It’s Springtime!

This little avian family
Chose to live at the best address
In the best small town in all the South!
Now, how smart can that be?

The welcome sign was clearly in view
And Mrs. Wren knew exactly what to do.
A welcoming door, a basket of dogwood
A habitat so natural, it looked so good
No matter the flowers were artificial
The location was perfect, so beneficial.

A place protected from wind, sun, and rain
Maternal instinct her place to claim
The nest, a masterpiece of architecture
A perfect place her brood to nurture.

Eggs — three, perfect and sky blue
When they would hatch only mother knew
A home landscaped and neat
Our newest neighbors at the end of the street.

And I, eager to see the baby birds hatch
A picture of the nestlings to catch
Staying away not wishing this peacefulness to disturb
My inquisitive nature I managed to curb
At a distance I kept a careful eye
Any flurry of activity to espy.
Like the old adage, “A watched pot never boils,”
My attempts to catch the nestlings they did successfully foil.

And, as I approached a picture to take
A flutter of activity they did make
Too long had I waited for that day
and they after only a short stay
Were eager to try their wings and flew away.

Picture of Joan M. Lacombe

Joan M. Lacombe

Aiken’s Poet Laureate 2019
Picture of Joan M. Lacombe

Joan M. Lacombe

Aiken’s Poet Laureate 2019

In the know

Related Stories

The August Bella Book Club Review | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo | Aiken Bella Magazine

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – by Grady Hendrix

Bella Book Club Monthly Selection by Nichole Miller The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix, provides an unusual combination of classic horror and old Southern charm. Patricia Campbell is a stay-at-home mom who is trying her best to raise her teenage children and care for her senile mother-in-law. Her husband, a psychiatrist, is never home and is little help, and Patricia’s sanity is starting to run thin. After embarrassing herself at the snooty local ladies’ book club, she walks out to find some of the other members forming a new book group where she is introduced to true crime stories and a group of amazing women

Read More »
I Create Beautiful Things | Palmetto Bella

I Create Beautiful Things

If there was a job called Professional Creator, I could be THAT. I love to create stuff, all kinds of stuff. I like to find forgotten yarn and watch it become something new and beautiful. I glean from thrift stores or estate sales or garages or attics and find old balls of tangled messes and watch them unfurl, and then I create anew. I enjoy taking pieces of fabric, once serving their past-life purposes, and then cut and craft them into a new blanket or quilt. I am entertained by taking wood and screws and building stuff. Sometimes it’s bird atriums for my farm animals. Or functional things like a

Read More »
Artist Spotlight | An Artist In Any Medium: From Fashion To Water Color | Palmetto Bella

Artist Spotlight | An Artist In Any Medium: From Fashion To Water Color

In 2006, a determined Barbara Beach walked into a Charleston boutique with children’s dresses that she had designed and sewn together. The owner quickly added them to the inventory, and eventually shops from West Ashley to King Street were carrying Barbara Beach Designs for the poshest tots. Women would stare at the carefully crafted dresses and secretly wish the apparel were in adult sizes (this writer is guilty as charged). The demand for these classic with a modern twist creations was gaining traction across Charleston when Beach was named a Charleston Fashion Week (CFW) Emerging Designer in 2010. This accolade included a fashion show where her small models took the

Read More »
Pocket Poetry | Palmetto Bella

Pocket Poetry

Changing the World – One Poem at a Time Having been graciously selected by the members of The Aiken Poets to serve as Poet Laureate, I wondered what I could do to make people more excited about poetry and to make poetry better appreciated, noticed, read, memorized, written, and shared. Then I came up with this idea I call Pocket Poetry — a few lines in rhyme or free verse, written in calligraphy on white or colored cards, and distributed at random to people I meet. They go to people I know, people who provide a service, like the cashiers at the supermarket, the teller at the bank, the postal

Read More »