‘Twas the Last Day of Goose Season
Sometimes the Christmas spirit finds a hunter’s heart in its own special way ********** New York State’s early Canada goose hunting season runs from September 1-25th. At the beginning of every fall hunting season, I have always looked forward to it. Until last year. For the past ten years...
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The River Calling
Beneath forgotten trestle’s flow Rainfall bounty, melted snow Where heron, bass, and beaver go I can hear The river calling Misted memory’s mountain home Rocky rapid’s rippled foam Long lost laughter skipping stones I can hear The river calling We swam, we fished Wind’s whispered wish Wild water’s kiss...
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Wood Ducks Wild
A Wood Duck Celebration in Haiku Haiku is a traditional Japanese short verse form written to celebrate some aspect of nature or life. While it has numerous nuances and variations, in my rudimentary understanding, a Haiku basically consists of three lines of verse written in a non-rhyming pattern,...
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April’s Promise
An SLHS ’81 Classmate Collaboration By Jackie Ely & Dick Monroe (With a cameo assist by Karen Barrow Pittman) Winter’s Long March Behind Me Birch Trees Framing My Thoughts Sitting Alone in a Park Contemplating Ice-Covered Mountain Lake Waters Quietly Waiting for Spring (And waiting…and waiting) Soaking In April’s...
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Irish Autumn
Author’s Note: I drafted this poem many years ago for my wife. My handwritten notes simply bear the date “1990”, so I must have written it shortly after Robin and I married. For reasons unbeknownst to me at this point in life, it sat all these years gathering dust...
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Weathered and Waiting
Author’s Note: What a beautiful day today! Everything sparkles after last night’s fresh snow. The sky is so blue. The sun shine’s such bright warmth. I took my canine companions out for a snowshoe “paw patrol” stroll. The poem below formed in my head while the dogs explored and...
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Snowshoe Tracks
Author’s Note: The snowshoes pictured here are my dad’s vintage pair. He made them in Ranger School during his time at Wanakena. He graduated from Ranger School in 1961, two years before I was born. They are still sturdy, solid and strong. I have taken great care to maintain...
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Single Word Poetry
Author’s Note: This is a little something different, an experiment of sorts that I wanted to try. Combining a photo with a single word in an effort to capture a particular emotion, feeling, or moment using just one word. ********** “BE” ********** “MEMORIES” ********** “LIFE” ********** Until Our Trails...
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Hunter’s Reflections
A Season’s End Hunter’s Poem ********** Each Season’s End Harvests Hunter’s Reflections What Was What Wasn’t What Might Have Been ********** Fallen Waterfowl Feathers Fall Foliage Breeze Trail’s First Frosted Tracks Fresh Buck Rubbed Trees ********** Morning Pre-Dawn Stealth Silence Hunter’s Hart Prayers for Luck ‘Til That True Shot’s...
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