Allure of allspice , cinnamon and vanilla fills her culinary workshop , warm oven and sweet memories of pumpkin , sweet potato pies , oatmeal cookies , divinity on Christmas Eve , roasted pecans , ambrosia and fig butter. Children , grandchildren licking frosting bowls , sharing stories , learning the time honored craft of baking , tradition and bonding of family , close friend and neighbor . Scent of Winter , frosted windows , smell of burning oak , sweet gum , smoke rising into low cloud cover from distant homes on this cold afternoon , bathed in glow of fireplace , Mothers book of recipes in hand , assuring , comforting , stoking fire in my very soul . May this day last forever ......

Thick fog breaks across West Point Lake ...
Bass boats and crappie fishermen , tour boats and skiers
skim across her blue looking glass , Wood Ducks test the skies
northbound up the Chattahoochee River , bank anglers anchor poles
along her fortified edges .. White granite boulders visible from the mid-line .. Indigo hope and dreams as starlings silhouette her morning miracle , shad minnows skim the blue mirror , visiting gulls feast along quiet shoreline . A tall Georgia Pine mirage forms in tranquil coves , early day crows call hysterically from the hardwood thickets .. Turtles occupy muddy banks , Whitetails quietly graze worked fields , dragonflies and monarchs  incessantly toil beneath the strengthening heat of Summer , baldfaced hornets fortify their paper rampart high atop a lone River Birch ...

Blackberry cobbler , pecan and minced meat pie , country ham and cathead biscuits , our breakfast staple grits ....Nana's stove had the power to hold a sometimes fragile family together and I pray her recipes, good nature an pure love for her children will continue on for generations to come ....

She was a stray spot of Sun in a Winter garden
Snow clinging to life in the shaded April -
woodland , a precocious Sparrow that chortled -
in the Spring morning mist , a naked hardwood -
awakened to the curious mountain wind , then
disappeared*....

Rancorous Ole Bullfrog , snoring on a paddy , clear your pipes and carry that voice across the quiet marshland , low country valley .. Start the dandy evening opus with low bass tones , croak a silly song with that golden throat trombone , find a whippoorwill and lay down a duet you 'Old Hambone'*!

Georgia Sun relaxes in the fifth house
Hummers circle Florida sky from my shaded chaise
Blue Jays and Brown Thrashers lounge the
ripened Fig Trees , shadows walk the vegetable
gardens , nightshades ardent for cool , rainy reprieve
Crows muster high atop centurion Oaks
Bluebirds and Sparrows work the grass like -
two old time blokes as the ice melts away in -
a frosty *** and Coke* ......

Jack-o-Lanterns and Tennessee breezes
Sweet potato cobbler , Apple cider , frosted
scenery
Sweet memories 'neath the Pumpkin Moon
Whittling sugarcane to the sounds of pure Autumn
The Coyote yodel and the Barn Owl holler* ..

Metrical raindrops stream down my favorite
window ..
Cool , tidy , poetic gray cover shadowing the busy unkempt
world ...
Fussy Cardinals come clean in the channel
Pollen , pine needles and mans debris
collect on the washed avenues ..
Courthouse bells relay over the wet countryside ,
timid brooks become rivers for a day ..

The Old Gray Owl is telling on someone tonight !
A pole cat or a stray bloodhound , a wild hog running around !
The Crescent Moon is laughing with delight ,
cause the Old Gray Owl is callin' out tonight !

Chocolate soldiers wield peppermint sticks , guard the Duke and Duchess of Licorice Whips ..
Admiral Nougat Candy Company sails the ocean blue with a cargo full of candies made especially for you !! Bound for Cinnamon Beach on The Cocoa Islands , home of Marshmallow Trees and Butterscotch houses !  
Lemon drop dancers perform in sweet harmony with a Lollipop Choir and a Sugar Cookie Orchestra !  Sir Candy Cane and the Earl of Peanut Brittle , the Baron of Gumdrops , Lady Plum Pudding !
Queen Divinity reads a poem to her JellyRoll Kingdom while a Cupcake plays a tune on a Horehound Fiddle !

