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Thursday, September 18, 2025

SEPTEMBER 2025 -- A LibraryThat Caters to All Critters

One of my favorite children's books is BOOK! BOOK! BOOK! by Deborah Bruss. In it, a group of animals visit the local public library and end up checking out some books. We don't learn which books these animals borrow so I thought I'd give some critters their own library and peek at which children's   classics they might read. The artwork is Lesson #7 from "Watercolor in Nature."                                  


A LIBRARY THAT CATERS TO ALL CRITTERS 

Did you know there is a library that caters to all critters

Staffed by a wise librarian who knows just what to recommend

For Pig some playful penguins along with a dose of purple crayon

And while Papa Bull might cheer on Ferdinand, his Calf will cheer for Harry P.

Pippi, Anne, and Junie have the spunk and spirit Horse is looking for

Yet Chicken likes a good fright with some furry monster mayhem

The humor of Amelia is what every Goose should read

Whereas Tom Turkey looks like he’d prefer seeking pirate treasure

Donkey has a yearning for tales of time and space and wrinkles

While Narnia and Oz are among the places Rabbit longs to visit

It’s not Old Yeller but the Lost Boys that Dog is going to lap up

While Cat will be all smiles falling into tales of Wonderland

For the Ram a set of Greek Myths, for the Ewe it’s Aesop’s Fables

But what their little Lamb will crave is where more Wild Things are

Yes, wise Librarian has found a book for each and every critter

The only holdout is this fellow here, this green and speckled frog

With every book pulled from the shelves, he croaks out one reply:

Already read it! Read it! Read it!

*****

 © LJR 2025


Tuesday, August 12, 2025

AUGUST 2025 -- If Corn Had Ears Like Other Creatures

  

© LJR 2025

 IF CORN HAD EARS LIKE OTHER CREATURES

If corn had ears like other creatures

I think there are sounds only it might hear

The pink of dawn breaking on the hills

A spirited breeze teasing dust motes

Hard-working earthworms churning the soil

A spider spinning its intricate web

Syrupy sap running through the trees

Meadow grass lapping up morning dew

Flowers sighing in their sunlight bath

Fluffy clouds shuffling into formations

Yes, if corn had ears like other creatures

What other sounds might it only hear?

*****

 

Saturday, July 12, 2025

JULY 2025 -- Bubbles

© LJR 2025

 BUBBLES

Did we come from something in the mud

Or just the ooze out-gassing

Not that it really matters for

We are bubbles and we’re rising

A single globe, some pairs or clumps

In size, large, small, or in between

We slip past fronds and pond debris

Dodge a swarm of darting tadpoles

But on we go, tenaciously

Aware our goal lies just ahead

The surface breached, we gently float

Letting sunlight show our colors

And then, my friend, we face our end

For like those that came before us

As bubbles, we’re predestined to go

POP!


 

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

JUNE 2025 -- Wilderness Heart

 

 
© LJR 2025

WILDERNESS HEART

If in your heart you always hear . . .

The cloud-piercing lure of majestic peaks

The cry of an eagle claiming the skies

The rush and fall of tumbling cascades

The whisper of pines on a rocky shore

The swish of oars as they dip and drive

The splash of trout as they rise to feast

The rumble of bison on the move

The rustle of wild flowers in the breeze

The crackle and pop of firepit logs

The moon-lit lament of a lonely wolf

The serenade of stars against the dark

The contented sigh of a day well spent

If these are the siren calls you hear

My friend, you’ve been gifted a wilderness heart.

*****

 


Monday, May 12, 2025

MAY 2025 -- Patterns

    

PATTERNS

The patterns of clouds across blue skies

The dance of fireworks on the Fourth of July

The patterns displayed by a strutting peacock

The shadows of leaves cast on a sidewalk

Footprint patterns etched in damp sand

Striations of rocks running through the land

The patterns seen in the stars at night

A flock of starlings swirling into flight

Schools of minnows as they dip and dart

End-of-aisle patterns in the local food mart

The world’s full of patterns, we only need see

I’ve listed some favorites – what might yours be?

*****