CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS

Idle thoughts amidst the holiday rush,
Posted to Poets United
Poetry Pantry
December 19, 2017
****************

Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to take heed
Grabbing our charge cards to buy what we don’t need
We’ll spend and we’ll spend and we won’t come back
Until we’ve done honor to the Friday we call black
Like salmon to spawn and lemmings to sea
We’re properly programmed for this spending spree
Our minds have been clouded, “Get the bargains!”, they shout
And, sadly, we’ve forgotten what it’s really all about
Gifts under the tree, we decorate and arrange
Soon it’ll be time for the post-Christmas exchange
How could three wise men create such a stir
By their simple gifts of frankincense and myrrh
Let us remember the reason they came
The babe in the manger, Jesus his name
Let us hear once again the message  from above
To treat our fellow man with kindness and love
Let peace reign on earth, just as He planned
As the spirit of Christmas falls over the land.
***************

MRS. CLAUS SPEAKS

I wrote this a few years ago, but
it’s fun to revisit it every Christmas.
After all, we don’t get to hear from
Mrs. Claus very often!
Submitted to dVerse Open Link  December 14, 2017
*********************

“Tis the night before Christmas, I’ve just cleaned the house
Now I find Santa’s been drinking, the louse
He’s been into that bottle of Christmas cheer
I’ve been using for cooking since some time last year.

So, now the sleigh’s loaded (and so is he)
There’s nobody left to drive but me
There’s no place to sit except on his lap
And he’s probably lost the blasted map.

Well, giddyup Prancer, and Blitzen too
We’ve got an important job to do.
Just fly high and fast as in days of yore
We’ll go really fast, so they don’t hear him snore.

We’ll deliver these toys with all possible class
In spite of this tanked-up irresponsible ass.
Who’d have thought when I married my handsome prince
He’d turn into the bum I’ve been living with since.

Rudolph, I thought I could count on you
But I see by your nose you’ve been hitting the brew
Oh, how will I travel this highway of stars
When even NASA can’t find Planet Mars.

I’m only one woman, but can’t you see
All the boys and girls are counting on me?
Well, here we go fellas, it’s a leap of faith
Pretend you’re up and it’s the last of the eighth.

…I knew we could do it, I just love you guys
In spite of our troubles, you were wonderfully wise
The toys are delivered, we’re almost back
With this besotted tippler, and an empty sack.

With MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT
We rose to the occasion and we did it all right.
He’s beginning to wake up … Oh you lecherous rake!
Not tonight, Santa, I’ve got a headache.
***************

CELEBRATION

It’s Midweek Motif time,
and the topic Is “Celebration”. 
Submitted to Poets United
December 13, 2017
*******************

I celebrate my friends, strong women all
They shore me up when I’m down
Rejoice with me in my victories
Accept my shortcomings and foibles
Laugh at my silly jokes
Inspire me intellectually
Share the challenges of aging gracefully
They are the sisters I never had
Each special in her own way.
*****************

FIRESIDE MUSING

A contemplative poem on a COLD winter day.
Submitted to dVerse
Poetics Tuesday
December 12, 2017
***********

How I wish I could capture the world that I see
And relay to others what it says to me
How it settles me into my comfortable groove
Warmed by the fireplace, too lazy to move
That new fallen snow can cast a spell
A promise of new beginnings and all that ends well
That sunrise assures me another day
To explore and experience what  I may
And rainbows are blessings that follow rain
To let me know sunshine will come again
That music transports me to far-away places
And brings to memory beloved faces
That birds are feathered miracles sent to remind us
That faith can help us put sorrow behind us
And surely as leaves fall and winter winds blow
Spring will follow with renewed life to show
How I wish I could capture this world that I see
And relay to others what it says to me.
***************

FIRST SNOW

I apologize for my absence.  I’ve been swept
away with festivities, it seems; but I’ve time
for a haiku, and I'm looking forward to curling
up by the fire for an evening of poetry from all of you.
Submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry #382
December 10, 2017
**************

First flakes have fallen
The world looks fresh and new
Would that it were true
*******************

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

A thoughtful haibun and senyru for
Poets United this week, penned after a
road trip through north central Illinois,
submitted to Poetry Pantry #381
December 3, 2017
*****************