Waiting for the ransom of daybreak
For Oak boughs in care of Wisterias child ,
for warm ploughland breath seeking the chilled morning address ,
Sunbeams held in gray cover , windmere hillsides
in earthly redress
Lorn , incognito Cottonwoods hosting the Mourning Dove
rituals , Sapphire flowers mingle in wetted Thistle ,
Crescendo showers telltale an oxbow brook with
clear quartz reflections , bathing the Sawgrass banks
Crimson , Nutmeg , Sassafras scent surprise , Wild onion teasing
the Dawn palate , dark earth fragrance in colorful green disguise
Gravel road , broom sage borders beneath Hickory canopies ,
leading to home

Generation X , sold out by a New World Order , fathers lost their pension to Reganomics , Baby Boomers took 911 , shot holes in the Constitution , killing proletariat , old as the strata on the canyon walls , welcome to the Holocene Epoch and ***** deals , wasted lives and politics that **** ! Change is the same barracuda caught all over again , don't defend your castle with my final drop of blood while your singing America the Beautiful on the Washington Mall , put out your hand , try to break my fall , with eyes shut , typing in coordinates on a 'Smart Bomb', or flying a drone over the castle wall !

Across the reflective fields of Hill Country grass begins to escape its icy enclosure ..Black Angus leave red clay impressions bound for green pastures ..Mourning doves wail their somber retreat as first light exposes the prequel to Heaven .. Blackbirds and smoke from morning bonfires alight , the promise of daylight is scented with Oak and Hickory as fields of cotton appear to ignite . Tin roofs begin to glow , church bells awake villages on the horizon . Golden waves pan Eastern skies , Sycamores sequester abundant sunshine ..Sparrows , Chickadees and Finches gossip without end , Bluejays and Brown thrashers command the fence line once again .
Barbed wire enclosures divide the landscapes , dancing scrub Pines act as reeds , filtering the breeze with the music of natures continuity ..
Blacktop drives ribbon the lonesome acreage , goat herds graze the property frontage . Quarter , Morgan and Appaloosas quietly graze against the backdrop of nineteenth century farm houses .. White silos and red barns , gourd birdhouses , dug wells and smokehouses ..Bantam roosters and hens sift through acorns beneath two hundred year old Water Oaks ..

Through hazy , seasoned myopic eyes all the sights and sounds of woodland creatures do enchant and amaze !  Robins relay the message of my presence , White tailed deer barely render a nod and continue to graze ..
Fall Georgia skies painted by the renaissance artist , chilled zoysia and fescue cools the feet of the timid , skeptical albeit grateful introvert ..
Dirt roads pretend to run forever this morning , playful Sun hides like the gifted actress , behind gray blankets ! Resolute .. Cunning ..
White Pines bear witness to the active forest , Eastern gray squirrels signal impatiently , awaiting the call of Winter ..
Random thoughts collect like silver rainwater pools , virtual bastions of aquatic life that dot the landscape , olive brush strokes , red Maple swirls , prolific Water Oaks recall young boys in search of newts , mud puppies and tadpoles ..
Songbirds hide within briar thickets performing their daily song list for all that would give ear , rock bass and bream gorge on a bounty of white flies served by the morning breeze .. The pond is a looking glass today , sharing her piece of colorful sky for childlike imaginations such as mine , tiny frogs providing musical accompaniment with glorious song while Angelic host incessantly highlight her surface with gentle blue and green hues , soft tones ..

A fountain of afternoon life flourishing in the shadow of Summer evergreens ,  can Spider webbing capture a dream
Are fireflies perceptible from the Crescent Moon
Do Mourning Doves repetitively sing the same sad tune
Is love whispered in the wind , a wounded heart
on the mend
Will the Raven portend tomorrow , are our days merely
borrowed , should the world ever return to peace
Will my poetry ever quench my minds thirsted need* ...

Call her the child that joyfully hid in the box .. A young lady whom did speak freely without reservation , expressing herself with song on a medium of heartbreak and denial .. Whispered melodies , in constant improvisation  , imagination eventually retained , naive thoughts sadly sequestered ....
Love .. Nestlings high atop a Willow tree , expecting to fly , all that is good in the world crashing around you as you die .. The sunbeam bringing the rainbow to life , a new Moon seeking audience on a cold black night ...

