So fortunate to have 3 poems published this morning by Lothlorien Poetry Journal. My thanks to editor Strider Marcus Jones for the acceptance. Here’s the first one.

Breakfast with Squirrels 
 
I take my coffee out back to drink in the cool  
before another sun-seared day. Hummingbirds  
keep me company, hovering between penstemon  
and hyssop, buzzing my yellow cup before drinking  
long at the honeysuckle. Dragonflies duel above  
the pond, vying to rule this spring-fed kingdom. 

Oh yes, the squirrels . . .  
who peer at me from fence posts, sharp black eyes  
and chatter, asking for breakfast. I toss some peanuts  
into the flowers, and they are down in seconds, quarreling 
over the best spots under draping plume grass or near  
the daisies and lupine. They look like they’re saying grace  
in a tiny sanctuary, perched on their haunches, tails  
curled like a monk’s cowl, peanuts held in their paws  
as a supplication to this summer morning.