slow dance

frayed daffodil leaves
thirsting under summer sun-
orange cardinals hop

among the brambles,
cones & wilting rose bushes-
wild bunnies stop

wary of red fox
& coyotes lurking about-
sky- dragon of clouds

i hold 
spring bulbs for fall's planting-
sunset fades- slow dance




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Haiku sequence, hosted by Frank Tassone.  Thanks for your visit and comments.

good morning

a scratch, then tip-tap by the bedroom window
pair of chickadees settles on my red tiled roof
soft as pitter-patter of rain on summer day
then the curious bird, perches just outside my frame
a few seconds, our eyes meet & he flies away
gifting me with bubbling smile to start my day

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics - Flights of Fancy, hosted by Laura Bloomsbury.  Thanks for the visits and comments.

Change

my skin is earth & my language is wild
drum beats on your ears

for so long, you saw me 
as mere graffiti on 
your white pristine walls

scribbling questions on your legal
documents & laws,
you sought to banish me to
obscurity & extinction 

but i am
more than just statistic on your sheet
more than just label on your coat & tagline

my time is coming as sure as sun rises
my voice will multiply into sky of exaltations

a havoc of street protests
a hurricane of workers & passionate folks pushing
for inclusion, equality, freedom & acceptance

i am the idea 
whose time has come & you cannot 
turn  away

                 from me



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Revolution, hosted by Merril Smith.  Please join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

Unmasked, I am

i am unfurled leaf of unpublished book
my verses kited in clouds, imperfect meter 
i peer through half opened windows of houses as
if i am reading diaries & dissecting poems 
my thumbs are green now after being house bound
as my indoor plants & herbs, counting each new
root as if i am new mother, not a soon-to-be empty nester
during winter, i cover myself in peat moss &
lock away my thirst & my thirsty roots
my affirmation is spring, my music is summer
i want to join a sisterhood of chocolate lovers 
i will gladly hug you in a bubbled curtain with latex gloves 

though i have limbered numbers in excel spreadsheets
unmasked, i am sonneteer coaxing beats out of air

Grace @ Begonia Rex

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub:   Meeting The Bar, I am, The First Person Narrative.   Please join us when the pub door opens at 3pm EST.

For today's MTB, compose a poem using “I am…” with a First Person narrative in any part of your verse.  Go experimental and creative with your “I am” poem.

In expressing our “I am” poems, I encourage you to go beyond the usual descriptions of “I am” (a brother, sister, friend, citizen) and go experimental and creative with your “I am” poem. Think inanimate object, animal or groups of animals, planets and inter-galactic travel, streets, cities, plant, tree, or weekday or month or year, or even pandemic terminology.

the stigmata of waiting

i sit where i have been
sitting for the last 2 weeks

in the ICU
visitor's chair, a hard & unyielding stone

you are on the hospital bed
pricked, tubes on your veins, only your lips
are silently moving in prayer

a nurse breezes in, with pills & monitor 
& I lift my head to see
if some flicking light has changed your eyes
or your limbs moved /heartbeat/

but you are so still
broken doll
as if all the words & winds in your lungs have left
as if your spine is soft clay
as your pale hands clutches a rosary
& gold banner of faith, a gift from a friend  

a reminder that the sun is pelting sunshine
outside of this curtained sterile room
i keep watch
... of nothing really ...
just keeping time until our mom comes back
from the bank & grocery shopping  

i eat 
my doubts inwardly
because I know you have been weeping
& ranting about the last month of your confinement

there is heavy sound
at the pit of my belly, wailing
of anguish, crying of missed diagnoses,
seeds of hopelessness grow despite my words

of encouragement to you
we both know that every day is folding fast
into shadows, frightening to utter:
road of no return
i pray for mercy
unthinkable ending & begin-
ning, in whatever form this may be

(i am sorry
i have to leave soon)

mom arrives, carrying 
your pain & sacrifices
so proudly, she is light you turn to
every time death 
checks in at night



February 2018.   This poem has been in my draft but I finally finished and published this for our 8th anniversary celebration.  A sad story but after 1 month of my sister's death in April, my first grandson was born.  Life goes on.


Posted for dVerse Poetics, 8th anniversary celebration with our special guest host, Brian Miller at 3pm EST.   He tells us to capture a moment in our verse.   

Happy anniversary!!!  Thank you for your visit and comments.

i'm drinking watermelon juice

Sunday afteroon is pouring hot sauce 

         over the charred skin of grilled chicken 

sky is tender blue, rolling fluffy doughs of clouds 

         with hint of playful rain, at bay

i love this season of wilting blooms and and cantalouped-

         cheeked sun, wrinkling my face

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub, Quadrille hosted by Kim  M. Russell.  This prompt is a 44 word post, with the chosen word, BLUE.  Join us as we reopen the pub community after a summer break.  Thank you for your visits and comments.

Happy 8th year Anniversary dVerse Poets Pub!!!

i am

the word & phrase you write in every poem
the pathway, streets and city you live since you were born
the plate, cup, brew, spice, food you eat 
the hat, purse, coat, shirt, shoes that you wear
the wheel, hub, spokes, transmission that you ride
the book & tenets you read at night

the only key in your pocket
you carry wherever you go
not pricky, not heavy, not strange
just comfortable weight in your hands & eyes

i would have love to peek at other people's windows
& admire their paintings, chairs, photos, bookshelves
but alas 
i remain
your blind spot




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- OpenLinkNight - Hosted by Bjorn Rudberg.  Please join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.   dVerese will be in summer hiatus and will come back on July 13, 2020.   Thanks for your visits and comments.

siren

between the sea and shoreline
white foam of blue waves echo

ocean's murmurings to the sky
shells open & birds with new

wings venture to taste the brine
above the reef in blue-green lake

here, death is clawing at each breath
here, life is rising under rocks & bones

a mermaid's wild tales
of missing treasures, sunken ships, lost

cities, treasures & jewelries makes
my head spin 

what secrets the ocean keeps in its 
darkness (we may never know)

but this I know
(&believe)

I stretch my hands outward as horizon
quivers, shimmers with coral pink sun

I am the siren,
I am the song
as the storm rises on my tongue



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Hosed by De Jackson, Sounding the Siren.

Please join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.   Also dVerse will be on summer hiatus for 2 weeks after our OLN on June 25th and we will reopen on July 13, 2020.

Cicada

you own the night with your voice
drumming our flesh with city vibes

the moon beds you with starlight 
& silverdust, we turn to moonflowers

yet your eyes are bright sun-
flowers even when your bones

are weary, your breasts are heavy
with scars, still

your words are warm honey
& herbed tea, spooned by kindness  

as you watch over the vessel of your
bloodline & friends vine in tangled joy

now as our hands are weeping
we're also smiling with birdsongs of your memories

i breathe 
your spontaneity & zest for life

there are no black or white lines
only colors spilling out from pen & lens

rest in peace, friend



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenlinkNight.   Please join us when the pub doors open by 3pm EST.  This poem is in remembrance of my school mate who died this week.   

summer flowers

the summer heat
dries the dandelions to white whiskered heads

peppermint leaves scatter
their fragrances across fences & empty husks

lilacs and forget-me-nots 
are swaying to blues, bees & birdsongs

my room is filled with long
fingers of the sunrays & wheat grass 

i drink the darkness
at last, slurping its cold sweet juice

the moon is young
flower breaking out from its silver seed

with the stars & bright planets in sky
my dreams are teal, my words are nectar




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenlinkNight.   Join us when the pub doors open by 3pm EST.  Thanks for the visit.