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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, common yellowthroat, rain 2 Comments
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On This Day

  • November 24, 2024
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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)

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