Widow's Last Winter

 

Death - come & cover me - burs & soft twine   

Turning feet to plum,  bones to earth - bury

My face under orchid's sun, wild cherry 

My body is bent tree, crowing to wind

Pining to fly & ride the last ferry   

Death - come & cover me - burs & soft twine  

Turning feet to plum,  bones to earth - bury

This weighted sadness, blue trimmed with iced-rime

Spinning legs more than I care to carry  

Recalling a love, sweet as mulberry

Death - come & cover me - burs & soft twine   

Turning feet to plum,  bones to earth - bury

My face under orchid's sun, wild cherry 

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- Poetry Form is English Madrigal. Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST. Thank you for your comments and visits.

if not for winter, i would not know spring

if not for blue salt

i would not know blackness of ice

that wipes all shiny memories to paper blankness

if not for the polar vortex

i would not know the limits of my sadness-

in all ways, your absence is sharper knife that i can not hold

if not for the stillness

i would not know how powerful your

death wish is, between goodbye & falling asleep

if not for the last breath

i would not know mercy, kissing your brow

wishing nothing more than whole white sky to cover your eyes 

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Meeting the Bar Positively through Negation - Hosted by Bjorn Rudberg.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

January's blues

 

snowdrift hides dead flower shrubs and feathers

my hands are ice-numbed, knitted white, blued feathers

pine and fir trees weave their green lushness

lifting my spirits from gloom donning black feathers

sundial casts a long graceful shadow   

while crescent moon rises with single feather

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by De Jackson.   This is a 44 word count, with the given word, LIFT.   Thank you for your comments and visits.

cherita

snow

covers the dead maple leaves

& city roads 

all white

soft as river sands

filling in all the emptiness-

darkness steeps

hours with greys & bloodless sky

where are the birdsongs & bees?

my pen hears them, scratching  

away the icy blues of the long night- 

winter's breath is tangerine

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Cherishing the Cherita by Laura Bloomsbury.  Thanks for your visits and comments.

Thunderstruck

 

your words are thundersnow

to my sunflower hands

your passion is lightning

hammering the wind 

i gasp at the intensity of your emotions

as the skyscape darkens, swells

for a moment, i'm iced blue 

then melting

i revel in the moment 

of storm's ardor

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille hosted by De Jackson.  This is a 44 word post, with the chosen word, GASP.   We had a rare thundersnow last Saturday.

falling into winter's deep sleep

sew me

with bandages of light

with lint of yearning wings

with ointment of cloves & ginger

pour into me

threads of buttressed hope

words of charity

patches of red maple leaves

happy memories of blooming trees

i will drink the tea

of valerian roots & fall into deep sleep

with scents of rosemary leaves

& sweet wintergreen 

i dream of spring

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- OpenLinkNight, hosted by yours truly.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  Thanks for your comments and visits.

summer & winter

I.

 

here is an assortment of shells

pink, white, coral, and bones

it holds

sunlit days, rippled tides of spells:

shark's eye, cones, conch, small stones -

king's gold

on a clear fish bowl filled with sands - 

amber smooth as chai tea 

i sigh

for beaches & summer's long hands

when the sky is so blue

i fly

II.

we watch snowflakes spill - glass flowers

on barren fields & woods

calling

we gather light from short hours -

wicks, lamps & yellowed goods

falling

finally the moon is ours-

darkness is a cocoon

wrapping

midnight sky with mulberry stars-

silvering trees, we swoon  

clapping

The above is the example in the dVerse Poets Pub post.

