Poetry Project, V. 9.0, Days 23 and 24

ok, so by all accounts, we're in the home stretch!  Yep, the last week of this year's edition of the Poetry Project.  I have to admit there have been some eggs laid so far this year, but that's sort of what this is all about: to lay a few eggs, maybe get one or two right, and learn along the way.  Speaking of learning, there's nothing like watching new life learn its way.  See, I have kittens on my front porch.  I keep a box out there for the winter months, a place for the stray kitties of the neighborhood to have a home somewhere safe and out of the elements all winter.  Last year, and now this year, a cat has decided that box is the perfect nesting ground.  So, there are four little kittens on my front porch.  They are just now opening their eyes, and they are starting to roam about a little, though they have yet to leave the confines of the box in which they were born.  They're adorable, as all newborns are, and it's fun to watch them learn and grow.  As much as I would love to pick them up and snuggle them, I can't - their mother is feral, so too much "human smell" on them, and she will abandon the kits.  But I can still watch and be amazed.  So, today's offerings are about that: watching life unfold around me.


All Greens are Different

it's strange,
this forest of concrete and glass,
of steel and brick and rust -
that becomes a sea of green with just a little rain
and a day of sunshine.
the new buds are light,
the red carapace-like coverings shed
and fall on the ground,
mixing with the yellow-green pollen.
the brown grasses fade to the shiny new green carpet
and the wild grasses are darker yet,
the green of the daffodils,
is darker than the tulips,
but lighter than the evergreens
found here and there,
my favorites are the cherries,
at that moment when the blossoms
just start to give way to the darker leaves,
and the unknowable green hue - for it has no name -
shines through,
browns and greens and pinks all together,
new and changing all at once.


Four

black, white, grey, pink,
four little ones in a blue box,
their only experience is what little they've seen
through the small window to the outside,
their eyes are new,
and their innocence that of life
that hasn't yet learned that some people are mean
and that cars are fast.
they only know their mother's love and care,
and maybe that sometimes i put out fresh water.
when will they learn to be afraid?
when to fight?
when to hiss and run away?
or maybe when to love in return?
when to show someone or something they care?
how will they learn it,
if not for those of us who show them kindness?
will they learn it at all?
that is the challenge they set forth:
show us a world we want to be in.


The fun part of this challenge is that I never really know what I am going to end up with, and these are some prime examples of that.  Still, it's fun for me, and it's my hope that you are getting some enjoyment, too.

Thanks for reading,

Me