Blue Jay

Blue Jay / oil on black canvas / 5x7 / unframed / $68 includes shipping

sold! 

IN THE EVENING YESTERDAY, Justin came and mowed the lawn. It was chilly and windy, and he was dressed like the Unabomber, in a dun-colored jacket with the hood pulled up, and a baseball hat underneath. 

My yard is tiny, but the grass was high, unmowed since October. Justin buzzed through in his huge lawnmower, finishing in moments, then whacked the weeds and blew the pine needles off the little back decking area, and then he was gone. 

As dusk lowered into night, the rich, deep smell of the spring soil, cooling after the day's warmth, underlined the fresh, bright-green smell of the grass. I stood in the nearly dark yard and watched the dogs race around, surprised and delighted by the short lawn, and I thought about Peter, and how he would have stood here with me, enjoying this simple, lovely moment. 

***

For Today

Refugee

Loneliness terrific beats on my heart,

Bending the bitter broken boughs of pain.

Stunned by the onslaught that tears the sky apart

I stand with unprotected head against the rain. 

Loneliness terrific turns to panic and to fear.

I hear my footsteps on the stairs of yesteryear,

Where are you?  Oh, where are you?

Once so dear.

- Langston Hughes