Day 33 of Shelter-in-Place

A month of days at home. Tedious. No gatherings. Interactions at a distance. Even a moody sky. Surely, introverts become restless, too.



Day 33 of Shelter-in-Place


A hawk kind of day,
melancholy drifting across a cello

like the harrier riding the thermals,
        climbing then dropping,
looping past sky-scraping windows.

No air-force-blue skies,
   no streamers of sunshine,
      no majorettes or marching bands
           on Main Street, USA.

Only the pizzicato chirps of wrens
beneath a glissading bird of prey.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Arraignment

Years ago in the days following Easter, I used to slip into a nearby church empty on weekday afternoons. I went primarily for the serenity but also for the aroma of flowers that promised spring.



Arraignment


The smell of lilies
in April is
cathedral silence
sunlit by saints
in stained glass cool
before a white field
of altar flowers
in essence sent peace.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Something Lost

These days I find more people than usual walking/running/jogging around a nearby lake. "Shelter-in-place but it's okay to exercise outdoors" drives most of them. But nature, herself, hasn't changed, so why not tune in?



Something Lost


Joggers, runners, and walkers
intent on their workout
stare pointedly ahead.
Wires dangle from earplugs
connected to distractors
tucked discreetly in clothes.

With ears stoppered
how will they hear
the songs of spring warblers,
silvery notes of snowmelt,
shouts of kids dashing by on bikes,
the laughter of fellow travelers,
wind tousling the trees,
or the two-note call of chickadees?


The music of life in surround sound
as they pound by, oblivious.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Winter Rain

At the beginning of March I flew to Phoenix for a national conference. Three weeks ago Coronavirus was but an annoying blip on the radar. And I needed a dose of warm weather and sunshine.



Winter Rain

A desert monsoon blindsides me,
batters me as I bob and weave

beneath resort overhangs like a quail
seeking shelter under prickly pears.

Slate-grey clouds strip days of warmth,
give lie to the moniker "Valley of the Sun."

Drenched, I pause before a door
that will not open.

Rain ricochets as cactus wrens
across the way huddle in saguaros

with no need for room keys nor rain gear.
Sniffles plague my head

like the storm rolling across the Southwest,
and the niggling possibility of Coronavirus.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

In the Forest

I love to hear the wind come up in the forest. There is something special about the sound, especially since I grew up on the plains where the wind is a constant presence.



In the Forest


a boreal blow rumbles into a rush
from deep within its chest

the sighs of wood sprites
echo through firs on fitful drafts

and murmurs emerge from breezes
before birch leaves think to ripple.

Nuances of wind
            rustle through timberlands,

remain a mystery to its prairie sib
     who whistles but one tune
at two tempos: moderato or presto.

A zephyr, a mistral, a trumpet
without a mute playing on an open stage
                       from Texas to the Dakotas.

But the tenor of wildwood storms
sounds increasingly like those found

on the plains,
and those on the plains now occur
more frequently with the fortissimo

of musicians on a high
          supplied by Mother Nature
                                     and courtesy of us.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Busy Bodies

The warmth of spring encourages all signs of life, including the stirring of insects. Asian beetles are reawakening one by one inside our cabin which led me to thinking about last year's nearby hornets and our neighbor's distress.



Busy Bodies


The snows of winter will settle
on an abandoned masterpiece,
but Gary will no longer care.

Like an upside-down swirl
of meringue clinging to a string
of spun sugar

a hornet's nest sways
in a patch of trees off our drive.
The whorled, lightweight hive

deserves a photo spread
in House and Home. But my neighbor
itches to spray away the busy hub.

Mercifully, autumn now rules.
Sightings of the queen
and her legions grow more rare

and soon Gary
will be fending off insects
down in heavy, Florida air.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Red Sky at Morning

"To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven." Ecclesiastes



Red Sky at Morning


A glance at a sunrise
staining the horizon
with tangerine and cranberry
beneath masses of dour clouds,
abruptly forgotten
at a friend's discovery
of her son
lifeless on the couch.

A phalanx of black umbrellas
popping up across the city.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Wayward Bird

The winter here has been a rollercoaster ride: arctic plunges followed by spring like temps. And on one of those days I swear I heard a robin.



Wayward Bird


A songbird
in frosted February
sings spring too soon.

A memo misread
or tossed off? A coat
of hope his sole protection.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Sedition in the Garage

Andrew has been keeping a close eye on mouse activity up at the lake. So far, the cabin remains free of the critters, but the garage proved to be a different story.