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Memento.   Join us when the pub doors open to discuss the poetry form, Memento.  There is also an option to write a free style poetry with a theme about memento, using symbolism as a poetic device.  

a moonscape

 

i peer at the moon 

above the maple trees, glowing  

with light, waxing with near fullness

[i want to be her]

in the room, i continue my search 

for that missing 

family photo frame decades old,

misplaced red & festive jars

as if my tired hands are Christmas

lights, coaxing the warmth out 

of the cold winter night

my energies spent 

blank_blank_blank

e-shopping carts empty

blank_blank_blank 

i sit

on the chair, 

turning to my comforts:

reading & writing

immersed in the fictional world

a phrase lingers

a word flares up

a poetic line shimmers with familiarity 

and behold,

my fingers are pressing the keys

& trying to capture the

tide's ebb and flow

[i spawn the ocean-

i paint moon flowers pure as snow-

i seed the red soil

with chameleon dust & sunflowers]-

there is a shock of silver, a falling 

star

& the certainty:

inside me, a universe

moving in rhythm

& ever 

abundant

Note:  I woke up early early morning to see a flash of a falling light outside the window, which I like to believe is a falling star.

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub:  Poetics:  Epiphany in the Time of Holiday with guest host - Dora.   The virtual pub doors open at 3pm EST.  

Thanks for your visits and comments.

November sky is

 

a coarse wrapping paper 

i uncover

with my ink-smudged hands

i expect nothing but bleakness,

faded maple leaves, deadheaded flowers

in this red poppy box

night descends by 5 pm

darkness becomes a womb, 

a church, smell of incense for prayers for the dead-

(less 1 hour, 30 candles)

yet on first day, flicker of frost

whitest of fluff rains down

this is nature's quartet:   winter 

an aperture

where the soul song of maple trees

trills with cries of the geese & gulls-

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - November Poetics, hosted by Sanaa Rizvi.  We had our first frost in November 1st.   Thanks for your visits and comments.

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.

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.

Winter's first kiss

You arrive - first dance -
Shower of crystals - magical -
Yet, a kiss of death 
On fallen leaves, yellowed frail
Throats of birds are silent - black -


~0~0~


The sky keeps greying
Over your relentless crossing-
Make my words a flint
Hungry for air and roses 
Longing for lips petalled by rain




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight - Hosted by Frank Hubeny.   Join us when the pub door opens at 3pm EST.

Snapshots

he huddles under forlorn blankets
beside post, his belongings boxed,
all stillness
but for his cap begging for alms

                       winter is coming

she hears the aches in her bones,
wails of distress in her room
she pens a note:   
travel & listen to bird songs 

                       winter is coming

subway platform picks up haunting
strains of the saxophone, evoking music
of yesterdays, crumbling 
in sweet notes  

                      winter is coming

autumn leaves are dotted white
as trees shed their flaming colors-
my album of photos show, not grief
but tranquility   

                     winter is coming



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Meeting The Bar - Repetition, hosted by Jilly.
Thanks for the visit.  

Winter Moon

The wind chill is thick ice on my legs and cheeks.  I walk quickly inside the house, warm with fleece covers.   The snow is a blanket over the bare landscape, with the sun barely making an appearance.   With the polar vortex temperatures, the only footprints on the snow were those of the black squirrels.   

Some nights, the moon hides behind the thick clouds.   As if swallowed by giant black waves, rocking the night sky.  The stark simplicity of the starless night is a beauty in its purest form.   In the darkness, I muse about many things, including my plans for the coming days.   I see that I have a lot of things to do yet, with time ticking very fast.  Here are my gloves, spade and seeds.   I tend to my inner garden.   

wild field is notebook
blank of green, red and sunshine-
birds flutter- sketch of silver- 



Posted for dVErse Poets Pub - Haibun Monday, hosted by Victoria Slotto.   Last week, we had temperatures going as low as -21 to -30 with the wind chill.  Here is short write up about the haibun prompt:

Here is a short quote about Fuyu No Tsuki from a Japanese perspective: Fuyu No Tsuki has a pale tint that indicates a kind of coldness deep within—solemn and clear, a frame of mind.

Today, I would like to see a brief non-fiction account of your experience (not more than three tight paragraphs) related to Fuyu No Tsuki, the winter moon, followed by a Haiku that observes the standards of the form by including reference to a season.

Winter Solstice

Night, a lightning.   Shovel hitting the frosty
ground. Splintering crystals into thousand mirrors.  

