AUGUST 2026 -- Jellyfish, Jellyfish

© LJR 2026

 JELLYFISH, JELLYFISH

Jellyfish, jellyfish

Zooplankton balloon of H-Two-Oh

More ancient than the dinosaurs

You drift and pulse, carried by currents

Body a balanced, gelatinous bell

While below hang swaying tentacles

Your dimensions range from minuscule

To something the size of a school bus

Rainbow hued, white, or nearly see-through

Perhaps lit with bioluminescence

Inside there is not a single bone

Or a brain, or eyes, or even teeth

But a nerve-net keeps you in the know

And stinging gets the food job done

Yes, you’re a dancing beauty in the sea

But if tides or storms wash you ashore

I’m sad to say you are destined to

Become a dried out blob upon the sand

*****

 

 

JULY 2026 -- Stargazing at the Lake

© LJR 2026

 

STAR PARTY AT JAMESON LAKE

The days are hot at this secluded lake

Water the deep green of velvety moss

It sits beneath chocolate layer cake cliffs

Hidden in a coulee formed by lava and floods

An oasis for waterfowl and water-lovers alike

Uphill from the lake sits a gravel parking lot

Where our temporary village waits for day’s end

We huddle in shade cast by campers, canopies, and tents

Watching osprey circling in the thermal updrafts

Listening to local coyotes bid farewell to the day

Hoping all the while for clear, dark skies overhead

Not more thunderstorms, lightning, or wildfire smoke

At long last, the wait, and the heat, are over

The sun departs, dropping behind the cliffs

Revealing bright Venus shining in the west

Slowly Arcturus, Ursa Major, and the Summer Triangle emerge

And throughout our gathering a sprinkle of red lights appear

Signaling astronomers busy with their charts and scopes

While I am content to settle back in my lounger

Reacquainting myself with my favorite constellations

Using binoculars to spot Andromeda or maybe M13

Or perhaps just eye-feasting on the innumerable stars

Or that pathway of light we all know as the Milky Way.

*****