Choices

 

i close the door

& walk out of the building

& wait 

this can be a beginning

or an ending

or maybe a middle muddled situation

or a detour 

my feet & lungs are anxious

to know of my decision

there are many choices

but by now,

i write my story on sands

and journal my walks on origami paper

these are not set on stones

but built on windy re-takes and mid-

night revisions 

for every decision - this is 

which comes with one big exhale of relief

there is hundred fold sharpness of - this is not

but here is tricky part

you learn to live with this over time

-the fullness & emptiness of it-

& if you are lucky,

you will have your 2nd or 10th time around

the time carousel

and this time, you can make <another> choice-

-witness the first sunrise or sunset- 

with the eyes of a child

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub:   Poetics : Choice by guest host, Christopher Reilley.   Join us when the pub doors open at 3 pm EST.

scents in the house

i.

a twig of rosemary

a fist of fresh basil leaves

a dash of pepper & thyme & lime

on homemade soup and grilled meats- 

the table top creases of ripe blue berries

and yellow banana oats muffins-

i'll wait here >>>

after i devour my plate 

of canned dog food

ii.

fallen

green crab apples on ground-

brown-edged

maple leaves on sun-burnt grass-

smell of early autumn

iii.

down the rabbit hole at the back of the house

i trace back

the city where i grew up

small park around the church & stores-

smelling of sugar canes & fresh sugar fields-

every street corner filled with rice sugar treats-

the summer heat fills my nostrils like smoke-

my bones are diabetic now

but my hands search for that sweet air of sugar-

the cotton-candy-kind-of-missing one's childhood

iv.

i press my cheek

on my grandchild's head of curly curls-

in between sticky fingers of saliva drools

i inhale sweetness of soap & sunshine-

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - A World of Scents, with guest host Jo.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

earthly home

 

all around me, earth

filling me with its soft breath

& hardening my skin of rocks 

the salt is my lifeline

the sky is my sea-green world

though i am just an oyster

within me, is home

to a pea crab

within me, is white mountain

of pain

within me, is food & brine

to lavish & cleanse

within me, is forest

of solitude 

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- Tuesday Poetics - the four elements, hosted by Sarah Connor.  I have chosen the element of earth (the other choices are fire, air and water).  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

Fever

 

fallowed yellow, you're the autumn

i sink into, blur lake bottom

your tarot hands are cool blue

soothing my butterflies coup

you tell me, i'll be okay 

moon fever will pass like whey

fallowed yellow, you're the autumn

i sink into, blur lake bottom

Posted for dVerse Poets pub - Poetry form is Octelle.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

The Octelle, created by Emily Romano, is a poem consisting of eight lines using personification and symbolism in a telling manner. The syllable count structure for this verse is 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, and the rhyme scheme is aa/bb/cc/aa. The first two lines and the last two lines are identical.

In August

I. 

red is the torrid skin

bare to the summer sun

flesh turns beet red & tomato plump

hips swaying to the outdoor music festival

tongue devours the cool ice & wine, sweet

as peaches, plums and strawberries

golden yellow, dark velvet, earthly brown-

we celebrate ripeness in all its colors & spices

II.

red is the torrid sky

scorching the grass to dry pale paper

burning the borreal forest to ash & soot

the sky is smoking darkness during the day

the smell of destruction is invasive 

as gypsy moths, all that was vibrant and tall

are now burnt by growing wildfire in an instant

the charred soil is a reminder that death

stamps, entwining with life's abundance

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics, Sometimes August isn't recognized, hosted by Sanaa Rizvi.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.     During the summer months here in Canada (July to August), we get wildfires in the forests. It is a total destruction of homes and communities.