Shrouded Shore: The Many Musings of Thom Singleton

  It’s a Fact It’s a fact. Get yourself vacc’d, Or you’ll get wacked By covid attack. It’s a fact. When you get vacc’d, You've got my back, So hit the road, Jack, And get vacc'd.

  Jenny Got Her Dear Did you hear? Jenny got her deer. Quite a coup for the young lady to do, For she bagged two of them with little ado. The one, spelled d-e-e-r, caused a more-than-fender-bender. The other, spelled d-e-a-r, turned out a bit more tender. She was driving along on Highway 26, When Deer #1 burst out of the sticks. Poor girl, a student of animal medicine, Could not stop, and could not avoid him. So there she was in this moment of strife, When Dear #2 entered her life. George and his Dad happened by At the scene where the crunched car and deer did lie. George, being a man of medical intervention, Thought he’d ask if anyone in the car needed attention. Attention he got from Jenny alright, For, as George approached, she locked the car tight. Jenny’s playing hard to get did not deter him. For, when their eyes met, the glow mesmerized him. They started dating, got married, and the rest is family history. For now we have on the way, a new little dear named Georgie.  ...

   Weather Vane of Love: On Amy and Aaron’s Tenth Anniversary As a weather vane points to an oncoming breeze, and makes the invisible wind visible, a loving spouse homes-in on their partner’s heart, and makes life for them happily livable.  An attentive spouse knows in the now what wind is up with their partner, and helps them solve their woe-is-me with an emotional anemometer. Whether it’s a brooding squall, a soulful draft, a whirlwind of worry,  no one knows how the wind blows like the one you’ve married. No one calms the storms with love like a compassionate partner. No one does so quite like Amy and Aaron, each for the other.

  The Oak  Above our house there looms an oak. A tree, way older than us, knows the give and take of life. Its leaves inhale our copious carbon, the carbon that is changing our climate. They freely exhale oxygen for all of us, Earth’s tenants. Its benevolent arms reach out to us, as if pleading and also warning: Protect me and my brothers the world over. Save the planet from warming.

  Love Boat My heart was afloat on a raging sea, The sea within, the sea of me. I was a man alone, from within endangered, Then entered my life a friendly stranger. She helped me calm my inner storm, No longer was my life forlorn. I helped her, too, in an uncertain time, To assist her in a creative bind. We moved in together, and there we still be, Together in love, now and eternally.

  Anxiety I’m moving stiffly, nervously.      What are they thinking about me? My head is down, people laughing.      Why are they looking at me? I’m overwhelmed, can’t show my fear.      How dumb will that appear! I’m bottled up, act passively.      To not reveal my anxiety. I lived this way in my early days      Until I made a new decision. To open myself up to a sympathetic soul,      And heal through emotional revelation. It’s not lost on me that others may be      Stuck in anxiety’s vise. I’ve experienced both states now.      Having been there, I can empathize.

  Haiku for July 9th Fawn chased a squirrel Under mother’s watchful eyes They graze on our lawn

  Haiku for July 8th Rained the last two days It rained like water balloons But no rain today!

  A Fawn on the Lawn A fawn appears on the lawn, His mother in the shadows nearby. He’s frisky, being risky in his public playfulness. Well, a public-of-one, me. He dances, he prances, he leaps, he bounds. He seems to chase the wind, then a rabbit. He is exuberance, he is frolic, he is new life. He doesn’t always listen to his mother. He needs my nurturing, my care. After all, the fawn, it seems, is a lot like me, At least, what I’d like to be.

  Haiku for July 7th Drip drop drip drop drip Drop drip drop drip drop drip drop Drip drop drip drop drip

  Clues to Peruse On a walk along the river, I found painted there, In a flourish of stylish script, “You’re what I wanted.” What could “wanted” mean? “You’re what I wanted all my life, And now I’ve found you.”                 -or- “You’re what I wanted once, And now no longer do.”            Then there were the fish net stockings And the plastic wristband, Found at the bottom of a thrift shop dresser. On the back of the band, the words: “Gary and I (1st Time) Camping @ Rock USA 2013.” What could these clues mean? It sounds a bit more hopeful this time. Wouldn’t it be wonderful - what are the odds - If these two couples are one and the same.

  A Diet of Words By the stream, a field of gold Flowers the color of butter and eggs Served up on a platter of green A breakfast for the eyes The eyes of a poet A poet on a diet of words    

  Haiku for July 6th A fawn on the lawn Grazing the Dutch white clover Knows what’s good for her

  Haiku for July 5th Northern Oriole Reflection of the sunrise Ablaze orange and black

  Tree of Life Here, a benevolent, bounteous tree,  Green arms reaching out to me.   Giving of its essence,  Inhaling what is destructive, Exhaling what is life-giving. We owe our breath to the trees, Green beings of life.

  Leap of Faith The wise say leap and the net will somehow appear. It comes from High Authority, you have nothing to fear. Some will say you’ll only land on your ear, Those good at pejority, and other such drear. But holding your great heart, loving and near, Being in the moment, right now and right here, You’ll rise on the breeze now, You’ll float on a tear. 

  Perennials Once planted Live bountifully year after year With a little cultivation Weeding Watering In return, thanking you by blooming Once married Live a life of love together With a little nurturance Trimming away what comes between Refreshing together in a garden of love Enjoying the flowering of the relationship

  Haiku for July 4th Running red and grey A fox across the backyard Did fireworks scare you?

  Spear Thistle We have the biggest ever. Next to the shed. Its florets reaching almost to the eaves. We admit we’ve nurtured it, watered it, saved it from the weed wacker. Why, for a “weed”?  It’s a nectar provider, par excellence, For pollinators, those bees and butterflies on the brink of extinction. A part of the natural food chain. With its prickers, people wack it. But not the Scots. It’s their national flower.

  Haiku for July 3rd First drought and then flood The climate is changing fast Our world is changing

  Fox Trot Pelican Blue heron Pair of eagles Baying beagles Two small boys In a stroller Elicit smiles From passer-byers George and August Gramma and Daddy Walk Fox River With Ol’ Grand Pappy We walked and walked Strolled and strolled Three generations On we rolled

  Small Generosities on Today’s Walk Sharing of themselves… A passing walker smiles A shopkeeper laughs at my corny joke A club owner gives me a hat to protect my head  A lock worker describes what he does on the river A motorist gives me safe room on the narrow road Small generosities shine Add up within me like sunshine in a solar cell A positive charge to pass on to others