Winter lanes painted with sunlit gems-
swaying to some unseen whim
Evergreen bastions defending January-
greenery , rail-tie soldiers stand stalwart in brown scenery ..
Songbirds coaxed from their cold weather-
quarters , the sparrow , the cardinal & the -
warbler
Smoke bound for the heavens
China blue dancers tend before the mountain & the marsh
Sprinkle the steaming earth with sage , mint ,wild onion--                      
& coriander..

Tradespeople are the crickets that choose to swim the perilous water -as opposed to circumnavigating the pond ..

Thanks to everyone for another amazing year of incredible poetry !

Maybe death is tantamount to your-
first colonoscopy
It takes precedent over every available -
minute until your cutoff mid-conversation-
by a busy 'Doc" with patients filling the hallway
You blink and it's over ...
Next !

I swear I seen Jesus cutting a check to-
'you know who' for services rendered ..
For creating chaos & folly amongst the flock
A surly ship of fools in dry-dock
Waiting for the Holy Ghost to knock knock knock ..
Michael will chock the wheel of benevolence
The unsure will jump the fence
All the crowing , confident , malingering &
bitter envious publicans will proselytize the-
downtrodden in the end..
John The Baptist will be on the air at midnight-
hawking a path to righteousness with all his might ..
The Commander-in-Chief will hold a presser from Zion-
on the Red Nation , the Bear & the Eagle ..
His Vicar hawking 'magic blood' to the yearning &
the feeble ..

When I pass who will take delight -
in every blade of grass ..
Who will catch their reflection on a quiet-
pond with grace & wonder ..
How will alms be allotted in lieu of-
riparian angels ..
Where will avian brethren perform -
the 'scores of creation'..

Have you heard a bobwhite calling-
bob-bob -white in the morning
Perched on a cedar stump crying bobwhite-
with all his bob-bob -white might & glory ..
Stair-stepping from fieldstone to bob-white-
broomsage , gliding neath the bob-bob-white-
pines for fun , a dusty bath in the noonday sun ..
A bobwhite in the felled corn
A bob-bobwhite in the rabbit tobacco
Bobwhite-bobwhite on top of the cow lick -
Bob -bob -white from the 'maters
Bobwhite from some-bob- bob place along the bob-bob 'crick' ...