Clarence Amos Jefferis

Pigeons are now extinct. These devoted birds served mankind well as carrier pigeons flying messages to strategic places, even war zones, before the advent of computers and smart phones.

    The Naturalist

    Orchids grow in humid holders;
    Pet pigeons ride upon his shoulders
    As calmly as aqua parakeets,
    Unafraid of a Spaniel up-ending for treats.

    Freeport swamps find Whooping Cranes,
    Dipping down to beg a catch.
    No longer a secret fishing haunt,
    Clarence opens his wire-cage latch.

A turkey we named Jasper Tom escaped from a truck-load headed for the market. He was found strutting around a pond of pet ducks and geese making himself at home for about four years ... until a hungry wolf invaded his wire fencing.

    Cameras clicked when he flared his tail--
    Like opening a fan or a sail.
    We wonder who opened the gate,
    Allowing inside a hungry ingrate.

    Toy dogs are smart
    Making up for size,
    So it's no surprise
    They steal your heart.

    Michael pets mongrel
    Gift from a nearby farmer
    Background peacocks watch

    Michael goes to San Antonio
    With bandit and King Ray.
    The Alamo's on the way.

    Painted from snapshot
    Alert dog now hangs on wall
    Gaffing insurance

    Pigmy owl nested in my backyard hollow elm:
    I waited until he left his realm
    For an early morning camera shot,
    Hoping he wouldn't abandon his leafy plot.

    A cat who loved the watercolor block,
    Pressing the hard-pressed paper even more,
    Or waiting for her turn to pose?

    Near the beautiful Taj Mahal
    Young sahib holds his cobra pet--
    Cobra venom doth stall
    Hands that reach for a frozen asset.

    With feathers aglow , he steals the show
    Demanding a place to strut or race,
    A makeshift stage ... Outside the cage
    A place to squawk and learn to talk.

    Cockatiel clings to shoulder,
    With Eddy no less bolder.

Bantam Rooster minds the nestlings.

    Choosing leadership
    To fly over rural pond
    Gaggling geese line-up

    Home-made pond attracts
    Wild geese ... Dry dog food and corn
    Attract gosling brood


    Hear my loud honking
    We're set for a morning swim
    Please throw out our corn

    Spoonbills in flight
    What an astounding sight
    Domestic ducks perceived ...
    Instincts no longer retrieved/

    Tina lounges on hearth
    Surrounded by artifacts.
    Ben Franklin stove will keep her warm
    When winter chill impacts.

    Clydesdale or Shetland Pony,
    Horses saved our aching feet
    Palomino or Strawberry Roan
    Earned pastures green and sugar treat.

    Pinto and Appaloosa with friends
    Are grazing around the barn
    Where the good grass never ends
    On a well-kept farm in early morn.

    What a charming child
    Jennifer clutches her doll
    Her smiling rag toy

    Hatched Whooping Crane
    Lessens the extinction bane

    Loons cry a warning
    With ducklings passing by
    Floating on mama's back

    Friendly Mallard watching a sleeping Muskogee:
    Why can' t she fly away with me?
    I would enjoy her company.

Peahen

Peacock

A pair of beauties hatched a fledging and had to be given away due to their belligerence. No one could come within fifty feet of their young . New owners built a roomy aviary, sparing no expense for their care. Considered legally wild, they can be coaxed into becoming pets.

    Parakeet Pete

    Learned a few words to chirp.
    When old, he fell from his perch,
    Sending a message to me:
    Good by Mawee!

    Macaw

    He peels and eats all fruit donated,
    No lovlier bird hath God created!
    Early springtime blooms

    Hatching and pollinating
    For the love of Earth

    Sparrow shares
    hamburger lunch
    at roadside park.

    Flamingo wader
    Descending to a dark lagoon
    Like a pink fairy

    Bunny hides in a Jonquil bloom,
    Listening for danger to loom.
    He has no vocal chords for sound,
    His only defense is thumping the ground.


    Under spring time trees,
    Over grassy leas,
    The goats will pull the cart
    Crafted by a loving heart


Indians love an elephant ride Her pony decked for a parade has trampted many holidays On a lazy Sunday afternoon and festivals. Tourists often confide

The fear of tromping a sacred dune!

    Overlooking the lake,
    Watching Purple Martins build nests,
    Rover lived for thirty years
    Before going home to heavenly rest.

Young raccoons impatient for dark peer through the oak tree fork wondering if the cat has left a scrap big enough for three!

    Outdoors, my three Siamese
    Chase cicadas in the evening breeze.
    Indoors, they plan to attack
    When painful ears bemoan a voc.

    Baby parrot purchased in Ahmadabad
    Knows the table will soon be filled with food.
    He screeches on his favorite perch
    When hunger assails his mood.

    Parrots seems to mate for life,
    staying impervious to strife.

    Aloof, but listening, a cat pretends indifference.
    Then leaps to frighten some meadow lark,
    Expecting a hot pursuit.

    Kittens in verdant grass
    Watching the sunset pass.

    Listen to what the cats have to say
    ESP is their language. Tune in!

