Shrouded Shore: The Many Musings of Thom Singleton

  Care Before You Air What You Know      People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.                                     - A quote heard, of all places, on a TV show ATTENTION: teachers and preachers, those in the know,                      psychiatrists and podiatrists, from head to toe,                      presidents and candidates, just in it for the power?                      supervisors and senators, as if your position makes you a tower?                      And, yes, you and me, if you want to be heard…  CARE FIRST, THEN AIR WHAT YOU KNOW. .                                               

  Nuts About Each Other: A Song      For Amy and Aaron on their 13th anniversary, July 30, 2024 They’re nuts about each other. They’re nuts about each other.  They’re nuts about each other.      Nuts not squirrely They’re peanuts about each other. They’re peanuts about each other. They’re peanuts about each other.      Sweet peanut brittle They’re pecans about each other. They’re pecans about each other. They’re pecans about each other.      Just pecan-ic not volcanic They’re walnuts about each other. They’re walnuts about each other. They’re walnuts about each other.      Walnetto not falsetto They’re hickories about each other. They’re hickories about each other. They’re hickories about each other.      Hickory no trickery They’re almonds about each other. They’re almonds about each other. They’re almonds about each other.      Almond-y eye candy They’re nuts about each other. They’re nuts about each other. They’re nuts about each other.      Nuts not squirrely

  Wednesday Haiku A couple years back Really, fifty-nine Graduated high school A few years later Nineteen seventy one Graduated college Nineteen seventy I had a son, Keith The best woodworker In seventy-six A son named Aaron Best English teacher Blessed with two fine sons The best with words and wood I’m a lucky man Now I’m a grandpa Grandsons warm and welcoming Their great start in life What to do today? Take Patti to Acoca It’s a great venue Richard Rooker art On my Richard Rooker wall They’re beautiful birds Black holes? No brown “holes” In my knotty pine ceiling From really old trees It’s our sailboat wall One with a brilliant sunset Art by Ellen Heim

  Tuesday Haiku We have a sculpture It’s a family circle Holding each other You can almost hear… Drummer, guitarist, singer Pictures on our wall In everyone’s life A little rain must fall But everyday? Eight year old baseball If you can hit the ball It will get you on base Sour grapes, sweet apples No blame…I chose them both Isn’t that just like life? A pounding on the roof I awaken and get up Five AM rain storm Blonde woodwork, sloped roofline Our mid-century modern  Younger than I am The downpour has stopped It looks like an indoor day Finish our job at church My daily breakfast Apples, grapes, toast, and coffee It works for me Deer, coyote, hawk All in our yard, a meadow Not at the same time

  The Masterpieces of Summer Petunias play a silent tune, quiet but a riot of color. Bleeding hearts share their crimson wound, bleeding with beauty.  Cannon shoots a shot of brilliance with purple leaves and bursting blooms. Clover with its blossoms of white makes for a carpet that's quite a sight. Geraniums create a bed of red, redolent with flowers and verdant bowers. Clematis with its purple flowers could be called "climbatis" because its vine towers. Day lilies, so orange and so yellow, do nothing if they don’t make you feel quite mellow. Flowers are the masterpieces of summer, grow so beautiful they’re the meaning of “stunner.”

  Today’s Haiku Live edge furniture Is it alive? Not really Looks like how it grew It’s Horicon Marsh A misty picture of it Geese and ducks landing All in our backyard,,, Turkey, crane, deer, fox, coyote What can be next, bear? My breakfast today,,, Coffee, apple, vitamins The same everyday It’s beautiful out The flowers are brilliant Pat’s care for them shows It’s sunny today There’s morning light through the trees Thanks. Ol’ Solius Sun, rain, nutrients Good care provided by Pat The flowers can’t miss Our plants are lucky With such a good caregiver Pat cares for me, too! Unitarian,,, Everyone calls it “UU” …Universalist One final haiku Then it’s off to church, UU, Called a “fellowship”

  A Few Haiku Hummingbirds are here. Bring on the sugar water It keeps them humming What’s this life about? Living the past? The future? No, it’s each moment The pendulum swings  My clock - my life - is ticking Love every moment Singers sing love songs Artists love with paint and brush Poets love with words It was a good walk Ambled the Fox Riverway An egret watched us Clouds drift in the blue Canadians cross the lawn Flock of geese, that is The river flows fast Kayakers pull hard To stay in one place Loving is giving Just giving it away You’ll always have more An owl has sharp eyes He can outstare anyone He sure outstared me. We have a wood duck It’s a wood duck made of wood A wooden wood duck 

  He’s Up, He’s Down Sad face of a clown Or is it a frown? Just got put down From a girl in town But now he’s up She invited him to sup Of kindness, a cup He’s loving like a pup She’s attracted by his sound A singer of renown He’s no longer down Wearing a smile like a crown

  I’m the Earth, She’s the Sun Like the Earth around the Sun, a steady, round run She’s given me a whirl Not just my hon’, to me her love stuns She’s given me a whirl My heart she’s won, like her there’s none She’s given me a whirl Not one and done, for years I’ve spun She’s given me a whirl I love her a ton, she is a lot of fun She’s given me a whirl

  Here I Sit at 5AM Coffee mug in hand Doing what I do Check the Google News  -Biden’s still running Check the weather  -Hot, humid, storms tonight Pendulum on the clock swinging the seconds away Wonder what to write about A writer is supposed to write everyday, right? Look out the window The rising sun just a glow through the trees Ten thousand white clover begin to appear in our meadow Behind me, a shadow of me on the wall I wave, “he” waves back Again, out the window, there are flower pots filled with color  A cardinal alights on the maple The blueberry blossoms have turned into berries The pollinator garden bursts with life: Cat mint, wild grape, milk weed Squirrels and rabbits glean fallen birdseed The feeder is empty, a daily occurrence Light filters through the trees Not a whisper of wind Peace pervades  

  Doers Doing What They Do The guitarist strums The drummer drums The dancer dances The deer prances The wind blows The rooster crows The sun blazes The light dazes The bird sings The bell rings The mouse squeaks The mystic seeks The fish jumps The frog gallumps The waterfall gushes The artist brushes The flower blooms The thunderhead looms The hawk soars The rain pours The writer writes The eagle takes flight The poet rhymes The mountaineer climbs

  The Eyes Talk Probing Staring Quizzical  Disbelieving Dismissive Derisive Tearful Fearful Surprised Wide open Angry Introspective Tired Blinking Twinkling Winking Flirting Lying Loving Smiling Kind Bored Frantic Understanding Bloodshot Black Sleepy Closed Dreamy