graduation blessings

summer sky pours out:
cart of wild berries,
honeycomb of blessings
and a cargo of rain

just enough coolness
to silver the hollowed bowels
of wilted boughs 
and silk tresses of blooming vines

listen 
to rustling
of crickets & grasshoppers
teething against the hard wood

listen
to restless
conspiracy
of ravens hiding above
black maple trees

listen
to weighless
flowering of seeds
groaning with anticipation
at every hour passing

listen 
deeply to yourself
without haste or sadness
so that this next journey
be a time to find

you
moving gracefully
as doe on field of golden wheat
hushed by clouds




Posted for OpenLinkNight at D'verse Poets Pub - Hosted by the Bjorn Rudberg ~  Please drop by when the pub doors open at 3pm EST ~  See you ~ 

Note:  For my youngest child, graduating from high school tonight.

a sunflower of blessings

early morning sun is a tapestry
of coral pink behind billowing clouds

     may you be nourished
     by raindrops and milkweed
     waltzing through air

     may you be gifted with newness-
     wings of dragonflies, starlight of fireflies
     and voracious appetite of caterpillars

i amble with robins & cardinals 
in the walk to park, too early for the crowd

     may you be serenaded by 
     gentle breeze on water lilies,
     hoots & buzzing of birds & bees

     may the words of healing
     settle on your tongue  
     & grow seeds of kindness  

i sit down on wooden bench
watching a family of ducks, serene by pond
      
     may your basket be light  
     overflowing with laughter
     and dewy sunflowers 

     may your every departure
     lead you to a great arrival 
     of yourself  
   
i cross a small wooden bridge over a creek
happy to find my way home

        

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub- Blessings Poetics hosted by Paul John Dear.  Join us when the prompt goes live by 3pm EST.  Thanks for your visit.  

Haibun: Summer

The sound of the ice cream cart rings a colorful music in the streets.  Children scramble like busy bees to check the flavours of the ice cream and fancy toppings.  I try green ice cream served thick between a fresh bun, instead of a cone.   Soon, my siblings and I will watch a movie and then go to the ice cream house for a banana split.  

Summer is sweet with ice cream in different tropical colors - purple yam, red bean, mango, avocado, coconut, lychee and green tea. With halo-halo as the ultimate dessert, I scoop each milk-flavored shaved ice with gusto. Sweet bananas with tapioca pearls and leche flan (egg custard) are my favorites.  I love the icy sweetness in my mouth. Beats the heat every time.

red roses blossom
into fans with intricate lace-
sun retreats, cool queen-

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Haibun Monday ~  The theme is summer.   Come join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  Thanks for the visit ~

A joyful celebration

his smile trembled, through pain & tears - Thank you!
to his sister & brother, children and wife
and his last breath, a sigh of gratitude

by hospital bed, they prayed over him, through
early hours, against despairing waves  
as his smile trembled, through pain & tears - Thank you!

his journey with chemotherapy, askew 
frail lungs drowning with water, knifing
breath to be his last, (still) a sigh of gratitude

with family cancer history, he knew   
time's reckoning with younger brother's demise-    
his smile trembled, through pain & tears - Thank you!

beloved family came to visit with no clues
his health was fast deteriorating, wise
till his last breath, we sigh of gratitude

a huge collage stood by his coffin - Adieu! 
a celebration, we'll remember his life,  
his smiles, despite the pain & tears - Thank you!
for his last breath, filled with joy, gratitude



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Villanille Form, Hosted by Frank Hubeny ~  This is a 19 line poem with refraining lines.   For my poem, I alter the last lines, to give it a twist so it does not wholly become repetitive.  

About the Villanille Form:  The most striking thing about a villanelle is that it has two refrains (“A1” and “A2”) and two repeating rhymes (“a” and “b”). The first and third line of the opening tercet are repeated alternately as the refrains, until the last stanza, which includes both refrains.

With this, the pattern of the villanelle can be illustrated as as A1bA2 – abA1 – abA2 – abA1 – abA2 – abA1A2 where “a” and “b” are the two rhymes, and the upper case letters (“A1” and “A2”) indicate the refrains.

S.T.O.P.

i run on wheels

far and near

slaying deadlines

or i'm slayed

shadows sip my light 

workload burrow

space for rest

s m e l l rainy moss

b r e a t h e deeply

rubies of s i l e n c e

each leaf, s u m 

of r a i n d r o p s

i glimpse blue s k y, 

russet s u n,

sated bees, t o o

f a t   to  f l y 

Posted for the D'verse Poets Pub - Signs, hosted by Mish ~  Drop by when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  Photo by Pixiebay .    Thanks for the visit ~

unpredictable summer

my feet are light
as bees feed on daisies
and white anemones
along dirt road

humming a song 
peppered with hoots
i scare off robins

splat!
here comes
the mercurial rains-
shifting canvas to 
downy greyness,


i take

my colorful shoes  
running
zigzagging home 

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Quadrille - Hosted by Kim M. Russell ~  This is a post of 44 words with the word PEPPER.  Thanks for the visit ~

Mixed Signals

I bring sage clouds
You scatter dust

Under moon shroud 
Drawn by gravity

We ignite heat
birthing stars, milky pink

Seeds worm to trees
Creeks nurse oceans 

My fingers stitch silver dress  
You soak coffee cherries 

This was the plan
But reality is, our words 

Collided in needles and brine, 
mismatched signals from old phone line



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight - Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  Thanks for the visit.

the day before

we came, browsing stores  
and towers of lore-   
walking
London Bridge, sky's choir,
River's silver floor-
talking
we bought snacks & swore
peace! it was day 'fore
killing



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Hosted by Victoria Slotto - My officemate was touring London and was on the same London Bridge, the day before the June 3 Massacre.   

The lai is another French form. It’s a nine-line poem or stanza that uses an “a” and “b” rhyme following this pattern: aabaabaab. The lines with an “a” rhyme use 5 syllables; the “b” rhyme lines have 2 syllables. It feels kind of like organized skeltonic verse.

Rising

A child lost, without roots.   Her words were rebellion.  She never smelled flowers.    
Until a kind foster mother came along.   Listened to bruised heart, nursing broken butterfly wings.   

There's a time to bounce back.   Harness energy.  Light, shadows, darkness.   
Storm in her is rising.       




Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by De Jackson.   This is a 44 word post with the word, STORM.  Thanks for the visit.     

underneath, for real

i struggle with words
         bottled, plain as almond milk
i dress them up
         fancy as organic fresh salad & herbed 
chicken with coconut green mango drink-
         cool, instagram-worthy snapshots

i mess with lines, adding zest
        of orange and lime,   
splashing color, slices of avocado
        and sunflower seeds-
they look good as polished nails
        but lacking character & depth-

there are no undercurrents of despair
        nor scars or shadows of uncertainty
i rip the pages 
        & listen to the echoes-

sadness throbbing the busker's strumming-
        anxiety rising from old woman's woes- 
lost voices from widows and orphans-
        sirens from firetrucks & ambulances-

fears bubble, knife-edge at my tongue-
        ink spills, words-tarred 
from guts, bones & spleen
        to real, jagged lines on the page-

  

Source:  here

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight-Join us when the pub opens at 3pm EST.  Thanks for the visit ~