I’ve traveled this road innumerable times in my lifetime …
this road through the heartland, past  fields of corn and
soybeans that seem to stretch to the horizon, and the tidy
homes of the farmers who till the land.  Time marches on,
and a nation’s hunger for electrical power has brought to
the heartland a new crop … the wind farm.   Now, there
are rows of metal towers reaching skyward, their arms
turning lazily in a slow waltz across the vast flatness of
the landscape, harvesting prairie winds and generating
electrical power. At nightfall, their single blinking lights
become a cyclopsian superhighway, their soft whooshing
a lullaby to night creatures.  What next for this land
where Native Americans once pitched their teepees and
hunted buffalo?  Time will tell. 

nothing stays the same
time marches relentlessly
toward new landscapes
**************

BITTERSWEET

Susan has chosen bittersweet as the
theme for this week’s Midweek Motif.
The word conjures rambling country
roads edged by fencerows adorned
by a vine called bittersweet.
Submitted to Poets United Midweek Motif
November 29, 2017
******************

While to most of us bittersweet means a melding of pain and pleasure, in the hills of Brown County in southern Indiana, home to the author, James Alexander Thom, and the singer, John Mellencamp, a vine called bittersweet can be found growing along the fences of the rambling rural roads.   Named bittersweet because, on the one hand, it is quite invasive and has been known to kill trees by wrapping around them so tightly the trees are strangled (called girdling by arborists); yet on the other hand during the Fall season the deep yellow of the berries bursts to reveal an orange jewel, while the foliage changes to a beautiful yellow and fencerows adorned with bittersweet become glorious to see.   Beloved by the residents of the area, it is often used for making autumn wreaths and decorations.   Vermont folklore tells us it was believed the root of the bittersweet provided protection against evil witches and malevolent magic.   Perhaps so.  Brown County is known for its log cabins and rural atmosphere, and it is difficult to believe malevolent magic lurks in those beautiful hills.

*************************

CHANGE

***************
All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is a part of ourselves.    ~ Anatole France

***************

It's Poetics Tuesday and Paul has
asked us to talk about "change”.
Here are my thoughts, submitted
to dVerse Poetics Tuesday
November 28, 2017
*******************
Once I was like the rock that fell
from the mountain face into
the stream… all sharp edges,
seemingly unchangeable. 

Life happened.  Like the rock in the river,
I was tumbled , bruised and battered
on my journey, edges smoothened
and honed on my passage.

Today I stand in the valley … change
softening and polishing my sharp edges, 
my solid core remaining, but enforced
now with lessons learned.
************

GRANDMA'S KITCHEN

I’m sure we all have happy memories
of  holiday dinners with family.
This poem is a tribute to those meals
at the home of my paternal grandparents …
Grandma Katie rotund and loving, and
Grandpa Fred small in stature and long
in Baptist spirit!
Submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry#380
November 26, 2017

******************************

I remember Grandma’s kitchen
From those days of long ago
For never king nor president
Saw such a wondrous show.

The smell of Grandma’s dumplings
I remember to this day
And, just as surely I recall
Grandpa saying “Let us pray”.

And large and small we’d bow our heads
Each seated in our place
And over all a silence fell
While grandpa said the grace.

“The crops”, he’d say, “are mighty dry.
Lord, we pray you see fit for rain.
And Neighbor Brown is poorly, Lord
We pray you ease his pain.”

And the trails of steam grew shorter
Over Grandma’s wondrous bounty
As Grandpa brought before the Lord
Each sinner in the county.

Then “We pray, oh Lord, for wisdom
For the leaders of our land
That they may steer this country
With a sure and steady hand.”

His burdens laid upon the Lord
Grandpa would finally reach “amen”
When heads were raised, our forks were poised
All ready to dig in.

Now I know Grandpa’s in heaven
As it is his rightful place
But, when God’s hungry, I’ll bet he says
“You set the table, Fred, I’ll say the grace!”

