By Dianne Mortiz hydrangea bushes show off their big, blue blooms a praying mantis beach body surfing tumbling in fierce waves landing on packed sand scents wafting from the snack shack craving hot dogs seaside beach club oysters and tequila drunk on love walking by the bay a cast of fiddler crabs scuttle in beach … Continue reading Summer Haiku
Our Weeping Willow
By Dianne Moritz Mother carefully snipped a small, green cutting from her friend’s lush yard, set it to root in an old jam jar. We kids marveled, as fragile shoots spouted, buds of leaves unfurled, like baby fists, in sunlight. Sometime later, Mother planted the tiny sapling in the fertile Iowa soil by our backyard … Continue reading Our Weeping Willow
Puzzling It Out
By Dianne Moritz You go along in life, putting the pieces together, one by one. Like a jigsaw puzzle, sometimes they fit snuggly: bird on a nest, sweet peas on a trellis. Then, just when you think you’re ready for the next piece, you lose it under the tablecloth or discover it’s all wrong...cloud cover … Continue reading Puzzling It Out
Ode to the Beach
By Dianne Moritz Oh, to walk on the beach these spring afternoons. To enjoy lapping waves, and slide down big dunes. To watch sea birds playing, hear loud seagulls' squawks. To spot pretty seashells, crabs, clams, osprey hawks. To exult in fresh air, feel mist on my face. Oh, to take a beach walk, … Continue reading Ode to the Beach
Easter Bunny
By Dianne Moritz Easter bunny- Chocolate yummy. Nibble toes, Nibble tummy. Nibble tail. Then nip off ears. Nibble till… It disappears!
LOVE MAKES ME FEEL GOOD INSIDE: kids talk love
By Dianne Moritz Kids are innocent. Kids are cute. Kids are eloquent. Talk to them. Ask them questions. You’ll find that kids always have an answer, a charming take on just about any subject. Prompted by me, with a bit of help from Charles Schultz and the Peanuts Gang, I offer this pint-sized point-of-view … Continue reading LOVE MAKES ME FEEL GOOD INSIDE: kids talk love
FUN AND GAMES AT THE WILD ROSE CAFE
A villanelle by Dianne Moritz Sitting here in this funky Wild Rose Cafe, where there’s twenty-seven words for cool, women preen and dream, while men look down, masking boredom on their handsome faces. It’s all too obvious you’d have to laugh were needs for connection not so great. When you suggested we go … Continue reading FUN AND GAMES AT THE WILD ROSE CAFE
Glancing in the Mirror
By Dianne Moritz He says, “I can’t wait for tomorrow.” Spicy cologne splashes his craggy face. Warm steam sweats the cool glass, as she giggles and plays along. “Because I get better looking every day!” Watching him comb back thick, gray feathered hair, goosebumps prickle her thin arms. She steps close, kisses his damp, worn … Continue reading Glancing in the Mirror
It’s Come to This
By Dianne Moritz Once she sipped daiquiris by the pool high above Hollywood gazing down at the vista. Eucalyptus shade cooled her soft, tanned skin as she kissed his lips under the California sun. There he made promises to love her forever and ever and ever until the twelfth of never. Today she lives … Continue reading It’s Come to This
The Hike
By Dianne Moritz Walking through forests of lost years, you dropped small clues, like Hansel’s breadcrumbs, leading the way back. Ravenous, I promptly sweeten harsh words, raw truths, as one would a bitter fruit. We continued down those pot-holed trails, rock strewn paths, muddy lanes, hoping to reignite young, long ago love…. Dianne Moritz's … Continue reading The Hike
Academy of the Heart And Mind 