Tag Archives: Ethel Mortenson Davis

Exchange

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

A hummingbird came
to the garden at sunrise,
close to my left shoulder,
then my face—a female Black-Chin.

She came for the sparkling droplets
glistening from my sprinkler—

a morning bath
in a parched land.

She presented her gift
as she took mine.

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New Mexico

a pastel by Ethel Mortenson Davis

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Terra

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

A great cat
stretches her
elongated muscles
in the morning light,
sending a yawn
rippling along
her wiry body,
paying little attention
to the scurrying ants
on her ground.

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Dance of the Iris: Fertile Land, Desert Land

Dance of an Iris

a photograph by Sonja Bingen

Iris in the Desert

a photograph by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Note: The time of Iris blooms is nearly done. In fertile southern Wisconsin the Iris dance in sunlight and the intensity of spring. In the high desert Irises, especially a profusion of Irises, is a miracle.

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Reflections of a Country Girl for her Mother

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Once, when the creek
had swelled its banks in spring,
and I had run to meet its new boundaries
to build a raft again
that could carry me down the Little Sandy
toward lands unknown,
I was sidetracked by a patch
of blue and yellow violets—
too many to let go unnoticed,
found among the wet and shady places—
and I forgot about the countries unseen.

And in fist-fulls I came running,
sharing them with you—
and you received them well,
arranging them in glass jars,
teaching me to love
the spring beauties and things:
The funny-faced Holstein calves
and the timid chickadees
who came in December
to snatch your winter’s crumbs.

© 2011 White Ermine Across Her Shoulders

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Joy in Threes

A Photo Essay by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Leg Pollen Sack on a Honey Bee

Great Purple Hairstreak

Eggs of a Long-Tailed New Mexican Black Bird

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Presence

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

She had missed
the elk and rabbit
this morning.

She didn’t see
the grasses parted
where a trail
was apparent,
where rabbit brush
was trampled down
from the great bodies of elk.

But they watched her
as she walked by.

She unaware,
this morning,
of their presence.

© 2010 I Sleep Between the Moons of New Mexico

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Star

an abstract pastel by Ethel Mortenson Davis

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The Marriage

a pastel by Ethel Mortenson Davis

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Weather Upside Down, a photo essay

Snow came to Continental Divide yesterday and last night. Sometimes it was so thick you could not see the Zuni Mountains out the back window.

Ethel Mortenson Davis’s photograph of flowers blooming as snow fell

Up north in Wisconsin, where Sonja Bingen lives, spring is bursting with intensity.

Sonja Bingen’s photographs

Is the north becoming the south?

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