**********************
Painting by Eric Enstrom

THE BELONGING PLACE

A little bit of fiction and a whole
lot of truth in this poem.
Submitted to Poet Pantry #379
at Poets United
November 12, 2017
**********************

Take me back to my belonging place
Back to that simpler time
I’ve grown tired of the city
Its traffic gridlock and crime.
I sicken at the words “mass shooting”
And the senseless loss of life
It seems whichever way I turn
There are tales of anger and strife.
I don’t even know my neighbor
I doubt he knows my name
I’m tired of paying this mortgage
All the houses look the same
The pastor seems to preach money
And the church’s financial load
I long to be sitting in a simple pew
In the chapel beside the road
Let me walk barefoot in clover
And smell the fresh, sweet air
Drink clear, cold water from the well
No hint of chlorine there
Let me have the innocent faith of childhood
And belief in all things good
Trusting each person I meet
Will treat me as they should
Let me hear the rumble of Daddy’s voice
As he comes in from chores at night
Feel again the warm hugs he gave me
That kept my world safe and bright
Let me see Mother again in her garden
In the place that she loved best
Holding her gathered bounty
Against her aproned breast
Let me smell the perking coffee
And hear the rooster’s morning crow
See sunrise over the prairie
As the cattle start to low
I know they say you can’t go back
But I’ve lived long and well
All my friends have gone before
Now there’s just me left, truth to tell
So, when my time is ended
Lay me beneath the prairie sod
Take me back to the beginning
Just me, myself, and God.
**************************

ANONYMOUS SAINTS

Poets United Midweek Motif
asks us to consider saints.  I’ve
chosen to think of the anonymous
ones among us, who quietly make
a difference.
Submitted to Poets United
November 1, 2017
********************

There are anonymous saints among us
Who ask not for reward or acclaim
Their faces and forms are varied
Most likely they’ll not achieve fame.

Their small acts of kindness are many
As they quietly make their way
Sometimes they just only listen
Sometimes they have much to say.

They observe their fellow life travelers
Seeming to find those in need
And in ways that are humble and subtle
Leave their legacy of kind word and deed

And when their time is ended
And they reach the Pearly Gate
St. Peter will wave them inward
For anonymous saints there’s no wait. 

FEAR OF ALL FEARS

It’s Tuesday Halloween at dVerse,
and Bjorn asks us to speak of monsters,
goblins and our worst fears.  I’ve delved
deep, and revealed my most dread fear of all.
Submitted to dVerse
October 31, 2017
*********************

Deep behind my smiling face
And confident exterior
There lurks a secret thing I fear
There’s truly nothing fearier
It’s of the day my children meet
And in terror I hear them say
She’s a danger to self and others
We must take her car keys away!

********************

THE KINDNESS EFFECT

Our Haibun Monday challenge is
to feature “kindness”.
Submitted to dVerse
October 30, 2017
*******************

There’s a physics theory which, in essence, is the idea that a single butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the globe can, in theory, start a hurricane on the other.  I believe, if this concept were applied to acts of kindness, a single small kindness could be like a pebble dropped in a stream, with the ripples going outward, wider and wider.  There were wonderful role models of kindness in the very rural community in which I grew up.  If a local farmer were ill or injured and unable to harvest his crops, for example, on a given day a virtual army of neighbors would appear, work together, and in a single afternoon finish the task for him.  Conversely, just a kind word or a compliment can make someone’s day. The funny thing about an act of kindness is that it has a boomerang effect.  While our act of kindness affects others, we receive a warm, happy rush for having extended it.   It’s a win-win situation!  Let’s start a kindness revolution!

Pebble in the stream
Ripples ever widening
Be humble and kind

***************

YET ANOTHER RANT

YET ANOTHER RANT

Forgive me, but the political climate is
fodder I simply cannot resist, so here
is yet another rant for the Poetry Pantry #377.
Submitted to Poets United
October 20, 2017
************************

We sat on our comfy couches
too lazy to get out and vote
and now our ship of state
has turned into a leaky boat
He’s running the country on Twitter
our embarrassment is replete
We’re kept on the edge of our seats
for his daily trick or tweet

He engages in rattling sabers
with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
Their “can you top this” exchanges
have become a worrisome tune
Just when we think he’s topped himself
in providing political hell
be darned if he doesn’t undertake
a battle with the NFL

We watch “fake news” in amazement
as they present what reason defies
And he continues to stomp and swagger
and believe in his own lies
We’re left to attempt to sort it out
and wade through all the debris
and wish we had politicians
dedicated to representing you and me.

He’s promised to build a wall
and says it’ll be high and wide
If our fervent prayers are answered
He’ll be caught on the other side.
***************************

OH FRABJOUS DAY!

