Showing posts with label dVerse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dVerse. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Thank you, Sarah Connor

 

your muse has black wings but

your words, breeze-light as rain 

falling on heads, pink-pleated & flower-crowned 


may your hours be filled with white

crisp pages & pen, smell of lavender & lemon


tea rising from the warm pot, taste of 

freshly buttered bread, seranade of


birdsongs from robins, calls of owls,  

laughter of children, chicory flowers,

sights of life unfolding


and vibrant river moving, you 

are lifted

out of the silence of your space, out of


the skein of your clothes

the limbs of your books

the roots of your apple trees


(sorry, but the mail bag is full)

you are one with the rooks

rolling bowling calling squalling roiling boiling swirling whirling*

black wings glinting & stretching 


& flying into starlit sky

I do not know the notes of your songs

nor do I know where you are heading to


but the windows are open

and i only know this:

thank you 

for the gifts of wings & words



~~~

Inspired by her lines in Always Fire:

From ‘No mail – no post’:


“No words.

No rhymes, no poeming tonight,

just this blank space,

this white page,

stretching endlessly”


and


“Find me a space here,

tucked into the silence.”


‘This Doesn’t Feel Like Home Yet’:


“A bird sings,

but you don’t know the notes,

this window opens

onto streets you cannot name

and words you can’t decipher.”


*Rooks at Twilight


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- Poetics :  In Conversation with Sarah Connor.  Hosted by Kim Russell.  Thank you Kim for the wonderful interview.  Thank you Sarah for all the time you have shared with us at the dVerse Poets Pub.  

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

the owl and me

 

The owl gave me a book

I was excited to open it

Is it a book of wisdom?

So I can follow it, a river

ever flowing, a bird knowing

its way home


But when I read it, what came

To me is a cacophony of sad poems

The melancholy of death songs

The owl looks at me

His bulging eyes filled with questions

His huge body carved by half-moon

Unmoved by my restless hands


Then he points to me a pen

Nudging me to write my words

Listen to my tides & heartbeat

Grow my own feet & feathered wings

Map and unmap my journey


I want to fly to the sky, I say 

The owl is still, waiting for me

I scratch the pages with ink

I scour the edges with electric

moods and soulful dances

A flow of energy curls within, crisp as rain

I lose myself in the salt of verses

and valley of melodies and refrains


I forget where I am

Standing on a tree of life 

Singing to the wind - my song



Artist:    Catrin Welz-Stein



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - PoeticsdVerse Poets Pub - Poetics hosted by Lillian Hallberg.   Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.   

Monday, January 8, 2024

i found (an escapade)

the lagoon

soft sands & shimmering 

i lost track of time


forgetting how quickly this 

turned to high tides, rocky-rolling


i swallowed salt & seaweeds

are my eyes jelly-red?


where's the boat?  

the slumbering sea is now awake

hungry-pressed

for the moon's opaque eyes




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by Melissa Lemay.   This is a 44 word post, with the chosen word, lagoon.   Please join us with your poem when the virutal pub doors open at 3pm EST.

Monday, July 10, 2023

summer of calendula

 

i count more than 12 petals

sun-radiant, golden lemon bright,

red specks in the center

we are bee-struck over your



healing prowess

though your size is my palm 

your willowy sway

in the breeze, safron scent of mint

and thyme

brings a joyful morning






Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille hosted by Lisa.   

Happy 12th anniversary dVerse!

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

while you were sleeping

 

Give me your feverish thoughts

Mothballed & hand-stitched in grey


A cabin, circled by oak trees

The twilight sky on summer's day


Wheat field is warm as amber  

The roar of wind, hoots by owls


I will bottle it up with moss

And set it to sail at midnight


New moon is a goddess 

And stars are glowing fireflies


I watch it adrift on waves

As if time is a standstill, much


Like you, sleeping as a baby

The past clings to you, blanket


Where will the bottle go, I wonder 

There are no maps & shores to keep


Where will it land with no compass

Who will open it with excitement


Whose heart belongs amongst wildflowers

Or with questions, whose mind dwells


On clouds, or maybe it will be

You


Awakening, with eyes of child

You can recall 


Where you had put away 

the pen, that magical pen


Where you drew all your flights with joy

Chorus of birds sang with you all the way





Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics - Slipping into Surreal Photography with Erik Johannson, hosted by Mish.   Join us for this wonderful prompt starting at 3pm EST.


Monday, May 1, 2023

mapmaker

the orange plumed robin's

belly is heavy 


sitting on twigged nest-

at top of willow tree


black raven shrills ((()))

returning as birds 


to breeding & nurturing

as rain drips-drums-


there is timekeeper 

and mapmaker (somewhere)


as maple trees spring

red-orange flowerets & emerald leaves



