Friday, November 22, 2013

Red

Red Beach in Panjin, China

 (Home to more than 236 types of birds)

I stand sea-
swarmed under mauve rose sky- 
white wings folded

Under black crowns
I crane towards autumn canvas
wet of morning

rain, cupped majestic
by crimson sun shimmering salty
grass ripe as cherries

Night beckons
Plumed bright of rubies & garnets
My skin quivers

Everything pulses vibrant
bold
red
the only color I know:

You 

Posted for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Hannah's Challenge
and Flash Fiction Friday - 55 red lettered words for the G-man ~  It's actually grey & cold here ~  Happy weekend to all ~  

picture credit:  Kirsten Wong

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Ode to an avocado



dressed with lemon,
garlic, olive oil & mustard-
a chef's delight

but i like you best
bare
sliced open under rough snake
skin
velvet ripe & creamy
belly

drizzled with sugar
& cold milk,
bowled dessert
of indolent summer days

plump smooth,

slivers of ambrosia       
your taste is only rivaled
by my other childhood memory-

cloistered nuns
making candied purple yams
stirring over
& over
flaming giant pan until
rough fibers turn sin-

fully lush 
as nectar oil

decadent food 
for gods  
hand-bottled for sale in market -

pear-shaped
your green womb
wraps me tight like seed
coconut-shaped

pining for tropical sun-
   


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Modern Odes with a taste of Chile (Neruda Style)   Taking a break from studying  because I miss writing ~  Thanks for the visit ~  

Picture credit:   here

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Of storms

In storm's eye, houses fell as if they are matchsticks, burnt black, thinned of fire.





Streets awashed with debris, smelled of pissed fear & dead fish with blameless eyes.  

She walks with her nose covered by towel, damp of tears and meal prayers.     

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Your words a flint, hungry for air, reaches for my lips petalled of rain.


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - First 3 lines are about the plight of the people in the Philippines after the storm. My thoughts and prayers are with them.   

Thanks for the visit ~

Saturday, November 9, 2013

where our childhood toys are




our toys don't live here
in this room labelled Fragile!
they are fence sitting, feet dangling 

perched on an empty can,
waiting for a stone's aim

they are crouching behind
shrubs & trees & empty boxes
rubber band ready, stretched to 

paper target, faking death on whim

they are hiding under beds,
behind cabinets, above the kite tails,

ready to seek shrill
You are It !

throw dice to lose a point
or advance a number on checkered board
loosely scattered like marbles

colored sun, sunflowers bursting -

toys snake up & down
in ladders until everyone gets 100 or heaven  
is where we all play

princess with long blanket hair &
soldiers with plastic swords -

shake one hand fast:     

paper, stone or scissor?
sometimes they're wood & sky
mostly scrabbled dirty 
of ice cream & biscuits

these toys
are not for sale     
for they're the chicken soup 

of our childhood days-  

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub- Childhood Games & Toys

Picture credit:   here

Thursday, November 7, 2013

A flower is up to you




a flower is sinless
a flower is a blossom that contains brilliant
a flower is easy to make into a cartoon

a flower is chosen
a flower is given its scent by nature
a flower is born

a flower is an evocation to silence through the mask of language
a flower is the story of a disturbed little girl who sacrifices everything 

to preserve the only life she's ever  known
a flower is a lonesome thing


~Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Googlism - Selected from this word list ~

a flower is a thing of loveliness
the illumination of all the life that has preceded it

hold up a mirror to your soul to see your life more clearly; for in its shape-
a flower

is not just a flower
it's healing, also formed in garlic & chicken soup-

a beautiful thing:
a flower blooming

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The matter of time



This morning, time ran out
without clothes & shoes

No explanations were given
in short meeting & email that followed-

I went back to my office cube
& checked my watch-
It was still stuck to one hour plus+
Like a stubborn dial or broken wheel

My 30 min. lunch break vanished in 1 min. 
while my 10 min. advisor negotiations  
ambled slow, stealing half of my day -
I fall into this hard-to-break habit: 

Time
Per Hawking's theory
are of two types - real &
Imaginary (like a tea time to a child)

Tomorrow is a tyrant 
if things aren't done today, so I
smooth yesterday's files into
wrinkle-free pages, as if time neither
expanded nor collapsed but held its breath -  
 

I type my decision:   No
change in the pricing!  (Keep the client happy)   
 

Then I think of pushing out
to sea in the boat & calling time out -
Why did you leave me here?
Stuck with box of hanger coats 
They're a burden to carry -

But I hesitate
to scamper after time  
yelling:   Come & Be Happy here !

I'm rooted to this office 

Where everyone invents & misses numbers- 
Usual culprit:  There wasn't enough time

4:00 pm

I go home & untie
time & space as if they're ribbons in my hair-
They scamper polka dotted marbles

Settling in their picture frames, contented -

But I'm not-
My poster reads - Don't Disturb me! 

Into a "wormhole" (Hawking's term)
I slip slide slow  
Reading words again
again
Now here lies a mystery: 
Even at first glance
I know them intimately like a lover's body 

Evening pulls 
palmed milky, combusted of stars
I gaze at blue crinkling sky,  
shimmering, an eternal pond -

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight ~  Thanks for the visit ~ 

Monday, November 4, 2013

Dona Nobis Pacem



today
i will light
a  candle:
peace

i  will  be the
sycamore tree
standing    tall
for brothers &
sisters,    lost 
 &  war-weary. 
  i will  be  the  
shaded leaves,
sturdy bark  of
home to those
who need me.
my trunk   will
be   hollowed
  hearth to wings
   & feet. i'll bade 
my words soft
 as wind, strong
as  fire  during
 cold nights.For
 today,    peace
 begins with me.
 

Posted for OpenLinkNight of Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Thanks for the visit ~