POETS START EARLY

The neighbor walking her dog at 7 am
has reason to believe she is the first
to take in this soft summer morning,
but I’ve been watching since 6 am
and she has missed a sunrise,
a freight train whistle, a young buck,
two does and three spotted fawns,
hummingbirds and nuthatches,
squirrels playing tag in the wet grass,
three or four rabbits feasting on clover
and a whole hillside of chipmunks.

My writing routine is to get out of bed between 5:00 – 6:00 am, make coffee, and then sit in a reclining chair which swivels to look out over the yard as I write. I like the view from my chair, as you can tell from this week’s poem. I have a study, too, but I usually reserve that room for revising, organizing and printing. Be well and, as Garrison Keillor often said, do good work. (Is Garrison Keillor sufficiently rehabilitated so that I can once again refer to him without fear of offending? I hope so; we spent many a cold Saturday night enjoying ‘Prairie Home Companion’ on NPR . . . back in the day.)

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A New Poem Every Monday
(tho’ sometimes life gets in the way)

Joseph Neely, all rights reserved