General Chat

'I'm a little Christmas Owl, as cute as I can be.
I won't say much while I'm here, but my eyes have much to see
When Santa starts to check his list you know he does it twice
He sends his owl to be his eyes who has been naughty or nice
So evrey time you see an owl,
With his eyes so wide and bright
Be on your best behavior, for that owl is Santa's sight.

Anon

And for the grown-ups

'In deepening shades of rose and magenta,
evening steals across Appalachian foothills
in this little tucked-away corner of Ohio we call home,
and a slivered moon, like a nail filing,
catches itself in the bare limbs of backyard trees
where last night in our grove of pines and oaks
a pair of great horned owls kept up their hoo-hooing,
the beat-beat of their bass drum carrying way beyond
our wrapping presents and offering holiday cheer,
finally echoing at the margins of our sleep,
that moment before the moment after,
when the last stirrings of children in our house—
eager for what they hope dawn will bring—
settled to quiet, and my love and I entered at last
a room inside a room, where we wondered if
our life on earth was ever-blessed as the good books say,
or only a brief dream, fearful and uncertain,
laden now by chill winds and more news
from our feathered pair, their dirge traveling
oceanic distances and blue-black star roads
this night of all nights, in this year like no other,
toward us, toward you.'

In memory of Bob Bertholf, Helen DeMott, Jim Harrison, Mari Lyons, and Thom Steinbeck.

Both nice, Rollo, the latter written very much in the JS vein, by an obvious admiring writer, descriptive and much appreciated. 'TIs lovely.

Thank you, Rollo


Lizx

Both lovely rollo thank you.