in the eye of the storm

fire is gone from your

     eyes

you, caught in tangle of fallen

     spires

have lost your sparkle, twinkle
  
    and stamina 

i don't want to know

    more than I need to

Inside, I'm also speared  

   shell in limbo

i 'm trying to find our ocean, 

    but the netting is heavy rope

in the flickering candle-

    light




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- Theme is Limbo, by guest blogger M.   It is also 55 words, in honor of the late G-Man.   Thanks for the visit.

Picnic, Then & Now

That first year that our family arrived in Ontario, we were thrilled to picnic along with some friends during the summer and autumn months.  We excitedly visited parks and lakes for a taste of fresh air, sun and maple trees.   Four or five families would decide what to bring (lots of food and plastic ware) and then we will meet in the park with our young children.   It was fun grilling meat on barbeque pit, feasting on fresh fruits and vegetables, and most specially catching up on each other's lives.   The children played ball, and chased the birds and squirrels.  

How times have changed over the years.   We find packing and preparing food for the picnic now tiresome.  Since our grown up children don't join us, it is just my hubby and I hiking and eating our Subway sandwiches in the nearby park.  The lighter our load, the more enjoyable our walks.   We still reconnect with our friends by going to someone else's house and dine in the outside patio with catered food.   It is not the place that matters now, but the bond of friendship that we most treasure.    

two geese fly eastward
as April clouds blanket sky-
tulips budding - joy -


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub -  Haibun Monday - That Picnic- with Gina as our lovely host.  Our theme for this week’s haibun is picnic!  Share with us a memory (good or bad or funny from a picnic – your haibun must not be fictional but a real experience!

the (un-fairy) bartender listens to

Prince Henry, glass-eyed
with fetish for feet
-dainty-
but his search for bride
is futile, his pride
plainly  
lost, his friends would snide
He's love-struck moon-dyed
daisy!


Cinderella, she
is happy as bee
tipsy
as skipper on spree-
she crated to sea 
whimsy
dreams - Prince Charming - he -
a past, her soul - free 
gypsy


Stepsister, coiffed stiff
grumpy - date with quiff
missing
She's Insta-belle, biff
with her is death gif
Listen
No balls, just a spiff
on Tinder, star-swish
fishing


(Note:  daisy- urban definition:  to be lame and act in a grandma like fashion) Posted for dVerse Poetry Form:  Lai and Lai Nouveau.  
Also late post for dVerse Poetics: Myths and Legends, hosted by Anmol.  

Poetic form is Lai.   This is our next poetry form, including Lai Nouveau, which I will be hosting.

This basic form Lai,comprises of a five syllabled couplet followed by a two syllable line. The number of lines in each stanza is fixed at nine and the couplets must rhyme with each other, as the two syllable lines must also rhyme. In English this line is probably the most difficult part of the poem.

The Lai is a very old French form and tradition states that the short line must not be indented, it must be left dressed to the poem. This is known as Arbre Fourchu (Forked Tree) there is a pattern meant to be set up as a tree.

The number of lines in each stanza is fixed at nine. The number of stanzas is not fixed and each stanza has its own rhyme pattern. The rhyme pattern is... a. a. b. a. a. b. a. a. b. 

spring rain

may it be
your laughter
that greets me
wide-eyed as ruby-cherise petals
opening their faces to

spring rain
storming dry garden with dewdrops
scent of magnolia, chorus of robins, owls hooting
from the distance

every morning 
may it be
(you)
eternally in spring time




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by Merrill Smith.  This is a 44 word post, with the chosen word, RISE.  
On the occasion of my sister's first death anniversary.  Rest in Eternal Peace.

am i a sunflower too?

her voice, tear-culled, rose in steady pitch
hitting the wormy chair in frustrated bangs 

as if world crowded in, fire-dwarfed intensity
i lean in, owl-light eyes 

but she taproots me, darkness her refuge
i bluefish her deepest dreams, frog-purring  

your soul is she-bird
yes, you are

i offer her a wind's cocoon, scent of starblued
memories  

she marvels at my eggshell-wings and map-
inked skin, i wish-chime

sister, you also have your own cradle-petal wings
yes, you do

she lark-high out of the room, line zipping to sky-field
where sun is bell-voiced mama

embracing welcome, & kissing her dust-
tongued face





A whimsical write for Poetics Tuesday at dVerse Poets Pub- Love of words by guest pub host Laura Bloomsbury.    

Here is the challenge from Laura:
Verbing of nouns as well as the nouning of verbs, peppered with personification: “A slap of sea and a tickle of sand. A fanfare of sunshades opening. A wince and whinny of bathers dancing into deceptive water. (A Holiday Memory)

And last but not least are the word compounds. Here I’ve selected just 25 of the 350 or so hyphenated word-coining he employed: –
BELL-VOICED      CRADLE-PETALS       DARK-VOWELLED      DUST-TONGUED
FIRE-DWARFED   GRAVE-GROPING      HARE-HEELED           HEAVEN-CIRCLING
LARK-HIGH         MAP-BACKED           MOON-BLOWN          MUFFLE-TOED

OWL-LIGHT         RINGED-SEA            SCYTHE-EYED           SHE-BIRD
TEAR-CULLED      TIDE-LOOPED           WATER-SPOKEN       WHALE-WEED


For this Tuesday Poetics I’m asking you to write a poem using at least FOUR of the hyphenated compound words from the above list.  Employ as little or as much of Thomas’ other methodologies too as but most of all, let’s love the words!

April rain

you river me with life
stirring pulse gritted by sands
i bloom, wild as purple loosestrife

on grassy fields, i strive
leaving pathways of badlands
you river me with life

my scars receded, no longer strife
my bones knitted strong, see my hands 
blooming pink, as purple loosestrife

i potted thyme, parsley and chives
i kneaded bread, buttered thick in pans
you river me with life

with rain water fresh and rife
with dewdrops & sunsets, so grand
i bloom wild,  as purple loosestrife

past fades, withering dull knife
sky is gloriously hued, not bland 
you river me with life
i bloom, wild as purple loosestrife

Photo by Grace@Everyday Amazing

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Water, water everywhere with guest host Linda Lee Lyberg.  The theme we are to write about is life sustaining water, in any of its three forms- solid, liquid, or gas.  My poem is written in villanelle form as part of our Poetry Form.  Please join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

spring serenade

You are
space between words
breath in necklace of blooms
glowing light as sky purples the night

If I (can) trace
your voice
would it be found in morning birdsong
or
hoots by owl under arching willow tree
or 
joyful echoes of wind serenades 

Picture by Grace@Everyday Amazing

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille hosted by De Jackson.  This is a 44 word post with the chosen word ACE.   Join us when the pub door opens at 3pm EST.  Thanks for the visit.

The Architect

we hike on wooden legs
through labored gulps & pouring sweat
one step at a time

if we could, we would roll down muddy
mountain slopes, pebbles crashing on cascade 
we hike on wooden legs 

against majestic giant trees & rocks
nestling in silent hymns, we take in the vista-
through labored gulps & pouring sweat

canvas of green, dotted hills, lair of forest-
the panoramic view at the top, we swoon
one frame at a time  

Mountains of Alberta, Canada

From my summer album of 2017

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Cascade Poetics hosted by Amaya.   Our prompt tonight asks you to incorporate the word "cascade", or reflect on its metaphysical properties and what it means in life, or write a shape poem showing us a picture of a cascade. And, even though we're not technically "Meeting the Bar" tonight with a set form, a bonus challenge is to write a cascade form poem with however many stanzas you choose.