Fig clapped at clouds
For twenty rounds
Of twinkles in her eyes.

And all she saw
She shared in awe
With those who would be wise –

The Bing-Ro-Bee!
The Buttoned Three!
The Pinky Paper Pig!

They took it in,
Gave it a spin,
Then blew away with Fig.

The right mistake to make
Is all you need to find.
When worried all is fake,
We go with what is kind.

I forgot to put on socks today,
Did not remember shoes.
Bare feet are trouble
Quick forgot if you go and lose
Your pants, your shirt and underwear
As all of them have fled.
The only saving grace today
Was I forgot to get out of bed.

His toes on the moon
And sun in his mouth,
He soon drank too much
And spit it all out,
Sending out stars
To scatter and scout
The borders of night
For a riverine route
Splashing and spilling
Through shadows of doubt,
Flashing and filling
The hollows devout,
Holding out hope
To those in the crowd
Who still didn’t know
That they were allowed.
He stepped off the moon,
Made galaxies proud.

I firmly resolve to get new ears!
So I’ll finally hear all loud and clear!
These old ears don’t hear so good,
Made of clay or maybe wood,
With a sneeze or healthy cough
They give up and pop right off!
I’ll get new ears and sweetly hear
Every song and whisper dear!

What? Speak up! New YEARS resolutions?
What good are those? I need solutions!
And judging by all your help here
You barely seem to need YOUR ears.

Last year was a mess, I know,
No word yet where this one goes
But I trust that you will grow
Along with hope in messy groves.

The spirit of Christmas is hard to contain
In tip-tapping language and flowery refrain
‘Cause sometimes that spirit is dark and deranged
On an old, bony tree that’s striking but strange,
Where hung from its hungriest skeletal boughs
Awaiting the gasps and horrified wows
Are terrible trinkets, stinking and glaring,
Joining the dreadful tradition of sharing.

A tinsel of terrible web to start,
A graveyard of flies strung up by their hearts,
But look! Some yet live!
Lunging and biting and ready to give
Some awful disease that so sweetly hangs
On the tip of their lovely, little fly fangs.
There’s bat wings and lizards
And red and green gizards!
Eggs left from Easter gone spotty and rotten!
Shriveled fish and feet long forgotten!
A glowering eye passes judgments,
Looking on all with disgusted repugnance.
Hark! Every Christmas tree needs a star!
And stuck to the top of this one with tar –
Wearing Santa’s hat, a shrunken head,
Topping the tree with holiday dread.

Christmas is Christmas!
Let none of us miss this.
So Merry to you!
Or whatever rings true.

The wobblish keeper feels it all. All the joys and troubles of the world cross its furiously pumping heart. It’s no use trying to outfly what’s inside but it has to try. Give it shelter and grace and see it off again if you have the chance. It must keep going and we must keep pulling for it.

The wobblish keeper is one of the birds in my new book, Birds Without Borders! Now available on Amazon as a physical or digital book! This is the second book in the Life Without Borders series, Beasts Without Borders being the first.

The butter rump is a crumb thief. No one should take issue with this as crumbs are discard. However, of course, some do. There are a few who see attention given to what they view as trash or nothingness and immediately declare, “Mine!” It’s an ugly thing to only care about something when another gets it. What good is that? Finding the bits of things that are left behind is a true skill worthy of admiration. If you fall through the cracks the butter rump will find you.

The butter rump is one of the birds in my new book, Birds Without Borders! Now available on Amazon as a physical or digital book! This is the second book in the Life Without Borders series, Beasts Without Borders being the first.

My new book, Birds Without Borders, is now available on Amazon both as a paperback and e-book! Much like Beasts Without Borders, every page is a new bird with its own heart, humor and oddities, as well as a beautiful watercolor to bring the bird alive. Take a look!