Nature

A glorious summer is passing
Fall days will soon be here
The parting song of the birds
is ever loud and clear

The majestic Monarch Butterfly
migrating to a far off place
Skips across the meadow
at a seemingly lazy pace

Long cobweb streamers
October breezes put to sail
Soft lacy and as white
as a pretty June bride's veil

Milkweed pods are bursting
cattails have all turned brown
The red haws in the pasture
are falling to the ground

Trees splashed in rainbow colors
line the lakes and river shore
For Jack Frost has done his painting
while in our beds we humans snore

Mother Nature is ever wonderful
if we will but look to see
Heralding in the seasons of change
she gives warnings all for free.

The Old Fisherman

The Skeleton of Life

We creep, we laugh and we walk
We love, we dance and we talk
We work, we play and we cry
We sing, we pray and we die

What we add to this skeleton is up to us
Goodwill, cheer and happiness to all
Our lives are just what we make them
Nothing more or nothing less


The Old Fisherman

The Birds

The winter has been rough
on we humans I know
But please let's not forget
the birds and this snow.

Their food has been covered
or frozen in ice
While we have ours
inside where it's nice.

The fuel that is needed
for their body to heat
Comes just from everything
that they find to eat.

The scraps from your table
can mean songs in the spring
So kind people
do the right thing!


The Old Fisherman

Coffee Time

Never was there an alarm
In our time or in the past

That aroused you more gently
From a long night of fast

That old coffee grinder
Singing it's first tune of the day

Roll out - roll out
Let us be up and away

The aroma of coffee
Boiling in the pot

Flap-jacks and sausage
All piping hot

All this like sweet music
Runs through my head

It's time to get up
But I'd rather stay in bed

The Old Fisherman

A Man's Best Friend

The dogs I have owned
down through the years
At the passing of each
I have shed tears

A man's best friend
someone has told
Never fully appreciated
until they have grown old

Ever running at one's side
or curled at one's feet
Just to be near you
to them seems a treat

A bark in the night
or a growl in the day
Just to warn you
there is something a stray

The dogs I have now
shall surely be my last
They are equal to all
I have owned in the past

The handwriting's on the wall
I so plainly can see
The tears that are shed next
They shall be shed for me


The Old Fisherman

One More Good Bye

With winter knocking at the door

Old Linn Pier is piled high on the shore

While in the hearth the embers glow

Deep blue skies warns of snow

The easy chair and a book or two

for my Outdoor Life will have to do

Oh! now and then I'll take a walk

If only to hear the Mrs. Squawk

These old bones can no more take

The winter sports of ski and skate

Those glorious days forever could not last

But the contentment shall - In the days of the past.

The Old Fisherman