Fleetin’

fleetin’
by Valerie J Laidlaw
August 29, 2020

I was just sittin’
On the deck, chillin’
With my aussie dog, layin’
Near 3 habiscus plants,
With 8 flowers, bloomin’
Suddenly,
When first hearin’
The buzz-like hummin’
I was frighteningly reactin’
To a “perceived paper wasp,”
From the past,
While campin’
At Itasca,
As a teen.
Instead, the flutterin’
Continued,
Near the highest,
Habiscus bloom,
Hesitant, hoverin’,
Then, spinnin’
Up, and away.
My mind,
Then, registerin’
The sight.
Just in time, seein’
Its flight, exitin’
As it zipped off,
Anglin’
In south-westwardly way,
My sweetly-brief visitin’
Hummin’bird, today!

“Oh, For Goodness Sake!”

“Oh, For Goodness Sake!”
By Valerie J Laidlaw
August 14, 2020

It was late august of seventy-six,
Upon completion of an internship,
I flew to o’hare, three hours to utah,
I was barely twenty & had hardly flown,
I hopped a stopped flight out of salt lake city
A hughes airwest of neon decor, so pretty,
I might’ve stayed home had I really known.
The next few weeks seeing mountain home,
This story’s still in my memory sewn!
I met my nephews at aunt dolly’s place,
Jumped off a bridge in a mountain lake,
Loaded up a uhaul with air force buddies,
Was left stranded in the middle of idaho,
When the rental’s engine refused to go.
Peed in the tetons in the middle of the night,
Nonstop through the beartooth,
Wandering, winding, wyoming,
With all of us, it just didn’t seem right.
The buddies were unloaded, and dropped off,
Briskly, at a rural spot near rapid city,
As we left, without respite or pity,
Continuing, to a wayside stop,
Where, we finally awaited,
For my nephews’ lives evolved…
Elsewhere, as fated.

MAMA SONG

“Mama Song”
By Valerie J Laidlaw
8/3/2020

Mamas, don’t let your babies bring home the virus,
School days can wait till it’s gone!
‘Cause just like the mullet of Cyrus,
The days of the Covid hold strong!

We’ll soon dance in the daisies and clover,
Breathe freely, and reunite one and all!
Just wait till this resurgence is over,
And the curve truly flattens and falls!