For Meeting the Bar Victoria has
challenged us to write a blackout
poem.   I enjoyed my first so much
I decided to write another just for
fun.  This one is from Lewis Carroll’s
“Jabberwocky”, a bit of delightful nonsense.
Submitted to dVerse
October 27, 2017

*************
Beware the Jubjub bird and
frumious bandersnatch,
long time foe he sought.
Eyes of flame came whiffling
and burbled One two!  One two!
And snicker-snack he left it dead
“Oh frabjous day“, he chortled
“‘Twas brillig!”

**************************

DEJA VU

Victoria challenges us to write an erasure
poem or blackout poem,  by choosing words
from existing text and reconstructing them. 
My words are taken from Robert James Waller’s
essay “Slow Waltz for Georgia Ann”, which
appeared in his book "Old Songs in a New Cafe".
Submitted to dVerse Meeting the Bar
October 26, 2017
************************

Looking past the somber faces of paramedics
I saw your tears.  I have trusted the years
But it was the loss of you I feared
I am haunted by the feeling
We might not meet again
We have come here by different ways
Once the dust of your carriage
Was of more value than my life
Now you’ve taught me caring and softness
My task was to teach you about dreams
In another time you might recognize me
And for a strange and flickering moment
Remember ….

**************************

FLYING THE FRIENDLY SKIES

Midweek Motif at Poets United,
the requested theme to be “journey,
which occasions a bit of prose from me.
Submitted to Poets United
October 25, 2017
**************

Having traveled the last several years of my working life,
there are journey tales to be told.   I fell in love with a pilot
for the friendly skies of United on a hot day in Cleveland
at the end of a tiring series of meetings.  For some reason,
the gate was not available, and we were required to walk
out onto the tarmac in 90 degree heat and climb the steps
to board our plane.  I huffed and puffed my way up the steps
lugging my heavy carry-on bag, only to be greeted at the
top of the steps by a stewardess who looked as fresh and
cool as I was miserable.   “Welcome” she smiled, “How
are we?”  “I don’t know about you”, I replied grumpily,
“but I am tired, I am fat, and I am grumpy”, whereupon
the handsome pilot stepped out of the cockpit, looked at me,
and said, “For a minute there, I thought my wife was
boarding”.   Bless his heart, that handsome devil, he made
my journey memorable.


************************

YOU DON'T KNOW ME

It’s Tuesday Poetics, and Mish has
asked us to write a poem about
the masks we wear.   
Submitted to dVerse
October 22, 2017

*****************

I guard my heart with levity
I’m the queen of joke and smile
I’m adept at making light of things
And practiced with my guile

…but you don’t know me

I’ve studied my psychology
My demeanor is confident and smart
I’ve learned  to wear my studied mask
And hide my broken heart

…and you don’t know me

I’m waiting to find someone
Who sees beyond the façade
Who’ll help me learn to trust again
And renew my faith in God

… please, know me

*************************

SALLY'S SAGA

Grace is hosting Quadrille #43,
and has chosen the word “creak” for
our 44 word poem.   For a while there
I was on a roll … but it seems I ran
out of words!
Submitted to dVerse
October 21, 2017
*****************

Sally was a fair young maiden
Who heard a creaky stair
She grabbed her trusty pistol
They’d not catch her unaware

She hid behind her bedroom door
Preparing for the worst
With pistol cocked she waited
As through the door he burst 

        ……  The End  

*************************

WHAT MATTERS

As we grow older, we tend to review our
life's journey.  I'm submitting a bit of prose
that reflects my thoughts on the subject.
Submitted to Open Link #206 at dVerse
October 19, 2017
 

 

Funny, it’s not the grand material things that bring lasting pleasure,
but the small things that validate us.   When we’re gone,  it’s not
likely we’ll be remembered for the material things we’ve accrued
in this life,  but for the small kindnesses we’ve extended that linger
in the memory of those whose lives we touched along the way.   It
brings such a rush of pleasure to know, even with all the stumbles
and less than glorious moments during my life journey,  I have left
some fond and positive memories with others.  Nothing pleases me
more than to be with my children and hear them speak fondly of
things I did or said in their childhood;  to hear an ex-employee say
“If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be where I am today” or “You were
 a good boss” (never mind that their secret nickname for me was
“Old Ironpants”!).  Recently, a long-time dear friend showed me a
note I’d written her long ago during a difficult time.  She'd kept it all
these years.  I was incredibly touched.  I guess you could say my
greatest pleasure is simply knowing that I mattered.

