Category Archives: AllPoetry

Forgetting

the truth is so long gone
that it has become an unwelcome stranger
and the danger
is that I may have forgotten and
the perspective so rotten
that memories once real fall to pieces
love ceases to matter and the shatter
of life is like safety glass
glinting in the sunlight
sparkles blind me
to the bleeding that comes
from handling bare-handed
I’ve landed in uncharted territory
running from something I can’t
even see, only free on the inside
and not even then
if I’m lost
that’s the cost
of forgetting

Unbearable Music

irresistible swelling chorus
notes dragging soul through tides
left sprawled like seaweed
hollow, moon-dazed

Prompt: swell

constraint : 15 words

In The Women’s Room

in the women’s room
they talk and there is a current
that runs underneath
the words are never
what is being said
there is warm and sister love
praise for one’s child
prayer for ones worries
like brushing hair and fixing tea
murmur of life

then there are the days
when skin is peeled off
a tiny strip at a time
so the pain isn’t even felt
until air hits exposed flesh
and they fight over chunks
of heart and soul
that curl up in corners
licking their wounds
wondering why they came
in the first place

The Change

when mists could hide
a lunar frown
I lay my human nature down
and bending oe’r
four feet to floor
no longer fight
the urge for flight
as bones would melt
and fur replace
a pleasant face
now eyes that glow
and teeth that show
the inner me
and all would flee
but I am fast and faster still
the hunt begins
a special thrill as deep inside
a monstrous mind
I know I hunt
for my own kind
and tear the flesh
a bloody snout
as you lay dead
your life spilled out
I run in dark and shadowed
places pulled like tides
I slip the traces
ears laid back I am the night
and knots untied
that held me bound
I am the blood I am the air
the night smells wash
my fears away I run and run
and find a space
to sleep
to wake
til next my moon
I ache
I’m cold
my skin
the day

Halloween is just around the corner….

Goodnight

I missed my walk this morning
and now I think I am glued to this chair
earbuds affixed to drown out the reality tv
a giant insect is knocking on someone’s door
and I hit the pause button and fold my laptop closed
stretching stiff limbs, I say I think I’ll take a shower
you nod your head and eat more chips
I wonder as I let the hot water
pour over my back
why my thoughts are technicolor
while the world is black and white
there must be something wrong
with my corneas
maybe I need a pair
of those 3D glasses
or depth perception therapy
as I lay my book on the nightstand
and close my eyes
I think I will take my walk tomorrow
I see better with my feet
on the ground

I meant to post this a few days ago when I wrote it but got busy. Spent yesterday and today with number one son and future daughter-in-law. Pampered Chef shower and arranged for the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. The list is being whittled down 🙂

Tiny Poem

hold it, mold it
gently blow
barely live
don’t let it go
nurture, future
warmth is all
others drawn
they hear it’s call
gather more as
round it hover
save it, shelter
under cover
grow it, show it
careful now
rhyme and rhythm
you know how
craft the lines
with care and see
poetry that sets
hearts free

working through the doldrums…

Moments Before the Storm

I become thunder in the dark
just rumble – no light
and the words drip off the roof
growing a different garden

my heart thirsts
and I dream of rain
head full of sand
hand full of ash

Just give me a spark

For Emily

I read the words
and sucked in a breath
and then thought about
that breath
did you do the same as you
rounded the point
and saw the ocean
stretched out in front of you
until it fell off the edge of the earth
felt your heart race
and the sea air wash over you
filling your lungs with
the possibilities
of what lie ahead
as the tethered memories
let you go with a snap
sinking your feet into the deck
with the rightness
of the moment
was the poem already forming
on salty lips
as you quietly smiled
in exultation

Air

there is no air
it has been sucked out by the world
by the whirled smoke of a thousand
burning buildings
by the raised eyebrow
of the man down the street
by the grains of sand on the beach
that no one walks on
by the broken heart
silent and dark
beaten, not beating
by the balloons filled
and sated, now soaring
on the end of a thin string
by the attitude of the altitude
of the head in the clouds
by the house all alone
at the edge of the world
vacant windows flung wide
as the wind would rush through
if it could
but there is no air

and I am hungry for it
starving for lung filling
skin cooling
something to walk on
conditioned
or kite filled
like milk spilled
can’t cry for it
eyes dried by it
hair lifted
like wings floating
bubbling brooks
pages in books flip for it
leaves fall through
cushions of pockets of
holding it til you turn blue
for it
breathe in and out
sigh for it die without
sing about
give a shout
all needing air
as I climb
I am out of it
out of the clouds
there is sky
filled with sails
I would spin til
I’m dizzy with
drunk on
the wind

Poetic Asides prompt: vacuum

image: http://www.timgagnonstudio.com/storage/meetmeweb.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1334635176065

Dreaming

there was a time when I was huge
big as the world I filled the sky
years go by and as each passes
I become less and the world
shrinks with me
and more and more
I find myself
lost inside
my head
dreaming

NaPoMo 30 Poetic Asides prompt: fading away

Not happy with this but glad to have completed the challenge.

