I sat in morning’s glory

A recent sit on the porch yielded too many “morning” poems for one day. Herewith…

I sat in morning's glory:
Sun on my left shoulder.
Squirrels, possessed, scampered below,
imitating smaller chipmunks.
Finches swooped from roof
to feeder, then returned.
One belligerent wren whistled 
insistently. Towhee sang softly,
Wren's backup singer.
Suddenly bird-laughter through
dense pines. Pileated woodpecker
taunted from his shadowy
safety, hidden. Sun limned
dawn's clouds, painted our laurel.
I wondered: could daytime meet
My morning's grand promises?

30/100

A starry sight

Star Magnolia. February 20, 2026, Raleigh, NC.

I had thought our late February vacation would preclude being greeted by the first bloomer of the spring, the star magnolia, but no! She bloomed between the 18th and 20th this year, at least with a few of the blossoms toward the top. I will still miss the entire shaggy mass, but the past couple years the ravenous squirrels eat more than half the blossoms before they “hatch”.