****************

FAKE NEWS

For the Poetry Pantry #375, wherein
 I dream fake news  (sigh).
Submitted to Poets United
October 14, 2017
************

I had a wonderful dream
Oh!  What a trip it was
All the world’s cares fell away
In that land of just because

As I swung from the brightest star
I was young, and free and wise
I danced on the Milky Way
And frolicked through the skies

I sipped from the Big Dipper
And took a hike on the moon
The skies were filled with music
And it was always a happy tune

It was as I prayed the world to be
Hate, hunger and disease had vanished
It was bitter cold on Outer Mongolia
Where Trump and Kim Jong Un were banished

Where they can continue to swagger and threaten
But they’ll get their justly dues
Oh how I wish this tale were true
But Alas!  It’s just fake news.

*******************

HOPE

De has chosen HOPE for this week’s
quadrille, much needed for her city
of Las Vegas.  As usual this is to be
44 words, excluding the title.
Submitted to dVerse
October 9,  2017
****************


When evil rears its ugly head
And seems to fill our souls with dread
We reach within for ways to cope
And tap our inner store of hope    
With faith we manage to soldier on
After darkest night, there’s always dawn. 
Hope springs eternal.

***********

CLASS IS AS CLASS DOES

A comment on modern life.
Submitted to Poets United
Poetry Pantry #374
October 8, 2017

********************

We spend much of our modern lifetime
In pursuit of a thing we call class
And status is oh, so important
If society’s test we’re to pass.

We’re hung up on designer labels
That are stitched to the back of our jeans
We think it’s of utmost importance
To appear to be people of means.

We all want to be “beautiful people”
Who belong to some private group
Rub elbows with “movers and shakers”
And move in the “inner loop”.

How I love it when on occasion
I escape from the frantic fray
And return to the home of my childhood
Where they still live the simple way.

For the most part they’re hard-working people
With neither tennis court nor pool
They don’t spend much time on status
Just honor the Golden Rule

They could care less about a label
Or fashion’s twist or turn
But, if a neighbor needs help, they help him
And ask not for pay in return

They always take time to say “howdy”
And to smile at each person they pass
They’re kind and they’re warm and they’re caring
And they have what I’d say is REAL class.

*******************
Photo my original digital art.

STAN, THE MAN

It’s Open Link at dVerse.  I’m having a
busy week, so here’s a bit of brief
silliness.
Submitted to dVerse Open Link #205
October 4, 2017
*******************

With his healthy libido
And wearing his speedo
He felt quite the ladies man
With his handsome physique
He thought himself really unique
Charming ladies was his big plan.
But the ladies ignored him
In fact they implored him
To just go away …  if he can

*******************

NONSENSE IT IS

Poetics by Paul this week, and  he asks us to take
a look at grammar, THE RULES, and how to break
them.  Brief mine is of necessity, scrambled were
my brains!
Submitted to dVerse Poetics
October 2, 2017
***************

Throw Momma from the train her hat.  Here are cookies
for the family that are chocolate in my bag.  I thought not
much, but that photo catches my eye in your hallway. 
On hungry arriving, I got a hamburger from that restaurant
that cost $9.00.  It was an expense up with which I will not
put again.  But, glad to be here I am.

**************

FIRST FROST

Haibun/Haiku Monday at dVerse, and
Victoria has chosen FROST as
our theme.
Submitted to dVerse
October 2, 2017
********************

James Whitcomb Riley said it best … “When the frost
is on the ‘punkin’ and the fodder’s in the shock”.
Autumn is a kaleidoscope of  memories for me.
It was my mother’s favorite time of year, and she
loved to arrange a Fall display by the yard gate.
First she’d bring corn stalks from the field and
fashion them into a shock, then harvest her Indian
corn, pumpkins, and colorful gourds  to gather
about it.  A bale  of straw became a seat for the
scarecrow she fashioned from my father’s old
overalls.   If we were lucky, we had a few weeks
to enjoy the display before that first night when
the temperature plunged and we woke to
sun-sparkled frost crystals.  It was a magic time
of  harvest, hayrides, wiener roasts, apple barns,
burning leaves and the honking of geese overhead. 
In memory still, I breathe in the pure, crisp air of home.
***************
Fodder in the shock
Jack Frost can’t be far behind
Winter’s harbinger

AUTUMN IN THE CITY

Submitted to Poets United
Poetry Pantry #373
September 30, 2017

****************


Under the highway overpass, sun browned leaves
 skitter across the pavement and gather about the
cardboard castles of those who call them home.
Their residents seek escape from the real world.
Jaded with empty pleasures, haunted by old regrets
and unfulfilled promises, their stories are as varied
as their faces.

