Long Months, Short Years

eighteen long months late,
we celebrate our friendship
of thirty short years

she survived COVID
now, we're both vaccinated
to celebrate love

what a perfect place
green grounds, infinity pool
for endless friendship

So Fresh

summer garden joys:
second of many salads
grown and cut by me

the best time of year
is strawberry-rhubarb pie
(yes, it's a season)

baked by my daughter
the sweet and sour combo
shines as bright as spring

a midnight rainstorm
brought early this raging creek
and stole seed-planting

yet, cycle views burst
with blossoms of spring color
saving the lost day

the plants are rising
as the school year closes down
(garden life cycle)

graduation day
bleeds into normal doldrums
(life's quick, painful truths)

we'll never escape
the "boot straps" mentality
or fix these numbers

from prom to vaccine
in a short eight-hour night
(let science save us)

vaccines could save us
(yet not from the ignorance
spread without needles)

all i want today
is to watch the sunlight shift
on these reborn blooms

the blue-sky morning
can't capture a year of loss
(oh Lord, that sweet scent)

yet afternoon light
so perfectly shines rosy
(ends this hell-frost year)