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Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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spicebush swallowtail butterfly

September 2, 2016 by Dave Bonta

Cool and autumnal. In the overgrown garden, a faded spicebush swallowtail searches the faded orange cups of butterfly milkweed for a drink.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags butterfly weed, spicebush swallowtail butterfly
May 2, 2010 by Dave Bonta

Tiger and spicebush swallowtails circle the white lilac. Leaves blow backwards. A ruby-throated hummingbird hovers a foot from my nose.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags ruby-throated hummingbird, spicebush swallowtail butterfly, tiger swallowtail butterfly 1 Comment

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On This Day

  • December 7, 2024
    For twenty minutes after sunrise, my front yard seethes with juncos, all flutter and twitter as they glean seeds from old weeds. I go down…
  • December 7, 2023
    A dusting of snow—not even enough to bury the moss. Three gray squirrels in a high-speed chase circle the bole of an oak, claws on…
  • December 7, 2022
    Thin fog/low clouds. It feels as if rain could start at any moment but does not. A Carolina wren nearly drowns out the sound of…
  • December 7, 2021
    Cold, overcast, and nearly still: my clouds of breath drift sideways, leading my eye to a half-shell of black walnut, its empty brain case.
  • December 7, 2020
    Cold with no wind; the few, small snowflakes float almost straight down. In the almost sunshine, a lone crow is trying to stir things up.

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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