For me, writing poetry takes the right mood and inspiration. For about a week now I have felt a poem coming on. Like many, a lot of my inspiration comes from nature, and the early morning ability to think with a clear mind. As I have walked my little doggie, Brody, each morning, words would come to me. Today I put it all together in this poem which I want to dedicate to my friend, former Poet Laureate of Kentucky and two-time Pulitzer nominee, Lee Pennington. Not that my poety comes close to the grandeur of his, but because I respect him so much.
I WALKED MY DOG THIS MORNING
I took my dog for a walk this morning
‘Ere the advent of the sun.
Fall was heavy in the air
And the first hint of frost lay low on the lawn.
A lazy three-quarter moon
Hung tight against a treetop in the West.
Could this truly be the same shy moon
Which hid behind earth’s black shadow
Two mere nights ago?
My doggie paused to smell and mark his territory
Then pulled forcefully ahead.
By dawn’s encroaching glimmer
The ruddy and blanching leaves
Dotted the darkened greens about me
As onward we ambled around our suburban block.
A brown fringe of fallen foliage
Lined the edge of asphalt.
My small companion stopped and sniffed
Where yesterday had laid a silenced squirrel,
Its relative barking incessantly
From the quivering limbs above.
Some kind soul had scooped it up
And whisked it away from the view of passersby.
As we rounded the corner, morn’s soft rays
Arose in the East as a florescent vapor.
The roar of the mowers had been quelled for the season,
I mused, and I was glad.
We soon were home again—safe and warm.
Stanley J. St. Clair, 10-21-13 In honor of Lee Pennington