12/1
I let one foot slide
off bed’s edge into cool zone.
The contrast lovely.

12/2
Chocolate looks good. But
everything else is shiny,
cheap crap. Bah humbug!

12/4
Two-forty five and
greying air edges into
shadow. Soon: nightfall.

12/5
Air feels soft, friendly
so I wonder, What’s changed? Has
Orange Jesus died?

12/6
Just north of the fence,
they gather and yip and howl.
Coyote family.

12/7
I shortchange myself
making a deposit. Lo!
BOA fixed it.

12/8
The musty attic
produces musty wrapping
papers. Chucked ‘em out.

12/9
Oak leaves hold secrets
but they are not for us.
Whisper, hush, whisper.

12/10
Pug in a stroller.
Moon face filling the cut out.
Finn doesn’t react.

12/11
The wind scoured rooves
and howled during the night. Downed
branches evidence.

12/13
I call Apollo
“Shadow” because his fur’s black,
he barks at midnight.

12/14
Hawk lifts off the bare
branch, flaps south, belly feathers
lit by winter light.

12/15
The last box posted.
Even “simple” holidays
can sour one’s mood.

12/17
One man with orange
flags. Another with a song.
Green line track repair.

12/18
A troubled maple,
big wind. Tree snaps. Fire truck lights
flash red on the wall.

12/19
The Internet’s out.
Shameful how unsettling
the disconnect is.

12/20
“Anyone who asks
if you need a ride shouldn’t be
doing so.” L.A.

12/21
His chair whines. Up. Down.
The heated blanket clicked on,
all remotes handy.

12/22
Lila hides under
the bed and speaks her worry.
Wind making doors thump.

12/23
The very narrow
Terrace 49 cut through.
Caution. Courtesy.

12/25
Hot tub fired up
for post-Christmas soak. Golden
sun on poinsettias.

12/26
Rosemary hedges
exuberant yucca, jade.
Astonishing. Lush.

12/27
Curiosity:
essential. Without it we
can feel flattened, mute.

12/29
The earthy smell of
mushroom bouillon. Butternut
ginger soup bubbles.

12/31
“Well, it’s not raining.
That’s something.” Last morning of
twenty, twenty-three.