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille with given word, MAP by host De Jackson.   This is a 44 word post.   Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

Thursday, December 1, 2022

an infinity of endings

 

you....   get roller coaster nightmares

(&) mutiny of blues & fire storm

-perfect for star-gazing-

for this gnarled gardener's hands

you...... forget - life is now - leaps into

empyrean of sunlight on fading grass

with the eyes of a child -

i inhale.... sweetness of soap & sunshine

of solitude 

Sunday is <lost> in books & clouds, forgetting time & Monday

i sink.... into blur lake bottom

you and i mirror yesterday>>>> in a swoop



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - MTB - In my end is my beginning, hosted by Laura Bloomsbury.   I have taken the endings of my poems for the last months, and rewritten them into a new poem.

Monday, October 31, 2022

travel diary (+12 hr time difference)

 

i smell the green of tropical plants

under the unrelenting sun

humid air

perfumes

grilled seasoned meats,

rice rolled sweets, coconut-sugar treats


one scary note was

driving the car & sharing the road

with motorcycles bee-swarming

left and right-

you get roller coaster nightmare- 




Red Hibiscus


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by De Jackson.   The selected word is SCARE, to be written in 44 words.  My post is a bit different from the Halloween theme, but its a scary reality when driving around the Philippines (and other Asian countries).   Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

the beats of the city

this city is a chameleon

one day, it is silver granite with shiny buildings

one summer dusk, it is festive & noisy with tourist buses

one October night, it is artsy, soulful with balloons & stage lights

one winter night, it is pristine snow & mud, booming with silence

 

blue-draped by Lake Ontario

this is an entry port for immigrants, 

a nook to find one's space & voice

a stairway to higher ambitions & studies


yet this city can be a deathbed

indifferent to the calluses of one's labor

a rusty knife to those needled arms

hazy with alchohol addiction

a bitter soup to the lost & homeless prowling

the train stations for coins


for all that it is, colorful & flavorful 

a blend of many cultures & languages

a peaceful bounty to the endless flow of refugees-

it is a steady rock


to the hopefuls-

this city is filled with second & third chances-

there is redemption 


that is, if you didn't knock yourself out

in the first round

-accept the gifts of failures & learn from it-


over time

for me, this city becomes a boat 

laden with coats, blankets, music sheets, silk

& spices from all over the world-

you ride along its sails

& draw & redraw your own map


& when you are sick of the city lights,

there is a road up north, filled with apple trees

-perfect for star-gazing-




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics:  Allen Ginsberg and The Beat Generation, Hosted by Sanaa Rizvi.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

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.


Tuesday, August 16, 2022

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.


Thursday, June 16, 2022

History Lessons


This land has a history

Of pretenders who crown themselves

rulers

Of tax people who believe

that gold currency is thicker than blood

Of ruthless charlatans

who proclaim -

follow my words and ask no questions 


This land has a history

Of idealist students & artists who said

honesty is the best policy

Of street protesters who

were arrested, silenced and killed

Of mothers whose children

were banished to reform schools

and returned with Samson-cut hair


A birth name is forgotten

A native tongue is lost

A folk song is never played

An umbilical cord to earth has been

forever severed


Who does this land belong to?

There is bounty for all 

Forests, seeds, fruits, flowers, lakes

But the puppetiers and despots

have changed the script

and rewritten history to suit the fate lines

on their palms


I write to you

young people of this land:

hear the sadness of matriarch elephants

listen to the loneliness of ancient trees

take heed of the whale song from the sea

all that glitters is not gold

Heed my warning:  

Those who do not learn from history

are doomed to repeat it*


*Quote from George Santayana


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Meeting the Bar with guest host, Anna Montgomery.  Fall seven times, stand up eight where we explore aphorisms, myth, and fables by writing our own gnomic poetry. I have used maxims and aphorism in my poem.   


Monday, June 13, 2022

under the painting of strawberry pink moon, you

 

write me 

bass drum robust lyrics

heart pounding swaying beat

moving limbs to salsa  


then a slow saxophone mood

scooping blues & easy guitar riffs

spooning us to drowsiness, a spell  


we add running-out-of-time kisses,

shiver of throbbing sun

in this cozy windowless room 



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- Quadrille, hosted by Sanaa Rizvi.   This is a 44 word post with the chosen word, SPELL.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  Thanks for your comments.


Monday, April 18, 2022

the night on chalkboard


let's red-chalk the sky

with celestial wings of dragonfire


let's stamp the trees

with blizzard of star lights


