Winter Solstice

Dead leaves, apple seeds, roots of darkness
Gather and wrap us in fleece
Our skin is wintering white of stars
Dead leaves, apple seeds, roots of darkness
Turn your cheek where sun stands still
Our eyes beg for sky glazing of leaves

~ Wishing you all Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays ~

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - OpenLinkMonday

Where I'll find you

Finding Lightness

Joel Robison Photography

I search for you 

as snow recedes as milk stains on grass

you with the glint of dragon fire in your eyes

you with the naughty smirk on your lips

Carry me to where the forest 

is greening & lake is squirming with fish

Above the bare maple trees

I see the sun's marmalade cheeks

Even as grey clouds

billow as  fraying ribbons across sky   

There will be no winter blues for me

No rainy days to swallow bitter pills

I'll write on tea leaves
while drinking warm apple cider

I'll find lightness

in belly of winter, flint the shadows

with dawn fingers, 

and strike & strike at the core

That ember that leavens

bread & shapes my sandcastles to garden

That water that rises

above dry land & breaks into a storm-

I'll carry a black umbrella
creased with words & painting tubes-

Here, I'll wait for you

with a hundred blue balloons-  

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - For our last OpenLinkNight ~ Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all ~

Breaking bread

Pan de Sal

While I carefully butter

the plumb belly of native bread
& sprinkle it with sugar,

his delicate fingers
would tear the bread into pieces

and dunk it in his warm coffee
like a wet tissue

Maybe it is out of habit

Or maybe it is to make it easier

for his dentures 

We are sliced apart

by more than 

a generation

a war
& my mother's elopement

Yet over the breakfast table 

In pajamas, grandpa and I

eat leisurely while shooing away the flies

waiting for our crumbs

Outside the sun rises

a yeast
browning the sugar fields
and settles between us
a bread
filling the spaces
what words couldn't

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - I am pleased to be your host for this last Poetics for 2014 

~  Thanks for the visit~

To the muse

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

Here they come again
Puncturing your chest
With wires
To keep you from drowning

Your eyes are sallow glass
As your heartbeats
Go into an overdrive 
Grasping for pure oxygen
I admit
I lie to you

You are doing fine
When you say you cannot
Take it anymore
But your stubborn body
Holds on 
For more than 10 years
Defying the doctors who always 
Leave you with
Another knot
Another scar

I try to smooth over 
So you will talk to me
and listen to my journey 
See my knots, still untangled
See my scars, still fresh 
But you only hear yourself
Restless
In the couch bed
Insomniac, a depressed butterfly
Graying
The corners of the bedroom

*I wish to God I had made this world, this scurvy   
And disastrous place. I
Didn’t, I can’t bear it
Either, I don’t blame you, sleeping down there   
Face down in the unbelievable silk of spring,   
Muse of black sand,
Alone.

I don’t blame you, I know
The place where you lie.
I admit everything. But look at me.*   
Mom is also slipping into the same darkness 
Come back to us
Dad with your belly laughter
or I will
Come down to you.

Title and lines are inspired from James Wright ~

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - We are getting inspiration from the words of James Wright
and Poets United - Thanks for the visit ~

Pink in my mind

Pink Lake Hillier, Western Austrailia

I change the snowdrops

with sunny skies & lush trees

Here, my mind is pink

Tiding of flamingo calls 

And my feet, greening with buds

~0~0~0~

I float away

My eyes tracing the sky 

The lake bears me soft

as mother's hand on my cheek

humming a half-lullaby

Posted for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Transforming Friday Hosted by Hannah

and Poetry Jam - Quiet Hosted by Peggy ~  I am trying to get back to my writing groove after a break ~  Thanks for the visit ~

Queen of the night

Epiphyllum oxypetalum
Queen of the Night

Photo by M. Penaranda

in darkest of nights

my hands open to receive you-

burst forth as lightning

unfolding every jagged line bold-

you are beautifully made

~0~0~0~

when the sky is dry

her hands are water
when night is cold, 
her hands are catching fire opals-
mother, thread my hands with yours

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Queen of the Night

and Poetry Jam:   Hands - Trying my hand in tanka form as its been some time since I wrote one ~  Thanks for the visit ~

Haibun: Shark by the Lake

you are the radio star, whose dulcet voice enchants over the air.    you cast yourself a modern cultured man of the city with your progressive views on women and arts.   during a public event, when you noticed me out of all your young adoring fans, I felt like a winner being singled out by the city's brightest light.   

your silky voice
is summer's caress, i bloom
as night full of fireflies 

our second date is perfect  - dinner then coffee invite at your home by the lake.   i lean in for a sweet kiss, but what happens next is forever stitched in my memories.   you hit me, three times on the face with closed fists.    i fall on the ground with knees like water, but you are not done yet.   you put your hands on my throat to choke the wind from my lungs. your eyes are wild with desire.   violence is your opium rush.  doubts came, festering my confidence into silence. i felt like a loser for falling for your ego-sized games. 

your eyes, teeth are red
on my neck, your hands blacken - 
what animal are you?

This is the day I had looked forward to after 10 years.   You in the courtroom being charged by the police for sexual assault.  You have been fired from your job.  Your dark eyes are filled with worry.    An animal in the cage, caught and restrained by law and negative public opinion.   You hired a good defense lawyer to save you.  I read that she is the celebrity's shark, out to destroy all the witnesses, (including me).  No matter what the legal outcome will be next year, the real winners are the victims who are speaking out against the rape-culture mentality of our time.

above bony trees
hawk glides sleek as ivory sky-
I find my voice 

Toronto Star

Jian Ghomeshi leaves College Park court with his lawyers on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014 after being released on $100,000 bail. This image - the accused flanked by his lawyers, surrounded by police, who are in turn surrounded by media - was a striking and revealing one, writes Christopher Hume.

Background:    This is our local version of USA's Bill Crosby story.   However the man in spotlight, Jian Ghomeshi is a celebrated CBC radio star, accused of sexual violence against women (15 stories), without their consent.   In Canada there is no time limitation on sexual violence; you can still be charged & sued even after 10 or more years has passed. You can read more here and here~

For D'verse Poets Pub - For Mary's prompt of Winners and Losers ~  I have not been around due to my studies and on-going home renovations.    I have one more week to go before my exams, and the renovations should be done by then ~   Thanks for the visit ~