Skip to content

The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

The Morning Porch
  • About
  • Subscribe/Follow
  • On This Day
  • Keyword index
  • Links
    • Via Negativa
    • Moving Poems
    • DaveBonta.com
    • Woodrat Photoblog

Month: May 2012

August 26, 2012May 17, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Sun in the treetops. A squirrel hangs head-down from a walnut branch to eat the flowers. My lover combs the tangles from her long hair.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags black walnut, gray squirrel 3 Comments
May 16, 2012 by Dave Bonta

The air is so clear, I can see individual specks of pollen. In the field, the long grass sways under the restless wings of a female harrier.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags northern harrier, pollen 2 Comments
May 15, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Chipmunks chase in the driveway. A hummingbird hovers beside the porch, sipping rainwater from a spiderweb in the tall weeds.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags chipmunks, rain, ruby-throated hummingbird, spiderwebs
May 14, 2012 by Dave Bonta

The female robin leaves her nest in the cedar and lands at the edge of the driveway, gives herself a thorough shake and takes a shit.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags American robin, cedar tree 1 Comment
May 13, 2012 by Dave Bonta

The first purple irises are opening along the rock wall, their three petals descending like the landing gear on spaceships.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags garden, iris 1 Comment
May 12, 2012 by Dave Bonta

A muffled knocking from inside the dead elm. A flicker’s head pops out of a hole and flings a billful of wood chips into the sun.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags elm, flicker 3 Comments
May 7, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Under a heavy gray sky, the trees are so green they almost seem to throb. Two does chase through the deep grass, as playful as fawns.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags deer 1 Comment
May 25, 2024May 6, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Cloudy and cool. The small black ants on the peony buds move sluggishly as lovers stunned by charismatic moons.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags ants, peonies
May 5, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Thin fog. A flicker is excavating a den hole in the dead elm on the other side of the yard, his head almost disappearing into the tree.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags elm, flicker, fog 1 Comment
May 3, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Sun struggles through the humid air: a golden glow. The leaves look twice as big as yesterday, animated by the buzzy calls of warblers.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags sunrise, warblers 3 Comments
May 2, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Dawn. As light grows, more and more shades of green and gold emerge from the forest shadows. Bell-like notes of the first wood thrush.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags dawn, wood thrush 1 Comment
May 1, 2012 by Dave Bonta

An hour past sunrise. The downpour past, a Carolina wren and a common yellowthroat both sing in fast waltz time.

Share on social media

  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, common yellowthroat, rain 2 Comments
Newer posts
← Previous Page1 Page2

FOLLOW VIA EMAIL

Pick up a free subscription (with options for daily and weekly digests) courtesy of WordPress.com.

Join 278 other subscribers

On This Day

  • January 23, 2025
    Out before dawn. The roofline’s lone icicle glitters in the light of a moon grown thin and sharp. Out of the corner of my eye,…
  • January 23, 2024
    As below, so above, the trees marooned in a flat whiteness no less absolute than that of a blank page, albeit one navigated by squirrels.
  • January 23, 2023
    An inch of wet snow clinging to everything. The juncos and chickadees sound the most excited I’ve heard them in a month—which might also be…
  • January 23, 2022
    A warmer morning, and all the birds are calling: Carolina wren, robin, crows, a flicker. Squirrels chase back and forth across the snow.
  • January 23, 2021
    The one-time slush pile in the yard looks hard as a wind-dried bone. The tall pines sigh in their sleep. I begin to lose feeling…

See all...

Related book

Cover of Ice Mountain with a linocut of a big ridgetop tree.

What I do after I sit on the porch. One winter and spring's daily walks distilled into short poems with linocut illustrations by Beth Adams.

Header image: detail from Paper Garden by Clive Hicks-Jenkins (used by permission)

Copyleft

Creative Commons License
All works on this site by Dave Bonta are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

© 2026 The Morning Porch • Built with GeneratePress