let's singe the garden air

with cumin and tumeric


the words roll-choke around my mouth

then spill

magical spells 


on flamingo legs,

rocketing to the moon



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by De Jackson.  This is a 44 word with the chosen word, CHALK.  Thanks for your visits and comments.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

one day


the sky will be a mushroom of blue butterfly wings

the ground will be tallowed with yellow pollen

the trees will be needled with green & pines


the streets will be lively with music

the buildings will be festooned with flags & kites

the church bells will peal with gladness


you will sing again with nightingales

dancing in your yellow skirts & teal hat

relish the family meal of beet soup with garlic bread


i will tally the days with light lamp

and jelly beans in my jar

keeping faith


the sun will keel the broken sails

and rise above the long shadows of grief, dust & dire


dappled light,

at the end of this tunnel, awaits you


Artist:   Vika Muse


“Freedom” – 
This artwork was made due to the hope, that we have the light at the end and the name of this light – is the Victory. That we will survive and rebuild our country.

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics:  The Light of "Vika Muse", hosted by Mish.

We are getting inspiration for our words from Vika Muse.  Thanks for the comments and visits. 




Monday, April 4, 2022

the paradox of the changing clocks


minute hand moves 

forward, but escape wheel

is stuck


-tiny buds wilt in tail of winter's breath-

-leaves shiver-shrink from false

spring's embrace-


grip this season 

of becoming

as the blossoming earth

peels back


-dead skin-

-mourning dress coats-

we thirst for life

(deeply)



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille hosted by Lisa.  This is a 44 word post with the chosen word, SEASON.  Thanks for the your visit and comments.


Monday, March 21, 2022

you write your words


on paper

blue-smudged, yellow-curled of verses

lifting us in lark

of fun, light as clouds


months later,

on grieving your leaving,  

we read 

your letter

<dart-folded plane>


we should've been giggling

but your voice cuts

& weighs heavy as stone door 

we cannot close



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by De Jackson.  This is a post of 44 words, with the given word, PAPER.   Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  Thanks for the visits and comments.

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Maybe A Missed Connection

It could have been, maybe, it might have been

Deep dive to sea of passion, leading to a chapel 

Who knows but the wind, spinning tales with grin


It began with friendly banter, light as pins

Harmless I thought, but for you, a secret, an apple

Oh - what could have been, maybes or ifs of 


Had you looked at me, not with a twinkle of a pal 

Had I taken a small bite of your blushing-red proposal

Who knows but the wind, spinning tales with grin


I remember your face, filled with sunlight, a bean

Shivering with energy, the look of an open book - I missed..

it.  It could have been, maybe, it might have been


Had you held my hand, so boldly in another time 

Spinning me in a dance, kissing me up my spine-

Whew!  Maybe the wind knew, spinning tales with grin


Rewinding the clock, our paths entwined

Would lead us - here - our hearts bespoked- 

It could be another tale to "might have been"

Only the wind knows, spinning tales with grin




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics, After St. Valentine Left the Building, hosted by Sarah Connor.  Thanks for the visit.

Monday, February 7, 2022

Monday's list

pastel pink and aqua blue tints

slowly nibble away heavy fog of winter greys


look:  caterpillar of clouds

on cusp of blossoming


there is joy in mindfulness:      

quietude of mornings


crisp air from pines, maple trees

smell of warm buttered toast with fruity smoothie



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - hosted by Mish. Quadrille is a post of 44 words, with the chosen word, nibble.   Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST. 

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Sign post by the sea

He woke up with storm             {seeds} in his mouth 

It tasted glitttery loud as birds. Brewing 

                                                                 with <wild possibilities>. 

His eyes gleamed with excitement of moon flowers.  Whatever known can wait,

But this intangible stillness cannot 

                                                           even if his legs were shaking with vertigo

Hands trembling, he grabbed his coat.  The freezing wind recoiled & fluttered as fallen tulip 

petals.    The sky was cleaning 

               out the                     stars &          last quarter               moon.

The crucible weighed on his chest, 

awaiting

                   the pouring by his hand.

                                                                                                      >>>>>       Instead

He went to sea                  in a thimble of poetry.


Credit:  “He went to sea in a thimble of poetry.”- Poet Warning, Jim Harrison


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics:   Songs of the Unreason hosted by Linda Lee Lyberg.  Thanks for the visit and comments.