Somewhere along the Northway: 43°33'00"N 73°44'04"W

Crickets chirp,
Undaunted by the sound of passing traffic.
I stop to rest, exhausted,
19 hours into a long day,
Lulled into slumber by their cheery call
And the white noise of the highway.

Traveling 'long the Androscoggin

Traveling 'long the Androscog
A thin late summer morning fog
Warm & lazy, kind of hazy
Queen Anne's lace & cranberry bog

Ravens croaking on the shore
They might be calling nevermore
One lone maple blushing red
Hints of Autumn up ahead

Circle of Friends (Meadowlark XI)

If I could package up this place
Take it with me everywhere
No shadows cross this happy face
We'd have life's love to share.

If I could package up these friends
Take them with me everywhere
No shadows cross this happy face
We'd have life's love to share.

If I could package this harmony
To take with you everywhere
No shadows cross your happy face
We'd have life's love to share.

If I could package this one last waltz
Take it with me everywhere
No shadows cross your happy face
We'd have life's love to share.

If I could give just this one song
Take it with me everywhere
No shadows cross this happy face
We'd have life's love to share.

words & music copyright @ Michael R. Martin 2007
Meadowlark • Washington ME • August 2007

Live from Meadowlark

It is the friends you make in life that makes life great*.

(*among other things - hey, I am a scientist. We survive on qualifiers)

Dogs

Old dog.
Young dog.
Old dog lies with one front paw tucked under,
head up, eyes blinking slowly.
Watching, sleeping.
Young dog lies feet splayed,
attentively gnawing on rawhide chew.
Old dog rises, turns, then lies again,
head down, breathing slowly,
staring eyes that slowly close.
Young dog keeps on chewing.

I feel more like the old dog,
pensively resting, watching,
slow.

And the young dog hops up and tosses the rawhide,
then chases it down,
while the old dog barely raises an eyebrow.

Hummingbird

A hummingbird came by my house today. She hovered along the windows that line the eastern & southern walls of my living room, looking through each one in turn. Then flitted away.
But she returned again, to peer once more. What the hell does she want from me?!
It's just a crazed bird, attracted by some glittering color within, not the carrier of some passed soul here to deride me. Right?

Autumn in the Air

Cool as midnight silk,
Chilled shade,
is Adirondack Air.
Warmth of August sun
on surface made,
comfort fair.
~~~~~~~~~
Breathe sweet
the sunlit dew,
as crickets sing
their summer tune.
Mist in valleys
rise on cue,
Autumn fortold
within the view.

Adirondack return

A cold rain falls
On verdant trees;
Chill, damp,
woodsmoke-draped breeze;
Arctic mountain air.
Home.

Gilmanton - August 2007

Morning,
Gilmanton .
Mourning dove.
Chickadee.
Nuthatch.
Clear notes of distant trush.
Sunbeams flood wooded mist,
Sweetfern against stonewall.
Salmander moss carpets oak canopy
Where 35 years of mowing has yet to yield lawn.
Once home,
now Gilmanton in the morning.