Grandmother

i could paint you
dainty as lavender
and your cheeks
pearled pink peony

but it wouldn't be a true
snapshot 
unfiltered you
is freckled by sun

with hands
deeply-grooved
by changing sea tides

your words steady
as you crochet 
bedsheet with scent
of earth


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

Sayuri-san

what lies beneath your lacquered eyes, are you               

hiding a jewel, onyx as pain from                         

hundred lashes of an errant word. you brew                   

your secrets, guard your wide gold sleeves with cane    

has venom tinged your blood to rust, a bane                        

once, your laughter was black raven’s clone        

as you bargain with harvest moon for bones  

rise, dispel this ghostly ritual at night        

press your red hot lips against the limestone                  

unbound your robe & step into moonlight          

Photo credit: Totomai Martinez

Posted for OpenLinkNight - dVerse Poets Pub, hosted by Linda Lee Lyberg - Form is Dizain.  The basic rules for the dizain are that it has one stanza consisting of 10 lines, with 10 syllables per line, and the rhyme scheme is ababbccdcd.

Curse of the roses

My petals eaten
by bugs & mulched
   by slugs
I am still canvas
beneath harsh summer sun
In my singular stubbornness
my one small bud
opens to sun's warmth
framed amidst
tattered & scattered pieces
Snow white crown
- perfect -
Then the frenzy begins
& buzzing
   & buzzing of insects
until petals are dull
leaves blackening to soot
Do I move to another ground?
Throw my pollen
afar, go
where the southern wind
scatters me
Pull up my roots
My rosehip oil is divine
Break this curse &
replant me,
where I can
hear the hummingbirds
& rain
          drops
   & rain
             drops


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics, Movement hosted by Amaya. Please visit dVerse blog for the full details.   Thank you.

silence is not the answer

If our grandchildren asked of us
Where are the polar bears & lions
And the bison, elephant & caribou
On the plains of red dust
Our leather shoes shiny as sun
What do we say?

If our grandchildren asked of us
Where is the ocean of whales
And mountains with green firs & oak
The blue lake with whooping crane
carefully threading for her catch
What do we say?

We ride along in our new cars 
counting loyalty points, likes & followers
We have no seeds to burrow
only garbage & tons of cheap clothes
We ply away this blue & serene sky
for plastic, smoke & towering condos

If our grandchildren asked of us
Why we are gifting them a dying planet
Will we hear the birdsongs, hoots and grunts
from long lost creatures 
and recall the smell of freshly picked apples?
What do we say?



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - On Climate Crisis hosted by Anmol (alias HA).

For more information, see link here:  Climate Change, What can you do

Sunshine

you bring the sun
through storms & winter
darkness 

steady me
with an anchor of kelp &
kite of starlight

teach me humility 
in sharing your light to
others

blind not my eyes
with rust of world but
with kindness
soft as child's hands

The Sun by Dale Chihuly

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille & 8th Anniversary.  This is a 44 word post with the given word:   sun.   Join us when the pub doors open after our summer break, at 3pm EST.  Thank you!!!!

Dawn

The waters corral me, quicksand
I am slipping, and not a strand
Nor knot can lift me up, sorrow
Drowns me, beneath bed of yarrow

Then sky clears, danger pressed in cask
Darkness - just a rose with black mask
I toss away this blight, see dawn 
Casting soft light, pale pink and fawn

Port Credit, Mississauga

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight, hosted by Mish and Poetry Form, Quatrain, hosted by Frank Hubeny.   Thanks for the visit.

Midsummer

The brightness of the sun
burns my eyes
sandpaper red
I bite on my anxiety
instead of bread
Midsummer comes
ailing me with despair
grey as storm clouds

Dusk came, full of moths
and beetles
I was oppressed by the velvety
gleam of moon
emptiness of the world
and swathes of soft grass
Then the silence of the night
lulled me to sleep

When I woke up,
I was covered by dewdrops,
smell of honeysuckle awakening
the hunger in me


“Darkness came, full of moths and beetles. I was oppressed by the velvety emptiness of the word and swathes of soft grass. Then the fumes of the night put me to sleep” (As I walked out one Midsummer morning)

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Literary Alchemy with Laura Lee, hosted by Laura Bloomsbury.

Yellowness of our days

The color yellow brightens my day.   Brings me sunshine, sunflowers and carefree balloons even when a sudden storm would dampen our bright sunny days.   The child in me is happy, walking with a spring in my step.  

Spring is my favorite season.  And for the first time in a long while, I nurtured perrennial blooms and several herbs like rosemary, basil, thyme, mint-orange, lemon grass and chives.   I love cutting the herbs fresh and adding them in my cooking.   I also learned how to regrow them indoors so my supply does not ran out.  When I eat my herbed-drizzled food, I taste earth's gifts and magic of the sun.   


sky is serving a plate-
daffodils, dandelions
with bluebells & birdsongs


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Lost and Found - Nature's Magic.  Hosted by Merril D. Smith.

garden of dreams

i don't want to be still & yellow, a thing in blue
light, no, i want to run into the fathomless sky

i hear the heart beats of agile wild cat
beneath city lights, my breathing catches windspell

my mind is a distressed canvas at end of train ride
but by night, i garden words under spell of moonflower

i write down a word or line, let it sit & frolic 
in clouds, climb trees - carrying my cup of yearnings

it may seem like a little thing, but it's no secret-
walking with flowery hat brings out smiles, sudden sunset

Flowering Mindscape

Art by Jackie Hurlbert

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Meet Jackie Hurlbert, hosted by Charmed Chaos, Linda Lee Lyberg.  

the local market

we come here at crack of dawn
with baskets
ready to scoop the freshly
shaved coconuts, tropical fruits,
yams & quail eggs from harvest bins

this is the place
to buy newly caught fish & shells
iced but still moving in the pile
you can ask the vendor
to clean, cut and fillet the fish for you

at the chicken and meat section,
flesh are whole or bigger pieces,
hanging from tenderhooks
still red
tender
from butcher's knife
you can also ask the vendor
to chop, grind, clean the
cuts & even debone the whole chicken-

this is the "dirty" market
under 1 roof,
with each market stall
a unique cornucopia
you can't escape
the smell of sweat, salt & earth
mingling with calls by vendors

to try their sample wares -
from prepared sauces & tins
to simple breakfast fare -
small freshly baked buns
with local coffee - black
strong with aroma of sun


Posted for the dVerse Poets Pub - Market, Market, Hosted by Sarah Connors.

Thanks for the visit.