Backyard

A soft gentle cool breeze whispers around quiet awakening green

The sound of so many birds singing abounds

Tall trees aged and growing whined around still overcast skies

The sun rising over the front side of the house

The backside shaded, for now, it is morning

An edge of light aligns with the back fence 23 paces from where I sit

The shade creeps toward me

Hal’s Bleeding Hearts red and white blossom to my right

A fire pit of his brick collection is buried a bit offset to the left

Tree stumps surround the fire pit each sawed off top colored different

A pair of hammock-like swings sway from high branches

Clover in bundles dapple the Orlando sandy surface

A large bird of pray rides in circles just below almost clouds

Spanish moss-like upside-down hair pieces dangle from sinewy branches

The distant sound of a jet interrupts the nearby sky

A dog frustrated barks at a closed door, but not for long

Fuchsia dots in the distance, maybe bougainvillea

The sun continues to slide towards the shade receding

Mostly green I see including my green shoes

Upon a bright orange round table, coffee cup sits

A small white metal vase holds fresh-cut bleeding hearts

A trail of oak leaves makes a path across the tabletop

Bug spray sits there too, awaiting hungry mosquitoes

Linda’s Chinese lanterns faded swirl from the hibiscus

Beneath the hibiscus sits a small town - Fairy Town to be exact

The hibiscus old and dying its flowers small and few between blooming

Can’t forget the lizards they are everywhere

There is a wooden slatted fence to the left of me

Each post dug by hand by Linda and I

The remainder of the yard is squared off by chainlink

Vines and Ferns weave in and out of the diamond pattern

Spiraling, the lightning struck partially fallen tree grows a giant leafy vine

The leaf's heart-shaped and variegated in color

Butter yellow and shimmering green

Sized from dinner plates to giant platters

The largest of the leaves have tears edge to stem like feathers pulled apart

Where the massive tree limb fell from the giant heart leaves now camouflage the wound

A scarf of hearts around a headless set of shoulders

Here comes the ice cream truck

fa la la la la - la - la - la - la along with a chimed version of Christ The Savior Is Born

Its “Florida” is all that I can say

Most days I see butterflies but not today

Amongst all the glowing green a singular purple flower blooms

Mexican Petunia, it’s called

I only know this because its name sign is buried in the ground beside it

The edge of light that was at the fence line is now my height away from me 5’9”

The sun moves so fast when you are writing about it

The shifty clouds make the edge of shade fade in and out

The clouds drift and the edge of shade sharpens and creeps towards me

A fine line drawn in the ground cover

Can’t really call it a lawn because there are so many kinds of green stuff growing

Here in the backyard

The full Sun will find me soon

My coffee has grown tepid

Morning is over

“All is calm all is bright (damn, Ice Cream Truck)”

Circling the sun

Another year begins.