Once in a...
December 31, 2009
Blue Moon, Celery Farm.
Happy New Year!
December 2009
Charley West CF Poetry -- Autumn
December 31, 2009
Photo by Barbara Dilger
The Farm (IV – Autumn)
By Charley West
Leaves of crimson, green, and gold
Reach the hearts of young and old.
Thus is Autumn’s presence told.
Dying grasses clog the creek,
In the shadows minnows streak.
Berries too have passed their peak.
Still the remnants birds do seek.
Swollen from the summer rain,
Water levels rise again.-
In luxury the herps now reign,
Looking lovely - acting vain.
Celsius slides to lower range.
Mammal coats reflect the change. -
Some grow thick - some look strange -
Like a puzzle disarranged.
Daylight wanes each passing date.
Migration flights accelerate.
At Appert’s towers minions wait,
Embellished stories to relate.
At the Farm in Autumn.
Celery Farm Poetry by Charley West: Summer
December 30, 2009
The Farm (III – Summer)
By Charley West
Near his zenith - all aglow -Helios warms all below.
Beneath his blanket species grow,
Nature’s abundance now on show.
Outwardly the stage seems tame,
Yet Survival rules the game.
Hunters stalk and prey they claim,
Raptors hover without shame.
Fishes sense the baleful press,
Seek to hide in water cress,
Striving hard to reach excess -
Putting herons to the test.
Mossy islands cruise the flats,
Missing cygnets - fatal stats.
Insects face edacious bats -
Warm-bloods too no caveats.
The gauntlet run - the strong survive- -
Song and color come alive.
Trees and plants and birds contrive -
Thus does exultation thrive.
At the Farm in Summer.
Celery Farm Poetry by Charley West: Spring
December 29, 2009
The Farm (II – Spring)
By Charley West
By measured pace - glacial slow,Heat and light both daily grow.
Snow and ice are first to go.
A rapid melt does mud bestow.
Buds and shoots begin to sprout.
Vivid flowers their colors shout.
Bugs and birds are all about.
Spring’s arrived- there is no doubt.
Trees and shrubs complete the scene.
What was gray has morphed to green.
Romance lurks as creatures preen.
Mating dances gone unseen.
Nesting instincts upwards soar.
Existing hollows ease the chore.
Urgent needs not to ignore- -
What was two will soon be four.
Birthing’s quite a varied thing.
Some will bark and others sing.
Newborns each will rightly bring.
Closure to the cycle’s ring.
At the Farm in Spring.
Pileated!
December 28, 2009
Jeff Aughery writes: "I could not have written a better script for Sunday's birding trip to Skylands Manor in Ringwood.
"Not 1 but 2 Pileated Woodpeckers within 20 feet of me, the first ones I have ever seen, and another first, a Bald Eagle photo."
Thanks, Jeff! Now all we need is someone to share some pix on the Campgaw Redhead. :- )