Sedition in the Garage


Three bold mice, three cold mice
Freestyle surfing on a floor of ice.

All avoided the traps of the man
Thumbed their noses at his video-cam
Danced to the tune of a French cancan
And saluted each other with little pink hands.

The man irate as the Wonderland Queen
Watched them carouse on an iPad screen
Cried, "Off with their heads!" and plotted schemes
Which only worked in his wildest dreams.

Finally, decided to seal the door
Pounded on stripping that hugged the floor
Closely scanned for varmints once more
But observed in vain for hours galore.

Did you ever hear such boring advice
As banning the garage as a dancing site?
Not so the man who didn't think twice
Of booting a trio of brazen mice.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Here and There

Once in a poetry workshop we had to incorporate the first line of three different poems into a poem of our own. The lines I chose were by James Wright, May Swenson, and A. C. Swinburne. They are italicized in order by poet in this week's blog.



Here and There


Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota
snow lies thick on the open landscape
like a scene from Dr. Zhivago
with its feeling of disquiet for both
the main character and me.
He absorbed in thought, traveling by horse,
me driving a car distractedly,
neither of us close to home.
Sweeping stretches of whitewash
flow over the Siberian steppe, but here
fenced farmland defines parcels of property
wrapped in winter.
Rag of black, shred of kite
caught on barbed wire to my right
wave stiff in the wind
like the Hammer and Sickle
on the Red Army train detaining him.
State Patrol cars carry no flags
but lights and sirens stir concerns
as it pulls me off the unfamiliar road.
Pasternak's protagonist, myself
released with stern warnings,
me about my speeding, him about his life.
Alone again in the countryside I witness
boxcars behind a black engine
roar past, the dregs of the day drifting
in behind. I blink my eyes, and the crimson
end lights on the last car disappear,
and I am back in rural America
here, where the world is quiet.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Surrealism

Up to the lake the past few days. The trees look stark without their leafy coverings, but the snow is beautiful.



Surrealism


An army of gaunt, Giacometti trees
guard the lakefront. Towering

thirty to forty feet, slender as shafts,
and flourishing up north.

The leaves of summer, the carmine
of autumn disguise their lankiness

but the acid-wash of winter
exposes a lean and hungry look

like boniness cast in bronze.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

January at the Cabin

Andrew and I decided to feed the birds again at the cabin, but only in winter while the neighborhood bears hibernate. I have to say it's a good thing we aren't the birds only source of food.



January at the Cabin


Early this morning
the sun stepped out

before it realized how frigid
the air

then tucked itself
under a handy throw of clouds.

So far, only a lone raven
and two jays

brave the winter breezes.
Outside our window

no chickadees or juncos
forage for food

despite the newly seeded feeder,
our monthly handouts too erratic.

A few weeks of no cracked corn
and skepticism prevails

before they spot our time limited,
all-you-can-eat-buffet.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Winter's Eve

I was reminded yesterday as I drove in the snow and cold of January in Minneapolis that no matter the weather or time of year someone will always be at a stop sign, looking for a handout, and much worse off than I will ever be. I came across this gentleman earlier in the season.



Winter's Eve


Half rain, half sleet
drops from above as worn
wipers squeak in protest,
leaving a drizzle thin arc.

A man with a sorry
stocking hat plastered
to his hair stands on a street
corner, head cocked, listening

to which whispers?
A wilted cardboard sign
held in ungloved fingers
fades into the gloom

with its scrawled plea.
Occasionally, cars stop
and arms emerge, wave a bill.
Clad in a torn jeans jacket

he clutches the money, smiles,
nods, slips on icy patches.
My car creeps forward, heater
humming. The cold and slush

an annoyance to me, not the icy
misery that dictates his day
the mere thickness of a glass pane
away. His watery eyes meet mine.

I have to believe it is help
that I hand through my window.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Lost Idyll

One thing I love about the cabin in winter is the profound quiet of deep snow. The way it muffles the earth with thick, white batting.

One thing I have also learned is that it is impossible to completely escape the noise of today's world.



Lost Idyll


Twelve degrees and still.
Chimney smoke drifts
like a windless sail tacking
nowhere. Fine lace runners
of tatted snowflakes grace
balsams circled by deer tracks
and squirrel markings.
Only fat jays fragment
the crystallized sunshine
        -   a cappella   -
discounting the snowmobiles
barreling through the forest.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor