Treefrogs trill in the trees that enjoyed a sprinkling of rain
from the clouds that last night hid the red moon eclipse,
Pretty black cat joins me on the back porch,
but as I sit, my fingers turn cold as ice from a light breeze blowing;
I return inside, to the warmer air of my daughter’s kitchen,
and await the heat of Summer.
cfblack, 3-14-25, Pi Day
Archive for the ‘South Carolina’ Category
March lament
March 14, 2025polar vortex
January 10, 20252:30am, it’s cold in the South,
25 degrees outside these walls,
heater broken, won’t shut off,
fan is stuck in “ON” mode,
We fold blankets against the doors
to cover up the cracks,
the ones that will let sunlight in
when morning comes again,
For now I sit, wrapped in red coat
from my mother-in-law,
watch for random snowflakes,
drinking cherry bubbly.
cfblack 1-10-25
December 22, 2024
Leaves in the water,
hide the fish
hide the turtles
tell us how hard it rained last night,
the trees now nearly bare,
even in South Carolina,
where we have change of seasons,
but not ice and snow,
they shed their clothes without shame,
stand naked in the cold
will don new outfits in the Spring.
Wintry day South Carolina
December 11, 2024Wintry day,
South Carolina,
Gray skies and falling rain,
More leaves on the ground than on the trees,
branches glisten orange and red,
Stumps of some cut off just below
where Helene broke off the rest,
Loplolly pines stand above, swaying in the breeze,
Birds up there are unaware of all of us below,
warm at 65 degrees, one can enjoy
the screened-in porch, with a jacket on,
I think of many winters past,
snow and ice that does not melt,
snow piled into mountains
children try to climb,
but now we’re here,
in South Carolina,
Wintry days of falling rain,
sitting on my back porch
hearing it hit my window pane,
watching squirrels, deer and birds,
who don’t know how very lucky they are
to be southern.
cfblack, 12-11-24
Hurricane Helene
October 11, 2024As Helene rips through the park
uprooting trees
obstructing our view
they start falling,
but as they fall, screaming,
they reach out for one another,
and now, in each other’s arms,
they hold each other up,
until the chainsaws come.
Hurricane Helene, Columbia SC, Friday 9-27-24, we had only wind. A tornado ripped through our park — that is our belief — based on the numerous trees ripped from the ground, large ones blocking our view, laying across the path, hiding the basketball court and community center.
Awaiting a hurricane
September 13, 2018The silence is deafening
I lie here thinking
where the homeless go
in a hurricane,
Tonight there is hardly
A sound or a chirp,
It is as if they sense
The coming dread,
We all await
The power unleashed
That soon will blow
above our heads,
The size of 3 states
Nature’s fury
She churns the waters
Reaching out her arms,
“Rest assured,
I am coming,” she says,
“I will turn your way
Into the South,
I will release
My endless waters,
The winds I have
Will scream my name,
And you will know
When I am with you,
And when I leave
Your world is changed,”
And so we wait
These endless hours,
and birds now sing at break of day,
I bring my plants in from the porch, and wonder
Where the homeless go
In a hurricane?
cfblack awaiting Florence 09-13-2018
rain haiku
December 6, 2016Never ending rain
Put out all the forest fires
Then leave us alone.
cfblack 12-05-2016
Sunday morning
May 19, 2013Sunday morning
A girl walks her bike around the pond,
She wears bright pink stockings,
a dress of key lime green,
and daydreams,
Our teenage neighbor
turns up the volume on the stereo,
his parents, baby sister, away at church.
Earlier, just outside our gate, a small boy asked him
how to catch a fish,
Sky darkens,
Clouds hang heavy and low,
Silence comes to the pond,
now the color of alligators.
so peaceful
May 14, 2013So peaceful, another day goes by, bright sunshine all around but cool (about 70 degrees). Turtles in large numbers now congregate on the pond, telling each other about their day. They jump or “run” (slowly crawl) away from me as I walk by. One thing I love about this pond is the mistrust of all the animals on it, of humans. This means they are still “wild” life, untamed. They live as they live and do not interact with humans. The duck population has grown rapidly, as the Neighborhood Association decided it would be a good idea to place a floating “duck house” on the water…. I don’t mind a few ducks, but now one mamma has 10 ducklings that follow her. How many do we want?? There is one larger pair of snow white ducks, no babies yet. There is the one polygamist with his two females that swim around the pond, and I SUSPECT that he fathered the other 10. Shameful!
The exception to the above “wild” life is the pair of geese, who unfortunately are being fed by the idiot down the road– the same one with a trail of cats & dogs that follow her into her house and back out again. She throws pellets to the geese, who cover the walking path now with their excrement, and said lady doesn’t seem too inclined to clean it off, since she lured them there. The geese they could do away with and I wouldn’t complain a bit. They are disgusting. Besides that, they are likely to come up to you as you walk by, now expecting a hand out, and one of them actually bumped me in the leg! They scare me and I don’t enjoy walking past them. I’m sure if I were 3 years old, I would be completely terrified.
Got my 1 hour of sun and have been since sitting inside monitoring an online discussion and lazily watching the day pass by. Very peaceful. My left knee has decided to develop a problem, so I can’t walk. I manage to hobble around the pond once a day & go to the doctor next week.
It is relaxing to be out of class. I’m sure in 3 months I will be ready for it again, but right now relieved to not have to be up on all the latest depressing news, ready to lead discussion on the latest political arguments. Most of our politicians are showing their blatant greed and hatefulness and their absolute inability to come together to resolve any one issue. I believe change has to come from the people, from Ground Zero, from collective will. Nothing is coming down the pike from the folks at the top.
my solar eclipse photo
May 21, 2012I took a 3-mi. walk shortly before the eclipse was to begin, which we would not be able to see here in South Carolina, because sundown happened at the same time the eclipse was to begin. Looking at the sun in the sky, I thought, “There you go sinking slowly before the moon reaches you,” and then I noticed a lovely little rainbow to the left of the sun, visible in the sky. What a lovely little gift for us who were not able to watch the eclipse!
Doctor Grandma 