My lifeblood is set adrift from the foreshore bottom land of Camp Creek .. To mingle with her fauna , patiently transfixed with the finality of life
giving sea ...Bound for the salted waters of coastal Georgia  , longing for the surety of the Atlantic's welcome embrace , for the solace of shrieking gulls , the camaraderie of sea oat and white sands , for the first rays of her morning Sun ...

To the planter offering his vegetable harvest by the roadside ..
To the purveyor of fine laying hens I pray quick exchange for her tireless labor .. Morning  , Noon into night ..
A moment of thought for Dairyman , Plowman and Farrier ..
My invocation for abundant harvest , tranquil rest and picturesque sunsets  ..

Barred Owl , Nighthawk ambient harmony ..The crash of Shellcracker
over smoky waters , the footsteps of Gray Fox and Blue Heron
audible along the shallows .. Wind swept expressions carry through statued marsh , Tree frogs , Katydids and Cicadas fill the young nightfall with varied chantey as white stars cross the impeccable , woodland firmament ..

A trillion lights bid hasty reflection
The bowed following preordained paths to
cardboard suburbia , under jet fuel rain , gnashed
in misery , some oxycontin follower , worshippers of Herod , rock ***** payback in five dollar denominations
A trick , a spittle of ***** in a ladle drawing gold from a coat pocket
Like a child's first snow , the learners license , naked in city lake
Kings with chewed teeth , bottom feeders in search of a vein , convenient Christ for **** and Jane , peanut butter for crustless sandwiches and taxed brains
Anarchy dreams , Presidential schemes , Syrian children burnt beyond
recognition , American pregnant teens , what would Jesus do ?
He's left us to our own devices* ...

Imagine powder blue , morning flowers ...
Green clover nestled beneath swirling eddies , enraptured by Summer hay and sunflower fields , the chorus of Mourning dove , Brown Thrasher and laughing Crow ..Village church bells announcing each daylight hour , quiet Sunday mornings broken by Pileated Woodpecker and Bluejay ...The smell of Honeysuckle and fresh cut grass , burning leaves and Sassafras ..

Snow capped mountain peaks , murmurations in sapphire skies ..Cloud banks seeking the closure of fallen rain , Redwoods at the whim of surging winds , yet we continually seek to disprove the presence of miracles to no end ..

If I were member of the infamous Donner Party I would know not my volition anymore than what the future has in store for even one iota , Or universe held by fingers ? .. Have no recollection nor proof , faith , benevolent God or Goddess as I witness numerous horror , afflictions, malfeasance of King and governed be it Man , Woman or Child ?
I wholeheartedly refrain slander , judgement upon societies forgotten , betrayed by countryman and Much speaks , forgotten soldiers , tortured mind , aging flesh with mania that lay abandoned upon the very dirt they committed under oath to protect ?

Curt morning Cardinal , thy gamut echoes the Pin Oak grove
Songs that travel the back country road
Scarlet harper 'neath the cane creek valley , trilling , wild berry , muscadine captaincy
Tenacious , agrarian , amusing wonder* ...

Country boy you haven't lived till you see the lights on Peachtree Street..
I could say the same thing about the fireflies on a July evening ,
The Buckhead nights on the north side of Atlanta ,
The solitude with your maker on the Chattahoochee River ..
A baseball game at Turner Field on a May afternoon ,
a flock of Wild turkey's against the setting Sun in June ..
Piedmont Park and the Botanical Garden ,
Wood Ducks feeding on a quiet , country pond in late August ..
People watching at a outdoor cafe in Midtown ,
Meditating amongst the Tall Pines with no one around ..
The High Museum and the Downtown nights ,
The morning call of Crows with the first glimmer of sunlight ..

Sister Yellow Swallowtail , please take me for an afternoon ride
To the tips of Douglas Firs with an Eagles view of rolling hillsides , o'er stained glass , picturesque Hill Country skies
For an afternoon twirl atop the tallest Oak , a flight within the Dogwoods by natural , splendid rote
A stop at Port Lake for refreshments and quiet reflection
A zig-zag trip home full of laughter and amazement* ..

