Unclaimed Pumpkins

there they sit
amidst the stubble
too large or small
or oddly shaped

not good enough
for pie or lantern
left to rot
in chilly fields

no ghosts or pirates
sliced these orbs
no gracious guests
praised their taste

but then their plight
is not so bad
to blend with earth
before the spring

if claimed at first
and taken home
they'd now await
the garbage truck

Dancing Plates

a fractured shell
of jagged plates
move across
a fluid core

this puzzle shifts
as rifts unfold
and oceans spread
to split the land

as pressure builds
between the plates
the crust will shake
and mountains rise

where ocean plates
subduct and melt
volcanic arcs
distort the coast

and on the seas
terranes adrift
of continent
or hotspot born

as eons pass
these islands move
and merge with land
at distant shores

and on it goes
this endless dance
until the heat
below has died

Canada

a northern land
til then unknown
a close escape
from distant war

a plan discussed
should all else fail
a painful choice
to leave our home

a promise voiced
to share the risk
though in the end
no journey made

and now I know
good fortune held
but wonder what
was lost instead

Prayer

a cry for help
when all is lost
a soothing choice
when fears arise

a promise made
for favors sought
a verbal gift
for those in pain

a note of thanks
for life's rewards
a calm request
by those in need

a pious act
for all to hear
a common gift
from public men

a dart of hope
when all else fails
a leap of faith
in gods unseen

Cicadas

as summer's heat
invades the land
they stir from years
beneath the soil

and in the light
they shed their skin
before a brief
and frenzied life

their rising calls
soon fill the air
oppressive heat
their steady fuel

to reproduce
their only goal
before the sun
begins to fade

and by the fall
their parents dead
the nymphs begin
their long retreat