They say a picture's worth a thousand words. That would have to be some picture...you can say a lot in 1000 words.

spring.

(c) Natalie

Spring is here.

(c) Natalie

So... what is a good name for a spy?
Eduardo? Miguel? Boris? Vladimir? Sven? Steven? Aleksandr?
Clarence? Ciril? Carl? Crispin? Carlyle?

I haven't decided whether he'll turn out to be a good spy or a bad one.

Sun glares on white stucco. The house doesn’t tan. I’m in the shade, sweaty. If houses could it might melt. The block wall is high but I can still see a fan hanging from the back porch roof. I’ve never seen it spin. It looks like a bat, dead, but still hanging on. The wall has a gate: rectangular boards imprisoned by black metal bars.

Drab bushes sit, mannerly, by the wall, their roots discreetly covered by perfectly raked rocks. Except for the sedate waving of bush’s leaves, all is quiet and still. The sun heats the stucco on the house across the street.

Memory laden Raindrops

Raindrops dripping from the wet roof, now
remind me of rainy days before
and now, as then, the sun returns.