Coldest Night

Black raven perches on fence, eyes piercing
Through snow-misted air, bill poised for killing-
I mused how many will die, unburied 
As howling wind knives the fields, dry, stinging

Our eyes, blue with salt, as we hurried
through burdens & loneliness, stacked, storied-
I don't want to wither in storm's tempest
My hands are fighting life, blood, breath flurried



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetry form - Rubaiyat, hosted by Frank Hubeny.  This is an interlocking rubaiyat - AABA, BBCB.  Inspired by seeing a black raven in the garden during our cold winter night.  

Winter snapshots

I.

Looking out from my window-
who painted this sky with grey dove tulle?
who splattered this garden with white-
petalled diamonds?


II.

Small flock of geese flies
in v-formation, 
to southern climes
where warmth awaits them
as freshly brewed ginger tea


III.

A pair of red-orange
cardinals hop on fence, bright 
as poppies
as rain trickles down, silky
as cottonseeds


IV.

Mud sticks to my hiking shoes
As forest floor is caked in dead leaves
A giant log is home
to creatures & sleeping seeds
Birds and butterflies flutter 
shimmering of life
Shrubs and flowers garnish remnants
of twilight
Here is 
Where I want to live my life all over again, 
to begin again, 
to be utterly wild.*



* Inspired and lines from Mary Olivers poem:  A meeting

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- OpenLinkNight.   Thanks for your visit and comments.

Sugar

I was born to the land of sugar canes
Sap of fresh harvest is perfume in the air
Spooning treats of sweet yams & coconut 
milk were rituals of comfort, joys on rain- 

dreary days, I would rather pass the soup, 
go for candied fruits, fruit tarts, bowls of ice- 
cream.  My tongue twisting to the searing rush 
My toes curling in, content as sleeping cat 

But the sugary madness kept dark secrets 
Adding heft, raising risk of diabetes, 
cancer, cavities.. list is blast of winter ice
No more, I have since reduced, cut down, faced 

Away, as if it was a lover spurned 
Repulsing the sweet kiss, that I once craved





Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Confessional Poetry, hosted by Anmol (alias HA).
Thanks for the visit.

the last visitor

Skylight dims, paler than
tamarind, until all is dark clothing
covering the body changed    
by ill-health 

Tears didn't come
raining down 
in room bathed in 
dying flowers

Rather, each teardrop was pursed
in warm remembrance  
of what was, past
pinned, unsullied in pine board

Photo credit:  Here

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by De Jackson.  This is a 44 word count, with the chosen word, Change.  Thanks for the visit. 

Invisible

Am I the diminished tree in distance
Shaken by wind blows, bent in waning light
Empty of nests, gnarled in mute existence

Am I the fallen leaf in snow-bleached night
Solitary figure, cut out of frame
Abandoned by time, dying out of sight

Am I the buried book,  dame with lame name
To bellow brave exploits & loves, so lyrical
Stirring up grey eyes, a chanteuse proclaims 

No, I refuse to be the invisible
Or silenced by brighter light, louder voice
I'm not just a chorus or syllable

My life is tapestry of songs, by choice
Woven of seasons & storms, growing rose

Grace@Winter

Poetry form:  Terza Rima where the sonnet is divided into 4 tercets and a couplet with the following rhyme scheme: ABA BCB CDC DED EE.

The title came from a conversation with a group of friends, having post Christmas dinner last Saturday night.  We were all comparing our Christmas holidays and getting updates  about how our children were doing.   During his family gathering, my friend statement was, "Have I become invisible?   I don't like it."


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight.   Also my entry for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetry form, Sonnet.   If you have any inputs on improving my sonnet, please let me know in your comments below.  Thanks for your visit.

January clouds

January clouds are slate gray & maple trees are scrawny against the canvas of setting sun.   Though the winter chill is thick air in this park, there is no wind movement to startle the carpet of dead leaves.  The lake is frozen in ice and the ducks are nowhere in sight.  I cross the small wooden bridge and marveled at the mossy green and twigs caught in lake's stones.     

This time of the year brings new energy and plans for the coming months.   Projects for home improvements, writing and attending courses, are scheduled to keep me busy. Hopefully a career change is in the next horizon.  I focus in far distance, dreamlike trance...but a beep in my fitbit fitness tracker tells me, it's time to move!


i breathe the stillness
of pond, calmness of bare trees- 
night pounces, silent cat

Centennial Park, Mississauga

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Haibun Monday,  hosted by Kim Russell. Thanks for your visit.

first wintry day

time reveals itself
in rustic colored leaves
frozen in pond

overhead, veils and
silhouettes of bare knuckled
branches and shrubs drip
layer upon layer, moments of

eternity

above the cityline,
brown buildings and sweeping lake 
brows landscape, grey now,
after midnight burst of firecrackers

i shake off
"What ifs" and "Why didn't I" thoughts
to winter doldrums
and draw
the bluest of sky & golden sun
inside my head

nowadays, time travels in circular path
much like ducks 
gliding serenely around the same pond
-only my eyes are new-

water glints soft silver-rain
sharpening my focus, to what can be
and leaving behind
scribbled pages & notes, straying
in wind

Frozen pond

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Time and What If, hosted by Merril Smith.   Thanks for the visit.