Gratitude

 Source:   Page 115, The Modern Prometheus

Love,

have a care-

Work this passion

                   of its excess

Return a hundred fold:  peace

Demand 

gratification

small as acorns

                   & berries

My companion will be content

with the same fare -

Our bed of dried leaves

                    & the sun 

ripen(ing) our food-

This is the result of blackout poetry process.   The original is a page from The Modern Prometheus.

Posted for:   D'verse Poet Pub - Blackout poetry, hosted by Bjorn Rudberg

and Poetry Jam - One word for 2015:   hosted by Alan ~  Mine is Gratitude.

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 ~

If I were

If I were a word, I'll be always at the tip of your tongue

Warm as ripe red plums
On autumn season

Or perhaps melting ice cube
On summer night

If I were a word, I'll keep your memories as keys

Blazing as flames
On long cold winters

There will be no betrayals
As every seed will rise on first day of spring

If I were a word, I'll map the flight of geese & butterflies

Turning out of sight
To where the sun rides a unicycle over the blue ocean

If I were a word, I will boldly travel with my eyes closed
Forget gravity, fear & making mistakes

Listen to chatter of hummingbirds 
Billow where the wind goes

Towards you
Of infinite possibilities

Brooke Shaden

Posted for:   Poetry Jam - If I Were
and Poets United Mid Week Motif - Exploring

Shadows & light in the deepest cave

layer upon layer 

pearls grow white-cancer

boning every space

left empty by sea, and you

here, my words are granite

~0~0~0~0~

what the light touches
what the soil breathes under cave
become seed, forest
greening grey stones, every hurts-

here, my heart is a bird song

Inside Son Doong Cave, World's Largest Cave, Vietnam

Posted for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Hannah's Challenge

and Poetry Jam - Magic

Rain walk

you are walking on air

between raindrops

feasting on changing colors

of leaves, one heartbeat

at a time

as one black umbrella opens

up after another

“Follow me”

says your guts

this is the path

you want to cut out

for yourself:  dream-chaser

oxygen rushes to your lungs

knife-winding & halo-storming

like that first time you flew

kite to crown the sky

by Joel Robison's Photography

Posted for Poetry Jam

and D'verse Poets Pub - Joel Robison's Photography (2)

At midpoint, assessing my life

I.     For Poets United

Stitched on these pages
Are letters written to myself

Their delicate threads 
Mirror the seasons quickly passing by 

In a single knot 
My hands bound the white papers 

The past falls away like brown dry leaves  
Into summer downpour

I pick up my needle & yarn &
begin a new canvas of the people around me-

a young lady stops walking on busy street
& buries her face in pink rose, poking out from wire fence-

a man with long blond hair stands on crowded subway 
& writes furiously on his notebook, one arm around the pole-

two young children eating a slice of watermelon, 
their black eyes full of contentment-

and ....
      

II.    For Poetry Jam


I write 

on water:
You do not quench my thirst. 

Even on hot summer day
Even on last leg of long journey 
  
I untie

my shoes & kneel
inhaling space & silence

Even when the day is not ripe fruit 
Nor the night resplendent in moonlight

I write

on page:
Thirst is a seed I am planting today.



Posted for Poets United - Midweek Motif - Half the year
and Poetry Jam - Thirst

Picture credit:   here

What the sky scatters (aside from my thoughts)

A Glass Raindrop Installation by Stacee Kalmanovsky

Rain, drenching fragile cherry blossoms
Blue in death-tide, white-knuckled in bosom.    

I write on the clouds on my way to work.
They have secrets, I tell them to loudly slurp.

I am an onlooker as passengers knit their time
With books, games & music as train stop grinds. 

I see graffiti on the walls.  Is the fruit too ripe?
My bag is heavy with lunch & rewrites.  

A man comes on board, too eager to preach
His religion, I close my eyes & disengage.

I paint the afternoon sun with emerald glade
Spring is shy maiden in the middle of the lake.

I lose my thread of thoughts, floating between
grooves, until my pen plucks them in midstream.

Crescent moon, meteors flashing the night sky
Perhaps the dome of heaven is so close by.


