A place to be still
I love to be outside but my knees do not always cooperate. So, I make certain I have a place to sit on my walk-about. I love my concrete bench. I get a great view of the yard. In spring there are crocuses. At this time of year, a huge patch of sensitive fern. In fall there will be red maple leaves. But the bench is cold. Not a place to sit for long! Not a place to linger.
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A place to be still
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Cold concrete,
embedded, still,
where leaves
of purple crocus
press through turf,
sensitive fern
overtakes lawn,
autumn builds
layer on layer.
Cold concrete,
embedded, still.
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All my best,
Jane
Birdbath
Our copper birdbath includes a silver-coloured metal bird, in case no real birds come to call. In the shade of the maple tree the water shimmers. But the little silver bird never flutters, not even a feather.
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birdbath
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embedded in dapple
edge of copper
silver bird never moves
never flutters a feather
never pecks a sparkle
from crystal water
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bird with heartbeat
and dusty wing-feathers
lands for a bath
sputters and splashes
chooses to ignore
immobile effigy
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All my best,
Jane
faerie, one wing, frowns
faerie, one wing
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frowns at the hesitant
fluff of feathers
perched on her finger
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this creature has
two wings,
can fly
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wonders where
verdigris
and copper
wingtip
flew to ?
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stands
in a blue and green
periwinkle sea
and, earthbound,
scowls
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All my best,
Jane
book festival and fair
This weekend, I will be part of the Metro Moncton Book Festival, a great event for all booklovers! Just have a look at all the authors who will be there with their books.
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I will be there with all my books. All my books are illustrated so you can have a look at some of my artwork too.
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Are you interested in edible wild plants? Do you love covered bridges?
Do you love science fiction or a good love story?
If you are the Moncton area, I hope to see you there!
All my best,
Jane
Butterfly Etude
I have not played the piano for years. Not a great tragedy as I was never very good and playing made me nervous, afraid to fail. But there are some bits of music I will know forever because I learned to play them. One is Chopin’s Butterfly Etude (Etude Opus 25, no. 9). A difficult piece, full of octave stretches and staccatos. And it perfectly captures the erratic whim-of-the-wind flight of most butterflies.
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Etude Opus 25, No. 9
Chopin’s Butterfly Etude
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cloud to clover
graceless flight path
earth to sky
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wrist staccato
octave stretches
disarticulated flight
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flirt and quiver
tip and stumble
clouded sulphur
butterfly
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all my best,
Jane
what would a home look like on a fictional planet?
You may not be aware – I keep two blogs, one to consider subjects about real places and one to explore my ideas about science-fiction. If you are interested, click on over to www.offplanet.blog. This week’s post is about the homes the characters use in my planet Meniscus stories. You wouldn’t trade your home for any of these! Lots of illustrations too!
Best wishes!
Jane
rafting event – what to carry when you leave home
A few years ago, I was thinking of writing a series of poems about plant pollination and dispersal. It seemed a great idea. Poems about bumble bees and butterflies, ultra-violet landing strips and hummingbirds. Poems about burr baskets, rafting events, maple samara and dandelion parachutists. I wrote the poem below and found it so depressing, I abandoned the project. Now, as I sort through my library and wonder which books to keep, the poem seems appropriate.
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rafting event – a type of biological dispersal that occurs when terrestrial organisms transfer from one land mass to another by way of a water crossing. Often this occurs via large rafts of floating vegetation, sometimes seen floating down major rivers in the tropics and washing out to sea, occasionally with animals trapped on them. (Source Wikipedia)
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rafting event
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Let the door handle slip
from your hand, leave
the home you’ve tried to know.
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Behind a deadpan face, dry tears
and palpitations, carry knowledge
away on a frail raft.
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Peterson Field Guides and Salinger,
a poem by Shelley,
three Shakespearean sonnets.
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They cling to the raft, these bits
of memory, rely on slippery
fronds of rough-glued vegetation.
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Recalled when someone asks
the writers you prefer or claim to have read.
You say, ‘the collected works of Heaney’.
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And is there an island where
new roots can catch and old seeds germinate?
The choice – survival or well-read.
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Hear the hinges do their work –
the dead bolt slips into the lock,
last home you will ever know.
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Copyright 2018
Jane Tims
butterfly
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butterfly
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scrap of paper
plucked from my hand
wind a tease
always one wing beat
beyond the finger tip
attempts to read
its delicate code
of dots
and dashes
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a yellow Post-it note
folded on the tower
of a blue sky cornflower
a tatter
a musical note
set to the panic
of butterfly flight
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a curtsy and away
across the field
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pursued by a butterfly net
and a killing jar
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Copyright Jane Spavold Tims 2018
Safe place for a nest
No surprise to me … a robin has built a nest in the eaves of our house. Eighteen feet above the ground, this is a safe place for a nest. The robin does not think so. When I sit on the deck for my daily cup of tea, the robin sits in a near-by tree and scolds me. He gives a single annoyed chirp. If a robin could scowl, he is certainly scowling.
What’s in the bag? The answer …
Thank you so much for all your guesses. If you saw my blog posts about my AeroGarden and the mystery plant, you may have guessed the right answer. I also gave a hint in the comments … Fannie Flagg. So if you know the title of her best known book, one of my favourites, you may have guessed correctly!
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The correct answer is: green tomatoes! I have harvested about sixty tiny tomatoes from my AeroGarden, and they ripened very well in the paper bag. I have had about ten ripe tomatoes per day for the last week. All this from my mystery plant.
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Fifteen people guessed what was in the bag, nine correctly. The answers were generally entertaining, so this is what I will do. On Friday at noon, at the Authors Coffee House (see below), I will draw for one copy of my book ‘within easy reach’ from those who answered correctly. Then I will draw for another copy of the book from all those who answered, correct or not. If you happen to win and already own ‘within easy reach’, it would make a great gift for someone you know.
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Thanks for guessing what was in the paper bag. Lots of fun!
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All my best,
Jane
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On Friday at noon, Pat Post (a.k.a. Rosalie Lawrence) will be reading from her memoir “Scent from Above” at our Authors Coffee House, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Nasonworth. Chili and rolls for lunch! Free will donation to Cat Rescue Maritimes.
nichepoetryandprose 