Ethel Jane (poem)

 

a peculiar shape at the edge of the field

silent, unmoving, but for a lift of its hand

the scent unfamiliar, a danger alert

a nip at my heel, then the leash in her teeth

a punch in the chest and a bite on the chin

pushing me onward, away from this fear

until safe once again under cover of wood,

she falls into step at my side.

she is my shepherd and I am her sheep

The Man of My Dreams - a poem for my grandson

November 2, 2014

on this first day of snow

i'm off for a walk in the woods

and a trek through the fields

alone but the dog and

my thoughts of the man of my dreams.

 

we haven’t yet met but i know he is real.

will he have hair fiery red or will he be bald

icy blue eyes, hazel, or brown

will he be a musician, a poet, or scholar.

whatever he is i love him with all of my heart.

 

we haven’t yet met but i know that we will

perhaps three months from today.

Three Men of a Certain Age (poem)

 

one gave me life and abandoned me to it

one passed through, changed it forever

one sees what is hidden from you

 

one mind is wasting

one fought a war and never came home

one challenges my thoughts to grow

 

three lives began in one year with a similar root

turned abuse in different directions

 

one passed it on, one seeks to please, one broke the cycle with love

 

Reflection

 

the lingering touch of an experienced hand

empathy, sympathy,  heartfelt embrace

volunteer leader, self given away

determined, unflinching, but not as strong as you seem

confused and unsure in this question of love

when you look in the mirror do you see a reflection of me?

Peace Offering

 

good leaders, lovers, and friends

give credit, take blame.

i am so very sorry

that i tried to give you credit

for something no one should have known.

an ultimate mistake

for which i am alone to blame.

please

say that you forgive me.

Gale Force Feelings

 

on my knees in a field

mending fences with lines cautiously strung

on the wind are unintended betrayals

and promises I’m not strong enough to keep,

perennial loves and requited passions,

as real and uncontrollable as any zephyr.

Daddy Long Legs

"The Daddy Long Legs is the most poisonous spider in the world." There is so much wrong with that statement that I hardly know where to begin. 

There is no such thing as a poisonous spider.  Spiders are venomous.  There is no such thing as a nonvenomous spider.  The difference between poisonous and venomous is delivery of the toxin.  Simply put, poisons are consumed or absorbed.  Venom is injected through a bite, sting, or barb.  For example, rat poison must be swallowed and poison ivy must be touched to have their affects; spiders must bite, bees sting, and nettles be touched to have theirs.

“Okay, then the Daddy Long Legs is the most venomous spider in the world.”  Still wrong.  The Daddy Long Legs has no venom whatsoever.  “Wait a minute! You said there’s no such thing as a nonvenomous spider!” (I am paraphrasing countless visitors to the five state parks I worked in during my life as a naturalist)

The Daddy Long Legs, at least the one in this discussion, is not a spider.*  “But it has eight legs!”  So do mites, ticks, scorpions, and psuedoscorpions.  Eight legs do not a spider make.  Daddy Long Legs are Harvestmen, which is the common name for the order Opiliones.  The most notable differences are that Harvestmen have a fused body (versus a spider’s two segments: cephalothorax and abdomen), and they have only two eyes (spiders have six or eight).

“So…Daddy Long Legs are the most venomous Opiliones in the world?”  Nope. Still wrong.  Harvestmen have no venom whatsoever.  They also don’t have silk glands and can’t spin webs; harvestmen  can both drink and eat food in bites while spiders can only consume liquid.

Don’t take it too hard, Daddy Long Legs are still pretty cool.  Some can spray a noxious odor like a skunk and they’ve been known to snap off their own legs when preyed upon (autonomy).  The legs can keep twitching from anywhere between one minute and an hour, depending on species. 

 *there is a Daddy Long Legs Spider (also known as the cellar spider) and, in some areas, the crane fly is referred to as a Daddy Long Legs.

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiliones to learn more.