A heartbeat away are the glittering hotels, the valet
parking, and the posh pubs where money and liquor
flow freely … and  the beautiful people seek escape
in other ways. 

****************
the road to escape
disparate byways chosen
a dichotomy

IDIOMATICALLY SPEAKING

Frank has given us SLEEP for the topic at Meet the Bar.
Sleep seems to be the time my brain kicks into high gear.
I close my eyes hopefully, and words, ideas, and images
vie for attention, often in the form of poetry.  They rattle
around my brain endlessly until I turn on the light, reach
for my little bedside journal, and commit them to paper
so I can at last drift off to slumber.   I call them midnight
epiphanies, and what follows is one such, when my midnight
muse suggested I write a poem using exclusively idioms.
It’s actually not about sleep, but a product of the lack thereof!
Forgive me for straying a bit!
Submitted to dVerse
September 28, 2017
***************

You know what they all say
Little Goody Twoshoes
There’s no fool like an old fool
It’s plain as the nose on your face
You’ve fallen for another pretty face
He’s a two-timing man
Who’s all show and no go
His elevator doesn’t go all the way up
And you’re destined for disaster
If you hitch your wagon to that star
You haven’t the ghost of a chance
For happily ever after
Cut to the chase
And quit while you’re ahead
Better days are coming
Keep a stiff upper lip
Your ship will come in
And you’ll have a horse in the race
Keep your chin up
A new broom sweeps clean
There’s light at the end of the tunnel
And everything’s coming up roses
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
But look before you leap
And err on the side of caution
A good man is hard to find
But slow and steady wins the race
All’s well that ends well
And soon you’ll be happy as a pig in mud

A PRAYER

Midweek Motif  challenge topic this week
Is “Rise Up”.  Pause for thought.
Submitted to Poets United
September 27, 2017
****************

Sometimes in order to rise up
We need a dose of wise up
There are lessons to be learned

From trials and tribulations
The spiteful confabulations
And good intentions spurned

Were it not for times of trial
We’d be lost in self denial
When the good times have returned.

Lord,  send me a reminder
To remember to be kinder
And be grateful for the many lessons learned.

AMYTHEST

It's Poetics Tuesday, and Lillian has asked
us to feature our birthstone in our poem.  I've
added a haiku.
Submitted to dVerse
September 26, 2017
******************

Ancient Greeks wore amythest and carved drinking 

vessels from it, in belief  that it would prevent 

intoxication.   So far it’s worked quite well for me.  

I have no proclivity for intoxicants.   I prefer the 

natural high of skies at dusk threaded with violet 

shades of amythest and cerulean blues, streaked 

with sun-faded gold.   I can get intoxicated by the 

fragrance of lavender and lilacs by the old yard gate, 

got giddy from stealing warm sun-ripened purple 

grapes on the vine by my mother’s clothes line.  

I can drink of the sight of violets planted long ago 

growing still by an old abandoned house.   An 

Aquarian, my best environment is said to be in 

a gathering of people exchanging ideas.  

Looks like I’m in the right place.

*************

Born in winter

Savoring summer sunshine

Happy in autumn

SPICE OF LIFE

It’s Quadrille time at dVerse, and
Mish requests we feature the word
Spice, as always 44 words not including
the title.
Submitted to dVerse
September, 2017
***************

Life's variety

Enhancing satiety
Spice makes our life worthwhile
A dash of curry
When in a hurry
Causes diners to smile  
Rosemary and cardoman
Nutmeg and cinnamon
Add to rank and file
Last of all thyme
Spices up my rhyme
Taking care of chyle

*********************
Chyle:  A digestive agent

MY LAST $20

Idle thoughts on a sunny Sunday, when
asked what I'd do with my  last $20.
Submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry #372
September 24, 2017

***************
Ten things I’d do with my last $20
Me, the girl who’s always had plenty?
I learned well at my mother’s knee
To beware of the careless spending spree.
I’m not the trendiest girl on the block
But I’ve a bit more hidden in a well worn sock.

I’d need pen and paper so I could write
And something to read when it got to be night
I’d want a mu-mu, loose and flowing
I won’t wear a bra where I’m going.