    Without a sign of fear
    He grazed near hill-side homes:
    This tawny white-tail deer
    No longer feeds nor roams.

    Deer in snow, pausing for a way to go;
    Across the meadow to dig for roots.
    Or follow some forsaken row
    Where a farmer leaves
    A few old fruits?

Mythical bird believed to recreate itself, the Phoenix is a riot of color, as this one hanging above the Phoenix Air Port.

    Will a barbed wire fence deter
    This eight-pronged buck
    Gauging the length and breadth
    To spring and trust to luck?

    The buffalo may hear
    Stampedes pounding hard grounds,
    Ghosts of kin dodging each spear
    Where their herd no longer abounds.

Walking through Texas Metals, I noticed the beautiful curlicues from metal cuttings and encouraged artist Joe Ranieri to transfer his talent to metal sculpturing, This life-size bull was purchased to represent the stock market's Bull Market.

    Chewing on maple tree bark
    Spawn sharp teeth ... Strong gums

    French Poodle and Tabby share a pad
    On a window seat, a favorite retreat.
    They spy both feather and leaf, colorfully clad.

    India's befriended civet mastered dog tricks:
    Rolling over, or fetching sticks.


    Annie

    Appropriate name for an orphaned cat
    Befriended by squirrels; she came to my lawn,
    A stranger, unafraid of a loving pat,
    Now scaling my cedar house and flying down.
    She'll leap on your lap
    Then burrow down with a plaintive mew.

    I'm not ceramic , my feathers are real
    I love to be noticed with a pear to peel.

    Black-bellied Whistler
    No longer do I hear this tree duck
    Make his special sounds--
    A whistle or a cluck.

    Nesting far above the ground
    Migrating east to west ...
    Perhaps he's found eternal rest.

    Ice forms protective shields
    For hibernating seals.

    Mighty winging hawk
    Guided by beacon's white cloud
    Predators crouch low

    Royal pair push off for a swim,
    Imperial Ducks find life becoming grim:
    Oil spills from tankers impede their way,
    Debris from human's careless play.

    A ram on the highest hill after vaulting a rill
    And umpteen ledges showing off his skill.


    Seeming pre-historic, some bison are still about.
    Philanthropists admire their strength and clout.
    Armadillos roam southwest digging triangular holes,
    Nice for planting trees, a bush or flag poles.
    Texas mascot: the longhorn steer--
    Numbers grow fewer year by year.


    RESCUE DOGS

    On that fateful day
    Hearing injured plead,
    They sni'ffed and dug
    With frantic speed.
    Master's treat--his pay
    Was pat on head or hug.


    Trailing a brother, we gather dew berries,
    I grasp two mangy cats, while Joseph ferries
    Across the creek on a wooden plank
    To mossy ground ... a vine-covered bank.
    Then home to spare ... a kitchen chair.

    Land of the Elk
    Well-diggers and riggers bequeath pet stones.
    Fossils arise from storms or quakes,
    Deciduous shell and glacial crack
    Exude mastodon horns ... and cousin-giants:
    Pterodactyls, both impervious to gravitons.
    We wonder what madness sealed their doom?

    Flowing rivers follow the morning sun,
    Dividing light and shade, Elk grazing green hills
    With pecking finch ... We grasp the tube,
    The micro-chip, and bedrock amber with squiggles.

    Rare white tiger sleeps
    India's stone slab is home
    Extinction begins

    Rooster protectively guards our hen house entrance
    Ducklings follow mother duck:
    Do they smell pond life ahead,
    Or a swimming lesson to master?
    Her cluck implies there's nothing to dread.

    Silkies have feathers resembling fur
    Markets find fewer hybrids to sell:
    A priceless bantam whose eggs are rare
    Let us incubate their precious shell!

Muskogee's find a nesting space on the ledge of the patio; What fun to watch ducklings waddling behind moms en route to the pond!

    In one of India's many parks this red-neck crane
    Strolled from table to table demanding grain,
    Or any scraps of food, discarded or not,
    Or else get chased out the gate of the public plot.

We named him Ralph, knowing he could not leave India. We bid him farewell when the rickshaw pulls up to our gate with a couple of Hindus dressed in native garb--sari and dhoti, promising to take good care of him.

    Golden Bantam hatched
    a trio with one black chick
    and two butter balls

Herding cows to wind-proof barns, we shelter sheep once shorn. Palominos graze on hay-strewn plots. Beggars limp to camper cots. Corgi peers out his keep checking unwary sheep.

Fritter wings unfold Flying south to warmer climes To Old Mexico

    Painting fragile butterflies
    Bewitches the artist' s eyes:
    Burnt umber shines on wings,
    Vermilion designs their rings.

    The honey bee less seen today
    To stage his dance for workers to follow.
    his nectar blooms are miles away
    Beyond flower fields now fallow.

Marching orbs impose universal will striking a note of birth unless we march along with our guardian soul and the animal spirit who watches over us.

    One chilly morning
    Mongrel watches me shiver
    While Eddy shutters

    Seals in silver cay
    California's Morro Bay
    Amphibians play