Crappie running in beds along the lit docks , bridges and abutments .. Flathead catfish bigger than a grown man at the base of the dam , Largemouth bass hitting shad like battering rams , early morning , late afternoon and darkest night .. Hardwood forest brimming colorful shores , stoic Whitetail Bucks dining on acorns , field nuts and sweet moss , Canadian geese and frozen shorebirds working her tributaries and inlets .. Smokey water silhouettes relayed by whippoorwill hymns , the first angelic beam of the morn striking her poetic surface .. Lake Jackson returning to diurnal joy , across reflective , freshwater twirling plains ...

Homemade peach ice cream fresh from Gardner's Grove was a sneak peak into heaven for a seven year old boy ...

Hardware store merchant ,-blacksmith-,--cobbler-,-cooper
corner grocer and chimney sweep, relics at hand of greed ,
unfair practice and market ploy , treachery .,.American mercantilism swept into memory by shareholder , financier . Common worker unite                 nihilistically not as fascist , marxist but with thought of humanity ,first fruits delivered upon a mighty people .. For it was simple , studious men and women whom signaled the birth of mighty Columbia , core values , freedom and the common good , concern for neighbor and dignity for all her people ...

A penny for the thoughts of a prat ne'er -do-well could easily garner a million dollars from the wishing well !
The riffraffs field of dreams , vividly troubled , hurried minds with selective memories of the upmost variety !                                                                ­                      Collective apparitions rendered due diligence ? Befuddled reasoning with questionable significance !
If a kite high in the sky was their imagination it would lie in the ionosphere invisible to all of us  
Incredible tales of brave armored horsemen , fighting dragons , extraterrestrial warships !                                                                ­    Lunchtime by the mountains of Mars and Venus , catching twenty winks in the Little Dipper ?                                                                ­    Riding on a comet to the Horse Nebula , hopping from rock to rock in the Asteroid Belt ?
Beware of the creative mind with their allegations , tales that could usurp the kingdoms Court Jester !
I've zero tolerance today for fools , little green men , martians and the man on the moon ?
For I've a prior commitment this late afternoon , a spot of tea with an old chum on the plains of Neptune !

All Hallows Eve for a child was pop corn ***** , hot apple cider by the bonfire ! Roasting marshmallows , trick or treating , listening to tall tales on cool October evenings ! Caramel apples , pumpkin seeds roasted in the oven , hay rides , county fairs and ***** houses ! Hide an seek in Granny's cornfield , spin the bottle , blind man's bluff !  One potato two potato , tag in the yard , red light green light , blowing bubbles and kick ball !

Just as my physical remains are returned to the soil , my soul is born anew , cast across this very ocean . Be at ease , remain watchful , for as the return of living water at high tide parlayed with everlasting love , patience and fidelity , the seashore remaining vigilant with each breaker for intimacies nurture and embrace . The tearful void of hopelessness and despair fulfilled ! You will find me at the crest of every wave ..

We receive it freely with great joy .. Open it , lick it ,
lap it , chew it , twisting it to our satisfaction . We even put it down for a spell .. Pick it up , finish it off , remember how it tasted so good and flick the stick ..We're done ..

I've found far more solace in a German Chocolate Cake than any religion
I can think of to date ....

The big gray dog home with a Walkman on my chest ,
The long drive from Anniston , hitting every small town
to the West ...
Driver please drop me off in Hapeville , destination Kelleytown or
Covington , anyplace on Earth will do , anywhere but Fort McClellan !!

Iridescent wind sailors , bursting Silver Maples  
Wild Daises caressing red clay trails
Yellow Locust are submariners diving then reappearing  in freebooter informality
Dragonflies are strafing the Crimson valley
I find precious fuchsia bearers in sunlit strained vision
Wren song to nurture my condition
Rainwater clinging to Sycamore Trees
Musicality ... Connection .. Solidarity

Raphael held my hand as I stood
at the shore
All manner of life carried the news
of the good Earth , felled to one knee ,
spellbound before living waters
The cascading word of God ,
showered before me ...

Cold Sun with calling Raven
Morning soloist in the Cyan school tree haven
Wild berry blush , springtime zephyr maven -
relaying messages o'er crystal oceans of red wire grass
and brunette morning straw

Atlanta has about as much business being in the State of Georgia than a RC Cola and a pecan log do on the streets of Morocco*....