I’ll gather my kids and we’ll head for the farm    
The one safe place, free from harm.
I’ll take along some packets of seeds
We’ll grow enough to meet our needs.

We may be down to our very last dime
But we’ll be living in a simpler time.
No electronic tethers, which some will think odd
But we’ll have time again to talk to God.

We’ll breathe fresh air, and dance in the sun
And count our blessings when day is done.
“They sure don’t have much”, some will say
But, then, what good is money anyway?

*********************

COUNTRY GIRL

It’s Open Link night, and I’ve a poem about
being a farm girl in the city.
Submitted to dVerse Open Link #204
September 20, 2017
************************


I love the old ways and sayings
I’m a country girl at heart
But there are some modern conveniences
With which I couldn’t part

I love it when my garage door
Flies open when I appear.
I wouldn’t have much patience
Getting out in the cold, I fear

I wouldn’t want to have to
Iron each shirt and dress
I always extol the virtues
Of polyester and permanent press

I love my old-time fireplace
It makes me feel so good
But I guess I wouldn’t like it
If I had to chop the wood

My trips to the supermarket
Are a daily event, it seems
I’m sure I’d have to think twice
It I had to hitch up the team

It’s so nice to go to my kitchen
And find milk and eggs right there
I guess it wouldn’t be my forte’
For the hen and the cow to care

Oh, how I love my shower
I enjoy my nightly scrub
I wouldn’t want to exchange it
For carrying water to fill the tub

I adore my coffee grinder
And my stone crock is so pretty to see
But those things are just to look upon
And not to be used by me

I dream of moonlight sleigh rides
In a one horse open sleigh
But, once I arrived at my nice warm house
Who’d feed the horse his hay

I remember the calls of nature
That required a dash down the path
There’s no way I want to go back to that
And give up my nice warm bath

I guess I just like to read stories
Of how it used to be
In my heart, I think I’m country
But I’m as city as I can be
********************

QUESTIONS

Tuesday Poetics, and Bjorn asks us to
write a poem of questions.
Submitted to dVerse
September 19, 2017
****************
How are you, we ask …
Do we really want to know
or is it just another way to say hello?
Are we too busy to listen
or merely too self-absorbed?
Could we save someone’s life
merely by listening to words unsaid?
Could we make the world a better place
simply by each taking time to care?
Can we ever learn the power of one?

*********************

WHY?

Haibun/Haiku Monday, and we’re
asked to feature the WHY of our writing
style, and add a classic haiku (not a micro-poem).
Submitted to dVerse
September 18, 2017

Why do I turn to the back page to see if it ends
well before I select a book, and why are most
of my poems the same?  Because I’m an eternal
optimist, honed by lessons learned early on from
sturdy stock, empowered by faith, enamored of
words, inordinately curious, occasionally sarcastic
with a humorous bent, compelled to commit
words to paper,  and hoping to leave positive
footprints in the sands of time.  When my book
of life is written, I trust it ends well.

*********
winter approaches
a clean slate is presented
write a new story

NAMASTE

This is the result of a midnight epiphany
submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry
September 17, 2017

In the wee small hours of the night when
insomniacs clutch their remotes, trolling
the airways for diversion, it’s the witching
hour, and darkness, black and velvet, envelops
the alley.  Beneath a tattered blanket, the
homeless man huddles in a doorway.  Soon
the trash trucks will clang their way down
the alley, collecting clotted and fetid debris
from the dumpsters. The man stirs, and draws
from beneath the blanket a stubby pencil and
battered journal.  He opens to a new page and
carefully writes NAMASTE *.  His low tones
break the alley silence as he chants:   “I honor
the place in you in which the entire universe
dwells;  I honor the place in you which is of
love, of truth, of  light and peace.  When you
are in that place in you and I am in that place
in me, we are one.”  Silence returns to the alley
 … but the essence of hope remains. 

************
* Namaste is a Hindu greeting, a salutation and
validation,  usually issued with palms together,
fingers pointing skyward.

AUTUMN VIGNETTES

It's Meeting the Bar, and Bjorn requests
metaphors, avoiding the use of "like" and
"as", avoiding similes.
Submitted to d'Verse
September 14, 2017

It was a write it on your heart kind of autumn day.
Snowy clouds skittered across topaz skies, white-
petticoated ladies on their way to some grand soiree.
  **************

Bare trees kiss the autumn sky, old ladies with arms
akimbo, their skirts jeweled pools of fallen leaves at their feet.
*************

Distant vees of geese arrowing south,  their honking
splitting the crisp autumn air with news of their departure.

