100 Days of Poetry: Days 61-65

South Dakota Childhood

(more a sketch of memories than a poem)

Rosebushes soaking in the bathtub
Sledding trails worn in the mounds of snow dotting the playground
Lilac bushes bent into an arch under the weight of yesterday's blizzard
Miles upon miles of sunflowers
Barn cats wrestling in the hay
Two wooden seats side by side in the outhouse
Icicles popping on the wood stove in the mudroom
Disco lights flickering on the roller rink on a Friday night
Muddy stockyards on the edge of town
Walking the alley home for lunch
Teeter-totters all recess long
Sunday school in the attic
Cold locker room showers and colder swimming pool
Looking up and up and up at the high dive
Watching the Sioux Falls girls kill it in gymnastics
Watching the water tower sway above me
Tumbleweeds scuttling along a dusty road
Swimming in the cow pond, catfish nipping my heels
Flat prairie in my rearview mirror
Southern adventures await

South Dakota Memories

(haiku sonnet)

Barn cats in the hay
Wooden seats in the outhouse
Cow pond swimming hole

Miles of sunflowers
Tumbleweeds dance in the wind
Stockyard aroma

Mother's rose garden
Lilac bush heavy with snow
Apple tree mornings

Frigid swimming pool
Sunday afternoon baseball
Water tower dreams

Prairie in our rearview mirror
Southern adventures await

Basketball Haiku

March Madness bracket
Fell apart in Sweet Sixteen
Drat that Texas Tech!

Insomnia

Wide awake, night sweats
2 AM, reset my dreams
Desperate for sleep

Early Spring

Sunshine opens my windows, turns my gray winter mood
Upside down
Nudging buds into flower on the rhododendron bushes to the side of the house
Sending songbirds into rhapsodies of melody
Heavenly artwork reflects on the surface of the lake
I catch my breath at the miracle of spring
Newly awakening
Expectant