallows it whole. 

 

                                        poem copyright ©2023 Anne Selden Annab

Geese Math Games

                  Geese Math Games

 

Do geese do math games

flying formations

here a V

now a diamond...

space 3 wings apart, now four.

Take turns- you lead

you chose

now up now down

skim the creek

then back up into the clouds

vary speed

counting fields

and trees and ponds

until we land.

                      poem copyright ©2023 Anne Selden Annab