Beside the bank where black swans often lie
in twos, beneath wild fruit trees near the stream
where Chinese geese move single file across
the water like a strand of flags that gleam
with little angled feathertips of light,
I heard her speak. It was a quiet voice,
like summer clouds that weep along low hills
of poplar groves then peacefully rejoice
in [...]
Déjame que te cuente cómo me compré esta casa
Verás
Habíamos visto ya cuarenta y nueve pisos en dos meses
Algunos vacíos
Otros recién abandonados, con frascos de colonia
Aún expuestos en el baño y un añejo olor a tabaco
En las paredes desconchadas.
Otros seguían repletos de vida, con fotos enmarcadas
Mientras tú intentabas prestar atención a la chica de la inmobiliaria.
Era [...]
For a larger view click on the photos.
Ancient chipmunk hole below the pin oak
This burrow has been used for many generations of chipmunks.
Early moonrise in my backyard
Taken in Pennsylvania
View of the Kiskiminetas River through a stand of trees, springtime
Taken in Pennsylvania
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Elizabeth is thirteen years old and enjoys writing and photography. Capturing the magic and beauty [...]
April’s beauty carries with it rain
Wet tear drops falling from the sky
Its premier today, showing up shy
Sliding into slits in buds
Mixing itself with different muds
Slipping down my forehead
Touching my eyelashes ahead
I close my eyes to nature’s gift
While they were closed I did drift
To the month of May’s sweet, sweet scent
To view flowers and green is [...]
“Look, here’s Fezzika,” my mother said, bending down to point out the Woodhouse toad tucked under the garden stone. We had discovered the amphibian’s house a few days earlier, and I was fascinated by the placement choice. She had dug into the soil under a cornerstone edging the flowerbed beside the main path through the [...]
Narrator: It was a sunny day in the town Pudding but no one could see it. There was a cloud in the way of the sun.
Boy: I can’t see anything!
The mayor: We must do something!
All: But what?
Town folks: Ask the king!
Mayor: Not the king!
Boy: That is a good idea.
Mayor: The king does not rule the [...]
School’s out—at least for kids in my neighborhood. In theory, this means they’re outside more, turning over rocks, taking pictures of what they find with their camera phones, using their iPhones to run a quick Internet critter identification search, engaging in texting one-upmanship (bgz r gr8), so on and so forth.
Okay, maybe they’re not doing [...]
The usual warnings continue to apply. Parts One and Two here and here.
April 22, 2010, Earth Day and M’s birthday. Twenty-four hours have passed since the doctor put his words out there. I’m still hot with anger and grief, still breaking into sobs at the slightest twinge of thought. I’ve examined M repeatedly for signs [...]
This is the first installment of a three-part series. It’s about experiences my family and I had on and around Earth Day two months ago. Sorry it’s so late–writing it took a while. Readers be warned: not only do the posts run long but they get hot under the collar as I tell stories about [...]
About a week ago, I finally finished planting my garden. I ran late (as usual) setting out some seedlings and all three attempts to start my typical heirloom tomato lineup from seed ran afoul of greens-craving kittens and rough winds. So I bought hothouse starts, which as of this date are doing well, except for [...]