clouds – The Morning Porch/Patio

Sunday January 12, 2020

Dave Bonta January 12, 2020 0

A yellow gash appears in the clouds to the east and heals up again. The cardinal attacks his reflection. Military jets howl over, unseen.

Dave Bonta January 11, 2020 0

Unseasonably warm. A patchy gray sky. Gliding high above the trees, a vulture, unseasonably far north.

Dave Bonta January 9, 2020 0

Cold and still. Mares’ tails running north-south slowly soften into wool. Fresh tire tracks on the road. A crow’s distant note of protest.

Dave Bonta December 24, 2019 1

Clouds slowly thin. Facing southeast, I watch tree branches turn to black latticework against the sun as it sharpens from smear to blaze.

Dave Bonta December 11, 2019 1

Fast-moving clouds make the illumination of the hillside as sudden and surprising as a magician’s trick. Fallen leaves turn over one by one.

Dave Bonta November 27, 2019

Late morning, and it’s still not fully light—the clouds are too heavy. The sound of rain on the dry leaves like fat sizzling in a fryer.

Dave Bonta November 23, 2019

Clouds slowly vanish in the blue—like my own puffs of breath, but slower. Chickadees; a nuthatch. The forest floor goes from glow to shine.

Dave Bonta November 4, 2019

Another bright-sky morning that slowly turns white. A shy coal tit waits till all the other birds are gone to launch a sortie on the suet.

Dave Bonta October 26, 2019

Dawn. A gull flies sideways below lowering clouds. The silhouette of a small cat appears on the wall behind the neighbor’s bird feeder.

Dave Bonta October 11, 2019

Wind-blown mizzle. Clank and rattle at the end of the block as workers disassemble scaffolding, safety-green coats against the gray clouds.