Lori Wall-Holloway

Summer Gloom? 

Early morning grey 

covers June sky 

when my husband and I decide 

to take two granddaughters 

to visit a closed school

they used to attend

We notice the property’s 

bushes and trees are overgrown

likely due to students

leaving with hurried 

good-byes to loved teachers

all because of a pandemic

Down the street we spot 

a beautiful male peacock 

with midnight blue neck

A long train of feathers 

trails behind him while two 

brown females with color

green gracing their necks 

look for food ahead

We follow the birds

accompanied by a friendly

black cat wearing a red collar

We hear a caw from above 

and notice atop a roof 

positioned like a weather 

vane  an older bird is calling 

to one hidden in a cluster of trees

A granddaughter sees a third 

disappear around the corner

where we are excited

to discover not just two

peahens but four peachicks

While the male watches 

from across the way 

one mother and the chicks

fly up to the top of a wall 

to find safety on a rooftop 

Amazed at the scene

we agree what turned 

out to be a gloomy

beginning to our day  

became a sunny memory 

for the start of summer

Spinning

(Dedicated to my dad

who enjoyed life like 

a big kid)

Family summer visits 

to Disneyland were not 

complete unless we went 

to Fantasyland to go 

on the Mad Tea Party 

Ride with my father 

who loved to see 

how fast he could spin 

one of the colorful teacups 

that sits atop a moving 

turntable painted

with a spiral to depict 

the Mad Hatter’s craziness

Radiating excitement

once the ride begins 

my dad turns the metal 

ring in the center 

of the cup so rapidly 

it causes us to whirl

around with such speed 

we become dizzy

Some of my siblings cry 

for him to quit while others 

are giddy with an adrenalin 

rush

The force of the rotation

pushes us together 

as we yell for dad

to go faster and faster

Until  -

Mom’s voice

is heard above 

the screams

when she laughingly 

shouts,  “Bob, stop!”