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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

The Morning Porch
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American goldfinch

October 26, 2008 by Dave Bonta

Blue sky morning. A goldfinch flock moves down the ridge on its squeaky wheel. I’m not, I realize, an optimist; I’m in love with optimism.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags American goldfinch
June 30, 2008 by Dave Bonta

I realize suddenly that my yard is devoid of bull thistles this year. Could the goldfinches really have consumed every one of the seeds?

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags American goldfinch
June 16, 2008 by Dave Bonta

The clear air makes for sharp contrasts between shadows and patches of sunlight, sewn together by three goldfinches on a high-speed chase.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags American goldfinch
January 28, 2008 by Dave Bonta

White ground, gray sky, and the temperature just below freezing. The wind curls around the house like a dog’s tail. A flock of goldfinches.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags American goldfinch
November 14, 2007 by Dave Bonta

White sky, white noise from the highway over the ridge. The goldfinches wake all at once, a querulous babble of squeaky wheels.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags American goldfinch, I-99
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On This Day

  • December 30, 2024
    Big winds are rummaging through the treetops for a dawn chorus of squeaks and groans. A bright wedge opens in the clouds. The wren wakes…
  • December 30, 2023
    Overcast at dawn. A cold kiss—snowflakes in the air. When the sunrise comes, it’s only evident in the caws of crows.
  • December 30, 2022
    Under a gray lid of cloud, the sound of steady dripping as roofs shed their snow. A cat lying in ambush has its cover blown…
  • December 30, 2020
    A partly sunny sky turns to gloom—the reverse of my mental state as caffeine kicks in. The wren’s call begins to sound less agitated than…
  • December 30, 2019
    A pause in the rain. Under a dripping cedar limb, two filmy-winged winter insects dance side by side, pogoing like airborne punks.

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)

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