Love and Other Curious Adventures: Poetry and Photos

By April Rhodes James

A relatable exploration into one woman’s impressions about meaningful aspects of existence, including relationships, pets, nature and survival. The poems are both lyrical and reassuring while drawing on realities and situations familiar to the writer. Her intention is to entertain as well as to encourage balance in dealing with both the conventional and the inconsistent experiences of life.

“Love and Other Curious Adventures” includes free verse, rhymed and story poems, as well as Haiku and other brief acknowledged poetic forms the writer categorizes as Braindrops. The book invites the reader to enjoy one poem at a time or venture into a ‘chapter’ focusing on such matters as Family - Hereditary or Handpicked, Women & Men, Endings are New Beginnings and more.

“…. Having creative means to express her inner self is a true gift. How fortunate for all of us that April is able to manifest and share through her poetry . . . she offers those of us who are privileged to be exposed to her poems the opportunity to expand our consciousness.” Dianne F. - Humanitarian (re: Belief in Flow)

“…April’s artistry with words conveys a profound sensitivity to the essences which connect life and spirit. I am a convinced believer in the inevitability of our journeys and destinations; our interconnectedness with the rhythms of nature, which her eloquence evokes in addition to predicting our arrival at where we land.” Fred B - Renaissance Art Expert (re: How to Build a Family)

“…. This poem is true, thoughtful, common sense and amusing, It reflects the thoughts and practices of millions.” Mary G. - Religious Scholar (re: A Covid Year in Pajamas)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664193000

April Rhodes James

Writer, poet, artist and animal protector, April Rhodes James also loves dinosaurs. April has been a magazine editor, freelance journalist and corporate marketing/communications executive. Some of her published works include “Love & Other Curious Adventures,” “The Field Study of Cats,” and “Prehistoric Journeys: Dreams, Nightmares & Survival of an American Family” in addition to several poetry chapbooks and a dino-themed cookbook. She also recorded “Dino Dreams,” a CD of her original dinosaur songs. She and her husband have devoted much of their time to sharing their expertise to encourage students and reintroduce grownups to the wonders of fossils through workshops, lectures and the establishment of a school science center, as well as other outreach activities.

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by April Rhodes James.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Cover Photo (Two Cats on the Stairway) and all interior

photos - April Rhodes James

Author Photo - Barry James

Rev. date: 09/15/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

829800

CONTENTS

NATURE’S PULSE

The Stairway Gazette

Early Morning

Comedy

Symphony in Green Major

Survival Joke

Land Psalm

Web Work

Farewell Spruce

Lake Waves

Rain with Attitude

Another Side of Nature

Above/Beyond

Celestial Surveillance

Twelve Months: Braindrops*

LIFE IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR

So it has Always Been

Interlude

Beyond Confines of Youth

Memories of Magical Times

Postscript

Take a Break

In the Garden of Kindred Souls

Art Fest

Each Safe Moment

The Enchanted Farm

Preventative Nut Meat

Road to Nowhere

Swan Song

Trips with Wet Gods

How it Feels to Run

Those Days

MIND, BODY, SURRENDER TO LOVE

Random

Supernatural Affinity

This is How it Feels

A Thursday, Late

Whatever Happens

Sunset Photograph - Camano

Where do we go from here?

Celebration of The Month

Nothing as Everything

Another One Waits

Compatible

Strength From/To

Soulmate

WOMEN AND MEN. MEN AND WOMEN

Inside Looking Out

The Man who did not Like Cats …

We Go to The Sea

Master of the Land

Airport Encounter

Builder of Small Temples

Lady Sunshine

Not Speaking of Love

Seasoned Life

Day in the Life of a Warrior

Set ‘em Up

Priming the Poet

Belief in Flow

Knowing

Women We All Know

Tractor

Marathon Goddess

The Merle Way

This is the Hour

FAMILY: HEREDITARY OR HAND-PICKED

How to Build a Family

Family Archaeology

The Takeover

Take Back the Tune

Shamrock

Alike

Dreamtime

Finding Direction

Child as Life

Summer

Rhapsody in Blue with Seven Parts

SURVIVAL: TEN STEPS FORWARD

A Covid Year in Pajamas

Starting Over

Reimagine

Another Phase

Dream of Endurance

From the Ashes: Survivors

Forgiveness

Claim It

Faith as Nature

Write Away the Pain

Rehearsed Mixology

Town Hospital Closes, Nurses Go On

Gone-ness

Daytime versus Life

Friendship Finds Us

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ANIMALS

Animal Rescuer Realities

To Pet Clinic Vets, Techs and Staff

A Simple Solution

Dog loves Cat loves Dog

Ode to a Stick

D is for …..

Dear Daisy

Agreement

Shadow

The Purr-ity of Princess

Near Miss

Quality of Life (for Binky)

Deep Gray Pain (For Squeaky)

Pirate

Winners

Masked Dialogue

Night Visitors

Equus-librium

Without a Voice (for Pokey Iguana)

DINOSAURS IN THE BARN

Sauropod Bonding

Dreams of Fossil Bones

Wait Like Rock

Paleo Weekend Workshop

Friends

Dinosaur Man and The Stygimoloch

Contemplating Simplicity

Lecturing

Madam Osteology

Shared Sensibilities

Celebrate: Past/Present

ENDINGS ARE ALSO NEW BEGINNINGS

Heartbeat

Response: Coda

Better this way

Perhaps

Guest List

Web of Life

Mother Morphine ….