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - At the Slant- Using slant rhymes 
And Poetry Jam - Rain - Happy weekend ~

The gift

Resurrection by JeeYoung Lee

When first light of dawn

Pinks the lotus blossoming

Above muddy waters

Leaves swaddled in dew, open

     I rise, gifted with new eyes    

Posted for Poetry Jam - Gifts
And Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Poetry form:   Tanka

Happy to be done with studies and writing again ~  Smiles ~

Where we will sit & dine

Spanish Banks, Vancouver, BC

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

Sit beside me
Where the sky blows, cools fresh as pines      
Sit beside me
Where fine sands melt into the sea
Wind, forest, sun - these we will dine  
And bottle summer days to wine 
Sit beside me


Posted for Poetry Jam - Summer Heat - Enjoying the summer heat in BC ~ 
Poetry form:   Rondelet -Seven lines with the rhyme scheme of AbAabbA ~

Spring bloom

the way you swell:  

a fuller moon, a fragrant rose -

on my hands 

Picture credit:   Just a Picture

the way you tremble:

petalled pink, breathless wind, a dewdrop

on my lips

Posted for Poetry Jam:   Its All About Flowers
and Haiku Heights:  Ripple - It's been a while since I wrote haiku/senryu.  Smiles ~

An inventory

the dappled sun striking the glazed platter 

the tang of lemon rind in the glass of water 

a basin full of vegetables to be shucked at the corner

i breathe to a slower pace

reeling in the habit to roll up my chef's sleeves

and turn the fire high under the skillet in the kitchen 

i have come to collect my things-

my spices & wok & knife, as i limp on my crutch, shoeless- 

it hurt when i was accused of being a malingerer-   

we are not made to work like machines

with barcodes on our wrists

with labels stamped on our faces at every shift - 

i hold on to my marrow -  

i am hardy as a sparrow

not an old shoe to be discarded, though i learned the hard way- 

just another inventory-

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Word List by Karin Gustafson

and Poetry Jam - Story of a shoe 

Based on the recent experience of my second son, who is training to be a chef.   After fracturing his ankle, his new employer gave him the walking papers, disregarding his initial good work record.   He was off for almost two weeks, but since he was on probation, he was summarily dismissed.   He is currently working in another restaurant and set to study (again) in a chef school by September.   

picture from:  tumbler.com

On(c)e - the rain forest

Amazon's poison frog 

here, the sky is my ceiling-  
mountains feed me
while the rain quenches my thirst-

the medicine man knows the
healing powers of each leaf
& roots in this forest-

which is always birthing,
crackling, rustling of wet wings, 
hiss, scuttle and rush of feet across the floor- 

here, i soak the spirit of the old trees
with wide bellies and broad limbs,
inhale the fresh air, heal the weary eyes....   

do you hear that ?
the grinding teeth-
pulling roots, breaking limbs, ripping of lungs- 

until there is only the deadly 
silence -  


Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Transforming Friday
and Poetry Jam - Soak

More information on the disappearing rain forest:   here

Blooming

                                                             

                                                 you once stuffed  coins &

                                                 colored stones, gems you

                                                 said, in your pockets--

                                                 but today, as I  red-letter

                                                 the ice cream strawberry 

                                                 cheese-cake and light it 

                                                 with   bright   candles-  

                                                                                      

                                                 I  see  a  blooming  rose, 

                                                 priceless gem in our eyes -

                                                         

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

Happy Special day to my youngest~ 

*Thanks so much for all the birthday greetings!*

Posted for:   Poets United - Colored & Poetry Jam - What's In Your Pocket

Curious as a cat

they looked like sweet ripe fruits 
peeking from bush behind the house,
capturing the fancy of a 6 year old
whose legs are forever running like wheels-

like a curious cat, she grabbed a fistful blooms,    
marveling them like prized marbles, so smooth  
& pungent,  she hesitated on whether
she would show them to her friends, or taste them first --

adventure blazed like a runaway train 
& fearing none-- 
she took a bite on the reddish fruit,  
stinging, burning tongue, blurring eyes--fire-fire-- 

she spat them out, running like mad to the kitchen--water--water--

never--never-- would she bite into a hot pepper again --   

Hot pepper plant

Posted for:   D'verse Poets Pub - Mining the memory

and Poetry Jam - Yes or No ~ 

Hummingbird in yellow

Original painting by Kim Nelson

On lush greens and yellows
I perch on a branch
filled with nectar & insects 

Flowers bloom in summer sun 
from my wandering bill,
as wings beat rapidly in the air      

