Fern Fairy

for dVerse

River sallies through the emerald valley;

ferns twine and twist in the soft breeze gently.

While white mist shrouds the valley in magic,

fern queen rests in her living green hammock.

Over seeing her realm of fairies, birds

clover, redwoods, bees; entwined with the ferns.

All hers from great tree to tiny sporange,

prowling cats and fishes spotted orange.

Hers to guard and hers to keep and hold sound-

ly. So she keeps her vigil o’er her ground.

At her woven throne her subjects shower

thanks. And with laurel wreaths they endow her;

spider silk, saffron slippers, almond milk,

acorn caps, mustard seeds, and patchwork quilts.

This is their world tucked between the ferns,

and all this is safe beneath her sojourn.

Sporange - A real word that does indeed rhyme with orange. It is a form of sporangium, which is  where spores are produced in plants like ferns.

Harbinger

for dVerse

In the crisp apple air

while the oak leaves still are green

free Summer lingers

though the sweater chill begins

And the leaves reflect gold

though Autumn’s fire

has yet to come

And the sidewalks are not buried

in the rustle, crunch of leaves.

Interrupted

for dVerse

Blackout curtains

Darkness, quiet, peace

Fading remnants of a dream

The hour before I wake

When I drift back to dreams

Until

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Blaring honks!

Jarring, screaming.

An assault upon my senses

Followed by discombobulating light

Dragged from dreams

By my alarm