Pith & Piffle: overt verse by Jim Gronvold

By Jim Gronvold and Jeremy Thornton

Pith & Piffle, overt verse is Jim Gronvold's fourth collection of poems. HIs concise lyrical verse is inspired by nature, philosophy, autobiography and humor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oak Ink Press
• Release date: Jun 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9780998718972

Jim Gronvold

Jim Gronvold is a former homeless shelter counselor and administrator. His rhymed poems express a deep appreciation of nature and his personal conviction that life itself deserves our deepest attention.

Book preview

Turning

Turning toward sunlight

out of Earth’s shadow

clouds break

and birds wake.

Crisp morning air

begins to glow

and sky brightens

as colors unfurl.

But, in the way

that all things go

we return to darkness.

Only turning is eternal.

Dawn

Again, dawn clouds

are growing bright

as the sun climbs

out of fading night

rising through

layers set alight

to soar again

in burning flight

before the farther

stars ignite

the limits of

our limited sight.

Canyon Shore

These layered curls of crusted skin

crawled from under the crested sea

to climb closer to the sun,

under winding clouds forever spun

by the fierce grace of gravity

that holds us in these rocky folds

below their crumbling scales,

as wearing waves swell and spin

grinding ancient stone to sand

at the end of this valley of furrowed veils.

Cogs

Cogs on a wheel

spun by a star.

Drops of a lake

afloat on an ocean.

A mote of dust

on a sunbeam.

Or a face in a dream

of deep emotion.

Small parts of

more than they seem

swirled on a world

in constant motion

adrift — together —

in the same stream.

Big Sur River

A rhythmic chaos

gently repeating

in bubbling babble

mumbling downstream.

Ripples re-pleating

tumbling water

stumbling on stones

and pebbles that gleam

in the wavy glimmer

of sun-scattered dapples

splattered along

the shallow river

on its winding way

to its rolling extreme.

Western Roots