Ding-A-Ling

Ms. Dandelion From the Photograph You Sent "Oh! That blonde weed!" Said elegant Laura Orchid. Well, she has her nerve! That asthmatic fringe Who can't half breathe Or keep a decent color Outside the refrigerator. Who is she to show disdain For such a sturdy beauty as Jane? -Harry Brown A tree bursts its branches on a pale sunset, says the season, winter. Dark clouds brew, clouds like the colored wind, speak in shapes of children's words. Black land moves for miles. I seep into the dusk ahead of the rain. -Jill Cox Mrs. Robin For thirty minutes this morning Made figure eights diving And straffing tabby Jett. Jett lay crouched at the crossing, The number's center, while Mrs. Robin Roller coasted the air Above. So Far From Family Reunions A puzzlement, the sky, so big, so full of hidden things, so far from family reunions, my next birthday. -Wayne Hogan She didn't ride For joy. She looped and dived, Circled and swooped at the cat, Shaving Jett's back each pass, Fussing, fussing, and making A popping noise as her wingtips Touched with every flap As she rose, then dropped, stirred The hair on the flattened tabby's Spine, then rose to circle again. Ding-A-Ling He calls collect on Mother's Day, but that's ok. He's twenty-six years old now, and still can't find his way. -Phyllis J. Moore -Harry Brown 49 ...