Written for Children will be pausing....I hope not to be gone too long.

Triolet with Violets

I saw a robin sitting in a tree
he was busy dreaming of Spring
and all the violets that he would see
I saw a robin sitting in a tree
he looked at me and did not flee
he sang the song he was meant to sing
I saw a robin sitting in a tree
he was busy dreaming of Spring

today's snowman
Originally uploaded by hlkljgk

Little Four Inch Ghazal

Squirrels harvest acorns to eat in winter
while cat sleeps upon the stove seat in winter

Standing alone in the path gone white with snow
You find you need to warm your feet in winter

Mom stirred the maple syrup on the stove until we
Poured it, hot and sizzling on snow, a treat in winter

Our bellies heavy as we slid down hill
warmed still from Cream of Wheat in winter

When the barn filled with hay grew cold
Frigid nights you'd hear goats bleat in winter

Blanketed and arm in arm we’d pile on the couch
To watch the Marx Brothers catch heat in winter

We poured hot water over our ice home,
making walls of cold white sheets in winter.

Originally uploaded by bjortklingd

The February Peanut Show

I keep a bag of peanuts in a shopping bag on a chair in the kitchen for the squirrels and blue jays. Early in the morning I take a fistful and open the slider wide enough to fit my fist through. I need to make sure the cats don’t slip out and I don’t drop the peanuts too soon. I throw the peanuts onto the deck and my son and I watch them roll across the snow and ice. Our three cats press their noses to the cold slider and wait for the peanut show. It lasts only a few minutes, longer if I throw out more peanuts. The cats shiver a bit, their tails swooshing back and forth on the floor. The sounds of a dozen pigeons taking flight from the rooftop rises from their throats as if the cats were dreaming in reverse.

81091: medium success
Originally uploaded by Tomi Tapio

Cinquain
(syllables: 2, 4, 6, 8, 2)


Small bird,
looking for seed,
hopping over the ice --
Are your talons frozen as well,
small bird?



Small bird,
looking for seed,
hopping over the ice--
Much depends upon weather in
winter.