Three Poems by Connie Backus

white paint on walls

almost everything is doubled up

socks pants shirts

gloves

the mule deer are favorites

w/their own warm coats of chocolate

ice cream swirl

turkey mothers/fathers run close behind poults

always in a hurry playing in the park/the yard

& then

ravens

all the time

ravens

off the side of a hungry canyon

I.                grand coulee separates

herself

she is aloof

watches

she will claim

she is not in a serious relationship

II.              although osprey nests are empty

atop silos they still echo

leaves falling

if you are interested/

if you look close enough

III.            you might see canadian lynx/thick coated coyotes

& cackling geese arrive at banks

for winter

badgers hang out in large rocks

by the ball fields

then there are those rarely seen

but everyone has a story- & what to do

if you see bears & cougars

fungi

if we must have fairy circles

give them peals of wedding  bells

stop

wedding mushrooms wedding

vows oaths explanatory phrases

& they don’t  promise marriage

from an old maple

you don’t care close you

are so mad at the rain in the lake

enough w/feelings enough

circles of greyish day

how about that how

about crying  rings

as a sign of commitment

circles of hollow

on the ocean walk

how about too much before

over & over

the same kind of what happens

give me a hidden tree umbrellaed

& I’ll see the allergies

in a forest of fairy circles

if it still feels if

it still smells sweet

what about circles 

Connie Backus was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. She loves to write about nature and run along the coulee with her daughter.