Growing into my name

My name came from a dead language 
Echoing a young mother's prayerful hopes 
For the eldest child to be favored by Almighty One
She, who defied her family's wish for marriage
Lit candles, knelt in the pews, beaded her tears to dusk-   

She called me by my second name
And I grew into it 
With a gentle sponge, sloughing off my rough edges
And as years passed, shaping my arms to paddles
My feet, into round hulls of boat 
My father gave me the wind sails  
I crossed oceans, learning to navigate sea of sorrows 

Though I tested boundaries of the reversed name - disgrace - 
I never got sucked and stuck in the pit 
Through all my journeys, my mother's devotions    
were constant as a lighthouse-

I sank into my skin
In all its wrinkles, wounds and flints
And as autumn leaves churn colors
so bright and dazzling, with every breath
a beating of sun's fire
a roar of wind's tempest

A grace of acceptance of this life's journey:
Gratitude

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub:  What's In A Name, hosted by Amaya.  Please join us for an interesting challenge.  Here is a bit of information of my name:

ORIGIN:

HEBREW  /  LATIN 

NAME ROOT:

(MIRIAM) (GRĀTĬA)

NATIVE NAME ROOT:

MARYÂM / MIRYÂM (מרים)

MEANING: 

This is a combination (composed, blended name) of Mary and Grace. It is of Hebrew and Latin origin and comes from the following roots: (MIRIAM) and (GRĀTĬA).

Miriam:  sea of bitterness or sea of sorrow

Grace:  gratia (favor, thanks, good will)

October

October opens its sorrows
to black birds and thick coarse
hands praying rosary 
beads

October spreads its wings
mildew gray as morning clouds,
churning reams of sunshine 
cold

October pulls the curtains down
velvet over fallen autumn leaves-
russets, deep reds as beating
heart



Posted for dVerse poets pub - OpenLinkNight.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.   Thanks for your visit.

Chicken soup for autumn

The smells come for me

when I feel low, let down
when I am missing home, coming 
                                                  home

heat wafts my nose, slices 
my belly with steaming chicken 
soup, tickling my insides 
with spices & shrimp dumplings

my heart pumps 
                         sunshine, sticky as sugar
painting all over the house 
                         comfort, sewn by happy memories 

I am snugly warm
watching the      leaves   
                                   leap 




Posted for dVerse Poets Pub:   Poetics - Comfort Smells by guest Gina of Singledust.
Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  Thanks for the visit.

Murmurs in the crowd

I move with the crowd, stepping forward, stepping back, as if in a familiar dance. My facial expression is reflected in the faces all around me.  My hands are curled in, protecting my space, so thin it is an invisible distance.   Am I unique and special?  Against the sea of humanity of every skin and hair color, I am but a speck, perhaps a leaf falling unnoticed to the pavement.  Commuting does this to you - a perspective of the other's heartbeat, a bigger world.

On the upside, there is comfort in the shared journey, even for a short period of time.  Wherever we came from, and where we are heading to, here is a communal space - a base of touchdown,  a point of reference.  There is safety in numbers, as if it is a validation that I am going to the right direction.  Even the clothes  and shoes I am wearing is validated by the crowd of commuters.   We are all mirrors of each other, glazed by city dust.

Outside the train, the windows tell a story of our changing seasons.   The maple trees have turned to pumpkin yellow, mellow orange and brown hues. Grey clouds and mist hover most of our mornings.   A chill nips the air and the geese have taken flight to warmer shores.    We huddle in our seats- coats, sweaters, boots- waiting for the doors to chime, opening to another flood of faces.   

murder of crows 
on power lines and street lamps-
sunset recedes, falling leaf-





Posted for dVerse Poets Pub, Haibun Monday:   Murmuration with guest host Qbit/Randall.  Theme:  One's self, En-Masse.  Please join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

autumn's sky

you crease the sky
into periwinkle cornflower

hold the raindrops & dew
scent of apples & pumpkins

into pot of autumn amber,
soup for my cold feet

harbor me here, until
my wings grow steady,

glinting bold black with orange streaks  
winking under sun

Wild Sunflowers, Everyday Amazing

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille - 44 word post with the word, Harbor.  Hosted by Lillian Hallberg.  Thanks for the visit.

Farewell to summer

End of summer strips the colors from 
         crumpled petals, 
         headless shrubs, 
         fallen goose feathers 

I won't tear
over your leaving-

         You'll settle, 
a bookmarked page- 
itching my nostrils with tulips, 
and bluebells chimed by rain  

Burning heat will soon give way to shredding
of trees, decaying of leaves, ripening of fruits

           I swell with gladness, better now
in understanding the degrees 
                              of seasonal changes-  
spearing my sadness at bay-   

The sun always spill
            your laughter 
            over darkening garden
                                with decisive strokes
            over coming winter slopes
                                with luminous stillness

and over my words
           streaking your wild yellow
           seeds
           


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight, Hosted by Mish.   Please join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

a note to myself

of what good this is, if you don't take chances
put yourself out there- you are more than 
quintessential frame, your quirky quotes
resound the room with your sass and humor
splash your face with autumn's vibrant hues-
this day, you step away from shadows

Credit:  Colossal:   By Diet Wiegman

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Alphabet Sestet, hosted by Lillian Hallberg.  This poetry form is a sestet, 6 lines, whereby the first letter of each line, follows a sequence of an alphabet.  Any alphabetical sequence may be used: writer’s choice! Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm.  Thanks for the visit.

Autumn gardening

we trim rose bushes,
yellow perennials
cutting quickly heads & half-
bitten leaves

into paper bags we weigh
down branches, fallen petals
pressing all the lungs of summer
into one silent book

(autumnal inhale)
we divide the sun
light
leaving the wind to pocket
seeds

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by De Jackson.   This is a 44 word post with the chosen word, QUICK.  Thanks for the visit.

(i) click

my eyes dream of tea cups
with cranberry spice,
goji berries and red dates

as subway train zips and thuds
with familiarity along
wheels, bumps, skids, tracks

city stations are chimes of bells
as tunnel doors click, clack
and announcements reel, pause

no more do i fret, shudder
or tarry but sleep through all the
chatter and clutter of train commute

outside, the sun sets off
in raspberry and orange hues
our daily departures, green-timed

by swiping of shiny cards
cocooned in our pockets-
{silence yawns...stretches 2 secs} 

boom !!!!  blast of sounds zoom in,     i   
walk outside the station
where raindrops are murmuring 
                                                      {shush}
                       


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight - Playing with sounds - Onomatopoeia
Thanks for the visit.            Picture credit:   Here

Morning walks

Morning weaves rumpled threads of grey and blue across the sky.  Clouds are clumps of cotton and velvet, stiching sunlight in muted hues.  I inhale the fresh tang of dew and pine needles.   My shoes crunch the pebbles as I begin the descent to the creek and small bridge.  The maple leaves have started to fray on the edges and some trees are showing tints of orange char.   I spotted browning leaves on the grass, the first of many in autumn's slow waltz with the wind.   

two brown geese forage 
on shallow tides, ribbed by wild
flowers yellowed  - summer -   

Sunflowers, Jerusalem Artichoke 

Posted for dVerse Poets - Haibun Monday - Morning hosted by Mish.   Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.