A Solstice Poem

And People Also Should Sing

Sunlight before seven and birds begin singing

clear music from a shy thrush deep in the woods

then orderly cadence   a song sparrow's greeting

uproar like a bazaar in orchard and bramble

proud are those song birds with established estates

brave red winged blackbirds riding on hawk's backs

purposeful finches mature in a season

listen

a quince bush is scratching the window

pollen from pussy willow   daffodil   alder

settles dry and dusty on the skin of her throat

mallards wedge the lake as he moistens her kisses

hands gentle in movement    calloused by fence posts

hard work   molding and smoothing year after year

good husbandry plants borage for long honey flow

and people also should sing.

Richard M Russell  Dick Russell

                                              2023

 Sail Far North

   for Farley Mowat

I want to sail far north

where once long ships

were seen where darkness never comes

sailors!

I want to sail far into summer

until those days when sun stands still

then go farther on when days start waning

knowing each day risks more

of over wintering 

never returning

deadly for some

who turned back too late

dangerous for us

who went on

past midsummer's day

lucky we found a river

teeming with fish

so we'd survive if we gave time

for our lives depended

we hunt and fish

make provision 

to overwinter

between knowing and unknowing

sheltered under an upturned boat

how many months could we count

when days are dark

no way to count hours

even minutes drag on

what warmth would we have

with a wall of stones beneath our boat

what oil could we burn

assuming we could light it

stars wheeling above

clear nights in winter 

a blazing moon   

showing far horizons  

fabulous places

where giant creatures

played in moonlight

I want to sail far north

to those far off days

when all those fabled places

had other name

copyright © Dick Russell 

        2014, 2023

 Cascando

simple to touch

simpler

        if not knowing

or caring not caring

but this cascando tonight

is no answer

there are white stars

& beyond them

a dawn

a brightness

there are black stars

& beyond them

an absence

an emptiness

        if we knew again

again we can't

there is only this

a nakedness

a nakedness words won't clothe

if we grow thin grow gaunt

they'll tell us we are in love

we grow thin grow gaunt

designed for three score years and ten

coping with four score years and more

love's another matter

brains digesting

are getting fatter.

Richard M Russell (C) Dick Russell

                      2023

 Contours

When I lay long-side to my love 

the slow glide of my hand traveled terrain 

applying lotion to warm curving flesh 

unencumbered by black bikini ties

When I lay long-side to my love

When head on my hand I looked in her eyes

elbow propped in sand my hand inner thigh

she soon was above me her head framed by the sky

as the slow slide of my hands traveled terrain

When I lay long-side to my love

Richard M Russell  Dick Russell

                             2023

Winter Solstice in Hawaii

When Jupiter moved through Aquarius

west southwest of Hawaii

brighter by far than surrounding stars

in the dark before dawn

 

majestic, a manta-ray swam into sight

showing a white wing-like fin slicing

turning on its axis to repeat again

sucking plankton from a pool of light

 

so, a hinge opens on the solstice

separating sunlight strands from shadows

majestic Jupiter reborn as the Sun

turns winter into spring just by coming.

Dick Russell (C) Richard M Russell

      2023