It's noon in a postcard town
Pedestrians gather on tidy city squares
All I can do is stare
I've nothing to offer save for a song
A tough performance before a bitter throng
Most people need nothing but a beat
Like this monotonous street
Where heartless people haphazardly meet
Walking head down , focused on their feet
They've no time for meaningful lyrics
It's a sad time for music among these urban cynics* ..

We walk the cool January forest floor , every bird shares our happiness , my Dad is a Cardinal following us from tree to tree* ..

A millstone of terrific intensity and abject tonnage , hoisted o'er
the muscled backs of goodmen , stone of great magnitude and wealth
bestowed his beloved , kindred recipients ....

A cool cloudburst from up high will cleanse this *****
metropolis ..Overfilling the gutters and storm sewers , the viaducts
and retaining ponds , filthy black tar streets , sidewalks crying for
upkeep ..
Rid this unkempt town of dreaded pollen and factory dust ,
stagnant pools of non-potable creek water , scrub the tarmac
at the city airport ..
Wash the 'Big rigs' , the trailers , the railheads , buses and the commuter locations . Shine her tall skyscrapers , her radio towers and her subway stations ..
Polish the walkways , the store fronts and the precious , park greenery ..
Refill the birdbaths , the fishing ponds and the vibrant lakeland scenery ..

Period homesteads line Peppercorn Road , meticulous working farms of corn , cotton and sorghum cultivars , rugged gravel drives cut into dried , red clay ditches , Charleston architecture cooling her Summer residents . Double story barns with white washed brick silos , picket fences and blue ribbon cattle .. Sturdy Pole barns shelters surrounded in shamrock clover , the clanging of cowbells as Dairy cows return from her glistening fields ... Catfish feeding frenzies over field corn and evening mayflies , gas porch lights illuminate the family garden with activity in Summer well into night , Crowder peas and Fordhook butter beans , Okra and Butter peas harvested free of Red wasp and Bumblebees as opposed to hungry mosquitos , red chiggers and Crane flies ... Silver washtubs on hot , humid nights , the instant relief of cool well water relieving the pang of harvest .. The creaky screen door and porch ceiling fans , white rockers and good books ...Mason jars filled with sweet tea , hearts filled with adventure and young eyes with sleep .. Coonhounds sing to the ever rising gold Moon .. All was well .. All was most certainly well ...

Cold , clear water from that hand dug well could break a spell of thirst
faster than a July thundershower , quick as a swamp rabbit running Camp Creek , swift as a Bobcat scurrying to the top of a Sycamore Tree ...
Cool as a November morning , clear as Dad's list of chores , smooth as a
fresh brushed Quarter Horse , as welcoming as the evening view of home ...

Writing our names with sparklers in the August twilight ...
Drinking homemade milkshakes , tying June bugs with sewing thread ,
Collecting fireflies in the humid night , the tail of the Milky way
in the diamond studded skies ...

My heart as well as my prayers go out to the citizens of France tonight
Godspeed comfort to the City of Lights !

My adoration before God Almighty , guised in red sunset , deep blue eyes that ignite night's golden firmament
Guiding Pelican silhouettes vying for home , Eventide peace before Tybee Island shores* ...

Today she's the green lady on the Black Sabbath album cover
Tomorrow she'll become the Morton Salt girl
On Sunday mornings my girl is Aunt Jemima followed by the
Mona Lisa in the afternoon
When she takes me by the hand she's indescribable* ...

Sharecropper's breaking the ****** land ..The braying mule at Dawn ,
the cool cascading fall line waters , the steady tolling of the iron bell at Dusk ..
The pull of the ferryman over her inland waterways , the roar of the locomotive to points south , fragrant tobacco and smoke houses , the burning of Winter fields ..
Skies filled with the doves of September , the black bears of Appalachia , the gulls of Jekyll , Cumberland and Tybee Island ..
The turned , fertile medium refreshing the sturdy October air , of diesel
motor , horse drawn cart and wooden barrow .
Late December frost lays thick along coffee-colored roadsides , the tapping of steel shoes across aged , buckling asphalt .. Winter songbirds congregate around late afternoon icy runoff , sun beams break the grip of afternoon fog ...