Forest Song
Flowers down the mountainside,
Fire on the horizon.
Lupines thick as a waterfall,
Clouds as hued as heaven.

Purple clouds of majesty,
Yellow laughing levity,
Orange streaks of bubbling exuberance,
Pink puffs of winsome effulgence,
And a deep blue sky reaching overhead,
Softly putting the sun to bed.

Lupines in the moonlight,
Pale as snow.
On a new moon night,
The stars are aglow
In clusters made of a million gems
That wink at the rising of the sun again.

Scarf Dance
My mother knits me scarves,
Worn each day of the week.
Some are wide and large,
Others long and sleek.
They come in many colors,
Stripes, sparkles and fuzz -
Budding pink in delicate lace,
Soft, long green and brown,
Black and white all intermixed,
Purple with flying sparks to twist,
And one that's thick and long and warm,
Swirling with the colors of the sea in a swarm,
All shades of the most bewitching blue
Touched with glitter of changing hue.

How to Capture a Moment
First, you start with the people -
A happy couple, their two half grown
Children, and a slightly wrinkled lady
With soft brown hair and
Twinkling eyes that only such a lady can have.
Now, set the place: an outdoor restaurant,
Situated on the water
(Water that comes, no less, than from the great
Pacific, for this is an island).
There are lights strewn about
In many playful colors
And sunkissed palm trees over
Stone patios softened
By sandy feet.
The atmosphere of a moment
Is captured in the smells, the sounds -
The smell of the sea and fresh plates of
Island food, the clamor of people
Talking and laughing with those they love.
A guitarist, a young local woman,
Plays Hawaiian songs and Hawaiian infused songs
Of pop culture.
As the strings pluck and the wind and waves
Romp with each other on the beach, you can now
Describe the precise moment:
Someone has said something amusing,
And another has responded with an uproarious
Comeback, and the table of five erupts
Into smiles exploding with laughter.
They sit back, tossing tears from the
Eyes, and they look around
And listen
And though the entire evening progresses
As the sun sets over the ocean
And the winds toss with unceasing fervor
The whole event exists as one moment, one
Memory
In the minds of each -
Of the musical dinner they spent together
After a day in the sand and the sun and the sea.