My eyes squint,
heavy laced with ice

searching for color  

above the walkway

laden of diamond drops-

No, No!
I am a prey 
caught in frozen web-

        

The moon crackles.  Crescent above skeletal   
trees.   Scattering faint its nebulous light.  

My hands are so cold   

motionless, dead leaves

Push, push

back the black tides

engulfing, surging

my lungs  

the guilty weight is an illusion

Breathe, breathe

The sun crows. Wearing pink & peach shades.
My eyes mist that I made it through long long night.

~0~0~0~0~  ~0~0~0~0~

And finally, our dVerse Anthology is available !   Enjoy the journey of more than 100 poets at Amazon, North America or Amazon, Europe.

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight, hosted by Bjorn Rudberg.   We are going for a break at the poetry pub for 2 weeks.   

Wishing you all Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays !!!!  ~0~0~0~0~

Winter's breath

Winter lands in the city
with stiff dove's wings  

It slides under the cars &
creates a whirl of grey clouds

It blankets, spiraling over
fences & roofs, erasing paths & grime

Getting into the groove quickly,
licking every bare tree & fallen leaf with silence

Taking its time
as if the world is flaring, silvery canvas

But its a chameleon
turning clear roads to slippery ice

Some nights, its a vulture
knifing homeless & lost souls on cold streets- 

We fret, with no sunshine
to needle our eyes to light & motion

Forgetting colors & spring flowers
We get intimate with death, melancholia 

& pinched nerves, enveloping our words-
pink, furrowed with blue salt-



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics hosted by Lillian ~ Theme is "groove".  
I slipped on the ice last night & fell on my side, while shoveling so I am feeling a bit cautious.  Thank goodness, no broken bones or bruises.  I have forgotten how slippery the ground ice can be.

Chicken soup

There's a soup of tender bones
It is chicken butchered 
broth simmering with dumplings 
in fried garlic & coriander leaves

Vegetables swim with leeks 
and parsley, each ladle a hot
liquid on tongue, each sip
a flavor of long afternoon's sun

A chicken soup to comfort my aches
A chicken soup to celebrate my joys
My native motherland's soup
brims my stomach of fullness

incomparable  
Last night, I boil fresh chicken soup   
warming the kitchen of familiar scents  
as bitter winter of January blows & blows 

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub -  Poetics - Scents that Linger by Kelly ~   Happy New Year !!!!

Picture credit:   here ~ Here in Canada, we are feeling the winter chill at -15 C yesterday & -11 C today~

Winter's shattered sky

first blush of snow
tinges white porcelain dust
on shriveled earth,
loud hateful words tangled with smoke-
where is south wind to lift gloom away?


~0~


night chills our bones
tired with drawn out war striking
streets to ghost towns,
winter comes with shattered sky-
where is blue moon to drown our aches?


~0~


take these broken parts
and hammer them to a canvas
with winter's fire,
your hands are a gardeners'
blooming each fragment to petaled sun-

Israel Artist Zemer Peled

Posted for OpenLinkNight - D'verse Poets Pub ~  I am on a short study break but will be around to visit ~   Happy Thanksgiving to our US friends ~

Winter wishes

Northern wind, ice crystals, seeds of darkness            
Circle our lips with gold, bright as sunflowers
Our hair grows white, buried under furs & pelts
Northern wind, ice crystals, seeds of darkness           
Drift by quickly, our hands are teal with frost
Watching night sky slow dance with balding moon

      ~0~0~

strand by strand 
feathers & hair entwine for a lass 
     more than a wig, a face to raise her voice:
     begone from whitening my limbs, 
     fever & scourge, begone ! 
     


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Two "hair" poems ~ hosted by Anthony Desmond ~

Picture credit:   here

Winter Solstice

Dead leaves, apple seeds, roots of darkness
Gather and wrap us in fleece
Our skin is wintering white of stars
Dead leaves, apple seeds, roots of darkness
Turn your cheek where sun stands still
Our eyes beg for sky glazing of leaves

~ Wishing you all Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays ~

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - OpenLinkMonday