This is my season.
When the meteors race
across the warm nights,
God's own fireworks show
better than any man-made,
over the few fireflies
dancing over the grass.

I love this time
spent outside in darkness,
staring up at stars,
dreaming of better days,
some in memories only,
others things never happening,
or still to come.

The hot, dog days,
when smoke taints skies
with orange hues throughout,
and the moon hides
let you see them
those trails of light,
Mother Nature's nightly skyrockets.

I like to lie
out under that attraction,
or sit up smoking,
letting the world fade
into that deep black
laying betwixt shimmering points
and just enjoy it.

As dusk falls slowly
the sunset colors blaze,
some nights distant storms
(or ones much closer)
flicker and flare about
like the insects hovering
over fields and lawns.

Some nights stay hot,
others cool off fast,
yet there is always
that show up there,
slowly moving from East
to West's faint glow,
which gives such pleasure.

Call me a fool,
say I'm a bum,
but you cannot find
anywhere on this Earth,
a better free show
than the skies perform
on hot summer evenings.

So, step outside, folks,
look up past glows
your cities cast high
into the dust above
and watch for them,
faint trails and races,
or brilliantly colored fireballs.

Better yet, join me
beyond the light pollution
out in the wilderness,
or some other place
where there are still
just a few lights
scattered far and about.

Look up, and relax,
breath deep, allergies permitting,
and let the tensions
of your daily life
flow off with each
of those fiery trails,
it will feel good.

And, no one complains, if you doze off...
Unlike the theaters or concerts.
Well, if you snore, the crickets and cicadas will,
for ruining their nightly recitals.
22July2014 - Dyfedd Rex

Turtle Rehab - a Tongue-in-Cheek Poem

First, this guy needs an intro, after all, he inspired this poem.....
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/26/144283361/endangered-turtle-survives-trans-atlantic-journey

now, here is what I got from all his hoopla,

Saw a news article about a sea turtle that caught a ride on some seaweed over to far side of the pond, place called Portugal, from its normal haunts in the Caribbean. The said the thing had been through rehab and was to be released, and that made me ask a strange question....

What the hell was he in rehab for and how does turtle rehab work?

Here is my answer, probably not right, try not to laugh too much......

He was young and dumb then
swimming out too far too often
until one day near the Sargasso
he found his strength was failing
so he jumped on some seaweed
and noted it moved with currents
thus the legend of being lazy
came about from his long journey.

Day after day he lay there
dropping off only a few times
to grab a bite to eat
or cool off in the water
after laying all day like humans
did on beaches his folk needed
to breed and lay their eggs
drifting on the currents without effort

At last after many full moons
he found a new sandy stretch
along a shore that was strange
not the warm place of hatching
but cooler and with shorter days
where he hung out for weeks
until the humans caught his butt
and shipped him back to home.

They figured out how he traveled
after he tried it once more
but that box on his shell
told them where he was headed
so they sent out a ship
and hauled him back to shore
where they set him down firmly
and talked to him about home.

Now, this turtle, he couldn't care
nor did they check his answers
to see if he really reformed
so when the day came finally
and his freedom was given back
he waited for a passing boat
using the propeller to scrape free
that silly box the people attached.

I wonder if that turtle pshychologist
will write up a paper soon
about his wonderful program of treatment
until he is forced to retract it
as our wandering pal turns up
perhaps on the Riviera this time
or some Greek island's warm bays
sunning himself with a turtle smirk.

I hope to read that paper
I kind of want to know
what Turtle Rehab is really like
and if he got federal dough
to support him like the others
who go through twelve step programs
and wash out or fall back
upon their old ways once done.

I imagine we will soon see
just how effective it really was
but I like my own vision
of him laying once more time
upon a raft of thick seaweeds
acting like an explorer of old
seeking new lands to settle upon
even if just for a while.

(12/26/2011 - Dyfedd Rex)