Knowledge

Migration

How to Write about the Grief

Not Ready for Goodbye

Setting Up the Menu

There you are

A Land Beyond

BRAINDROPS

About the Author

NATURE’S PULSE

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THE STAIRWAY GAZETTE

Unassuming wooden stairway, settled into a hill and decorated

with flora random and lush, aims toward heaven yet cradles

such vitality. Each stair carries heartbeats of the first forest.

Epic tales of growth and surrender encountered along the way,

from seed to sapling to maturity to timber milled and modified

into a stack of narrow planks with matching supports joined

and situated (further north on a slope) providing thirsty hikers

easy access from dusty trail to welcoming natural health store.

And in the way all things change and must be able to adapt,

time intervened; posts and railings moved to the refuge of a farm,

the sections diligently reassembled on another obliging knoll.

Now starring as an ascending bridge from land lightly nurtured

then gently rising to tall grasses etched by neighborhood deer

on night-foraging paths; a place where another universe exists.

Staircase as stable earthwork offering a sweet spot to ponder life.

Farm cats travel from cozy custom habitats in the upper meadow,

one step at a time down to the flat land for food, brief interaction

with people and as a starting point for the day’s adventures.

They reverse the journey when rest and refuge beckons.

Perky chipmunks ride the handrails, boldly chirp for attention.

Albino skunk shimmers as moonlight illuminates evening buffet.

Birds of every shade, from tawny nuthatch to scarlet cardinal,

orange-winged oriole, bluejays and ravens visit in swooping waves.

Squirrels leap wood parts like children conquering a playground.

Confident raccoons, hesitant rabbits, lumbering woodchucks travel

the slope beneath the stairs, bring offspring when nursing is done

to show them the joys of the magically hand-delivered feast.

Big and small peek through open spaces between the risers

to nab crusts, birdseed, peanuts and other treats laid out daily

on every platform so there is always enough variety for all to enjoy.

Each creature leaves pulses of heartbeat within the accommodating

wood in return for safety, shelter and the sustenance available

all year long. Although it is a highway, a haven, a cafe for animals

of this place, the stairway urges the humans to tiptoe up and down

the organic expanse, to examine the texture beneath footfalls, along

stabilizing railings, to sense the life forces embedded as certain as

the wood’s own distinctive grain and as dependable as the earth

floating in space without everything dropping off.

The first step takes us back in time to the tribes, herds & flocks

scrambling around the hill without the ease of thirteen pedestals.

The second step reminds us that, in a hundred years, the stairway

will echo the paws and claws of grateful recipients finding passage

and protection, food and face-to-face inter-species connection.

Taking it slow, moving up, up, even before reaching the top step,

an entire landscape invites exploration; a row of tiny mansions

crafted as sanctuary for hundreds of kitties finding their way here

for better options, trackways left by nocturnal critters, woodlands

regenerating for centuries, the fields beyond nurturing growth fast

and tall in summer heat and then, reliably, surrendering bounty

back to the ground in time before winter lays claim to the land.

Just as walking barefoot on a sandy beach offers surprises

to naked soles, so does absorbing the marrow of each weathered

board impact the climber. Awareness of this enchanted stairway

hovers in the mind’s eye and overrides disquieting realities.

It is an oasis calling up impressions of wondrously simple gifts.

And, in considering wondrous gifts, these stairs top the list.

EARLY MORNING

The light gets up with me,

it dances awkwardly

just steps from the bed

to the edge of day,

awaiting my presence

in the way a stream

at summer’s prime

counts on a rainfall

bringing it back to life.

COMEDY

Those crazy blue jays arrive with slap-happy regularity

mornings at daybreak, aerial dusting the front porch,

bantering by bedroom window, demanding to be heard,

pecking impetuously on wooden slats, until we,

groggy with sleep, perform as commanded

and lay out peanuts from one end of the railing

to the other before standing at the window to watch

the players, old and young birds in pairs and packs,

swoop in and dart out, sounding victory for the day’s

roasted bounty; dancing, leaping and wing-sparring

in wild blue jay tribal ballet, testing peanut shells

for beak fit - rejecting some and loading up on those

deemed exactly perfect for hiding in silty soil on hill

behind flower garden, in pots housing plants, under rock

edges along pathways, behind clumps of native grasses.

The real contest is to see who remembers treasure troves

when snack time rolls around later in the afternoon.

SYMPHONY IN GREEN MAJOR

Beyond the frame of bedroom window with its tidy drapes

and panes, the springtime world is a collage of green.

Small slice of forest hijacks morning plan as the muse

winks to keep me curious, while a chamomile light sets up

the backdrop, sneaking around edges, between beige bones

of branches stitching the leafy landscape. The softest blush

with cucumber flesh, kiwi crisp, lemon-lime velvety heart

of avocado - shades dappled by new day creeping.

Dragon slither iridescence, chartreuse shimmer,

parrot feather flutter as the planet huffs out a wake-up yawn.

Flat patina ebbing into shadows of deep sea kelp, layers

of romaine and kale and chard, slivers of new pea pods,

a peek of scallion pushing through, even a smattering of olive

keeping Mother Nature’s secrets safe. Light, dark, every green

in between, filling the senses with potential of space and mass

and contour, beautiful hues of