Racing heartbeats,
I fly backward and forward 
like spider weaving silken magic

Until tiredness weighs like stones,   

I rest, 
tiny gardener in 
land of giants

Posted for Poetry Jam - We are to write from the point of view of an animal--any animal but a human.   Well I received this painting of the hummingbird in the mail today from Kim Nelson, so I wanted to write and express my thanks for a wonderful painting.   Thanks Kim ~

and Flash Fiction Friday 55 -  A post in 55 words for the G-man.

Hummingbirds do not spend all day flying, as the energy cost would be prohibitive; the majority of their activity consists simply of sitting or perching. Hummingbirds feed in many small meals, consuming many small invertebrates and up to twelve times their own body weight in nectar each day. They spend an average of 10–15% of their time feeding and 75–80% sitting and digesting.

Wishing tree

Photography Credit:   Ella's Edge

This is where our wishes grow 
One leaf at a time, evergreen and bold   
Slowly unfurling its golden flecks to the sun 

This is where our dreams flourish 
One wing at a time, crimson and daring
Stretching wide as the blue summer sky

This is where our words ripen 
One season at a time, pungent with seeds
Blossoming yellow and russet in autumn wind   

This is where our hopes dance  
One footstep at a time, swirling to music   
Awakening fire in weary limbs and cold feet

This is where our eyes pause at night  
Giving grace to imperfect days,  
Accepting storms of life, cherishing simple joys  


This is where our wishes grow 
One leaf at a time, evergreen and bold   
Slowly unfurling its golden flecks to the sun 



Posted for:   Imaginary Garden with Real Toads:   Ella's Edge
and Poetry Jam - Genre - Literature/Fantasy

The long weekend

                                                       Lakeshore @Everyday Amazing

boats on the moorings,
white and weaving on afternoon lake

while geese and graceful swans
swim lazily on shorelines carved with stones

on this day, families bike and walk around,
some with picnic baskets and colorful mats to embrace the sun  

young children and teens are running in the field
while elders and women gossip under shaded trees

beyond the lake, the city skyline glitters  
but it looks so faraway, as eager feet soak the water

we recall beach holidays and weekend gatherings,
places we like to visit still, as we snap pictures of the day         

like the gulls and geese, the children will soon fly away 
from the nest, eager to spread their wings

but for now, we are stitching these images:   
summer sun, ebb and flow of the tide, cool breeze  

we anchor our feet to what matters the most :  
the gift of family  


Posted for Poetry Jam:  What Do I Value Most - My daughter took this picture of our lake over the long weekend.  Also for Theme Thursday:  Recollections

Awakening

           

                                                   Yellow-frayed memory

                                                   Cutting deep wounds

                                                   Black inferno

                                    Twisting sky                               

                                    Into backward time relapse             

                                    Dripping melancholy

                                                  Gather them all  

                                                  Ink and pen, cloud seeds  

                                                  Verses, red    

                        Stories, orange           

                        White escape

                        Revitalizing spirit

                                                 Awakening eyes

                                                 Magical

                                                                journey

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads :   In 35 words

and Poetry Jam:  Magic

picture credit:   here

The cotton picker

hot sun on face
aching and sore fingers  
with every cotton flower picked
she daydreams of nice house and 
table laden with food and cool wine 
maybe buy a nice dress and shoes to dance
at her cousin's wedding next harvest time. 


wiping sweat on face,
she carries sack of cotton at the end of day.
walking back to her rented room of
small bed, a picture frame of her family 
brings a smile to her lips and sparkle on eyes.  
crossing hands in prayer, she sleeps 
on a pillow cotton full of dreams.  





Posted for Poetry Jam:  Daydream Believers
and Theme Thursday:  Inspiring Things -  My hope for all migrant workers is for them to come home and be with their loved ones.   


Picture credit:    http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/latinos/cottonpicker-1936.jpg