Unarmed

I am unarmed
Except for words
Naked in the storm
I wrap them around me
For warmth on this night
Lightening flashes
Reveals one thought
Thunder shatters me
And the thought splinters
Into pieces like raindrops
Like diamonds, like glass
hail stings my skin and bounces
All around my feet
Steam rises from warm rain
Heated by the sun of
Yesterday afternoon
That is gone but leaves
A memory of light
I huddle in the dark
Hoping for the flash of light
Fearing it too
Feeling exposed by it
Corners illuminated
Where puddles hide
The ground
How deep
How dark
How long
Howl

Sunday Scribblings Prompt: Storm

Time

I have a problem with time
it is linear and I am not
I rebound from what caught my attention
five seconds ago
and bounce back to the present
with a smack that shakes
me to my toes
and leaves me confused
seduced by a shiny thought
then ducking back into the shadow
to dream about yesterday’s double
entendre to ponder
but then the commercial breaks
and my attention spans the synapses
and sparks are flying
because emotions ran rough-shod
over logic I am not cognizant of
any reason for this other
than I just can’t keep the thought
train on the tracks
and there are cracks that I refuse to step on
as I procrastinate the dates fly by
as calendar pages ripped and tossed
and crossed to yes another year
they come with frequency
unpredicted
conflicted but still I sit
and write
when I should be
working

NaPoMo 28 Poetic Asides prompt: Write about a problem

The Trouble With Writing Prompts

the trouble with writing prompts
is that they can inspire
lead you down foreign roads
of brain grooves unmapped
navigating rapids and canyon
surfing verbage as you hold your arms
straight out for balance
…and fall anyway
because the heart does not
understand gravity
and sometimes the poem
skips a few steps
and skids onto the paper
shocked to find
itself breathing

poetic asides prompt: Begin a poem with “The trouble with…”

NaPoMo 27

There Is A Blue (Morgan Price artist)

There is a blue
Uncommon intensity
Laid next to buttery glow
Of lamplight anticipation
Evening out all the sharp edges
Of a day as dark cars ease down
Lanes of eateries and shops
Lit to entice
To excite and lure
With the promise of
Holding off a night

http://www.winterparkpaintout.org/imagearea/MorganSamuelPrice_2012_EveningLight_OilonBoard_8x10_img.jpg
www.winterparkpaintout.org

www.polasek.org

Hui Lai Chong A Painter Paints

Artist unknowing
Becomes art
Becomes landscape fodder
For a hungry brush
That speeds across time
And space
With no other thoughts
Than light, shadow, color
Dip, stroke, show
Don’t tell (shh)
Sneak up from the side
And you can almost catch
A wind tossed Sky
Through rustling green

http://www.winterparkpaintout.org/imagearea/HiuLaiChong_2012_ADayatKraftAzaleaGarden_OilonBoard_9x12_img.jpg
www.winterparkpaintout.org

www.polasek.org

NaPoMo 27

Killarney Sunset Hui Lai Chong

there is fire on the lake tonight
the mist is tangerine and heavy with smoke
I breathe it in as though I could exhale the sun
dipping into shadows of purple
the coolness mocks the sky
my feet want to wade in the blue
but I am rooted on the shore
afraid to burn
waiting for the moon
to extinguish the flames

“The Winter Park Paint Out 2012 – International Poetry Competition hosted by Mark Andrew J. Terry as a poetic extension of the Winter Park Paint Out where twenty-six artists who specialize in en plein air painting come to Winter Park, Florida, USA and paint. This poetry competition allows a poet to pair with an artist and respond to a painting with poetry in this unique cooperative and hopefully complimentary competition.”

www.WinterParkPaintOut.org

http://www.winterparkpaintout.org/imagearea/HiuLaiChong_2012_killarneySunset_OilonBoard_6x8_img.jpg

Teeth

The lions are loose
In the streets tonight
Devouring moonlight as it spills
And flows down lane and alley
Chewing up the light
Leaving dark, leaving nothing
But empty shadows
And the sound ofÂ
Of growling and gnashing
Of teeth

NaPoMo 26 poetic asides prompt:animals