Straight From The Hart

  THE TASTES OF SUMMER Tender green onion blades,  tipped at the end With a white marble bulb, their flavors do blend With soup or a sandwich, I do recommend For these are the tastes of summer. Cucumbers growing green, awaiting their turn For slicing with vinegar and sugar, I yearn So cool and refreshing, my praises they earn These too are the tastes of summer. Sun ripened tomatoes, So juicy and sweet A smidgeon of salt, such a heavenly treat Just thinking of them makes my heart skip a beat A favorite taste of summer. Hot corn on the cob with the tantalizing name Of peaches and cream, it’s in my hall of fame From one end to the other of the cob I exclaim That this is the true taste of summer. Green beans, new potatoes, cooked up in a pan Just simmering slowly all day is my plan Some salt, bacon drippings, there’s no better than The taste of fresh beans in the summer. Green lettuce wilted down with some crisp bacon bits Add some vinegar, and sugar, it’s always a hit I have to a...

The hickory tree stands tall in the yard A harbinger of the season to come Dispensing nuts as the wind picks up;a change in weather so abrupt; These are the sights and sounds of autumn The first tryma rolled down the length of the roof But they’ve been littering the roads for days They crack under the wheels causing car brakes to squeal The sights and the sounds of autumn. A chill in the breeze says it won’t be long now Old winter will be here too soon But there are still pleasant days for the sun’s warming rays And the sights and the sounds of autumn Leaves drifting on the wings of the wind as they play A kaleidoscope of nature’s own making Rusty mauve, glittery gold, Red and orange bright and bold These are the sights and sounds of autumn. Smoke rising in the air from bonfires here and there Hotdogs impaled on sticks, embers glowing Crisp and crunch as you bite, In the day’s waning light Mo...

Confessions Of A Linguaphile There’s nothing more diverse than people  The things they cherish, that turn them on  The things they collect and want to “keeple”... Their treasure stashed when day is done. Some like their cars, matchbox, antique  Old and battered or shiny and sleek.  They polish and buff them then drive them around  Taking pleasure in gear shift and motors that sound. Some delight in dishes, with patterns that match  And vases and pitchers, or just one of a batch.  Some collect ducks, or elephants, or pigs  Some look for paintings to enhance their “digs”. But for me, I love words,  How they sound, how they rhyme,  How they roll off my tongue,  Absolutely sublime. Like abstruse and duende, oppugn, fancify,  Prodigious and resile, cachinnate,and belie,  Vademecum and bedizen, coterminous too  Fugacious, inexorable, and then derring-do. I...