****************

(Photo Credit: Pinterest)

REUNIONS

We’re to feature REUNIONs in this
week’s Midweek Motif .   It occasioned
me to muse and philosophize.
Submitted to Poets United Midweek Motif
September 13, 2017


In a conversation with my father, not long before he passed
into the Great Beyond, I asked “Do you believe in a life
hereafter, Dad?”   My father (descended from a long line
of God-fearing ancestors with names like Bishop, Lot and
Absolam), who had attended our little country church faithfully
with my mother and who had taught the young couples’ Sunday
School class, said “Of course I do” …. and, after a long
hesitation said “if there is such a thing”.   We, each of us,
form our own particular beliefs, which change as we grow
older and wiser.  I’m sure we’ve all had experiences of déjà vu
or met some kindred spirit it seems we’ve always known.  
Perhaps these ARE reunions with someone we’ve known
in a past life.   I like to think  I will see my loved ones and
friends again, and that Dad and I will have a chance to
continue our conversation!

*********************

A MAIDEN'S WISH

Poetics Tuesday, and we’re to write
an upbeat poem using the word  rain, rein,
or reign … or all three.  Here’s a bit
of silliness.
Submitted to dVerse September 12, 2017

There once was a fair maiden
Daughter of the king (long may he reign)
“I’m at a loss“, he said, “to control her
No matter how tight the rein”
So he set out to explore his kingdom
Through sun, sheets of sleet, and rain
To find a knight for his daughter
Who’d become such a very great pain.

At last he found the perfect knight
And soon the girl was wed
“You’ll find her quite a challenge”
To her groom, the knight, he said
But now his daughter was smiling
At last he’d got it quite right
All she ever really wanted
Was for  him to find her a knight.

***************************

THE GAME OF LIFE

Poignant thoughts at the loss of
a friend, and a senryu.  Submitted to
Poets United Poetry Pantry #370
September 10, 2017

A light went out this week, and the world is a lesser place.  A dear friend lost her battle with cancer.  I am left with 57 years of memories of spirited card games, autumn vacations to the Smoky Mountains, lunches and camaraderie.  We raised our children together, we lost our husbands together,  we lost our two travel companions, we laughed and cried together and our friendship carried on.  To know her was to be enriched by her presence, and I was honored to be her friend.    A sorrow of aging is losing  friends one by one.  Today the sun is shining, the sky is azure with puffy white clouds .  It is a perfect autumn day.  I am reminded how fleeting our time can be, but I am reassured there’s a place for me with my friends at the heavenly card table, and I’ll be along when it’s my turn to deal.

*************
we are but actors
and we choose the role we play
in this game called life.

***********************

THE LITTLE CHAPEL

I ’d pass a little deserted country
church on trips to visit my parents.  The
sight always left me musing about its
history, hence this poem.

Submitted to Open Link Night #203 at dVerse
September 7, 2017

It’s just a little chapel that sits beside the way
But I wondered what it could tell me, if it could speak today.
The tower is now empty, where the beckoning bell once rang.
And only dusty silence, where the little congregation sang.
The windows are now vacant, and the pews are long since gone.
But it seems I hear the echoes of ice cream socials on the lawn.
I imagine all the faithful who have talked here with their God
While outside their forefathers rested, deep beneath prairie sod.
I see all the bridal couples who have here exchanged their vows
And think of long-ago sermons soothing furrowed brows.
How many babes were christened, how many old folks laid to rest?
How many Sunday mornings, with folks dressed in Sunday best?

I feel God all about me, as I stand beside the door
And listen to the voices of those who’ve passed before
One day I’ll be like them, when this life has passed me by
And my voice be but an echo to some dreamer such as I.
May I live my life with honor in my short time here on earth
And touch the lives of others with love, and joy and mirth.
May there always be a moment, when day follows busy day
For echoes like the chapel’s, and what it has to say.

******************

MEMORY

It’s Midweek Motif at Poets United
and we’re asked to feature MEMORY.
I consider it from a senior perspective.
Submitted to Poets United
September 5, 2017

Our minds used to be razor sharp
A name came to mind in a nonce
Somehow those days seem over
We’re not as sharp as we were once

But we become a formidable force
When we’re together in a group
We each contribute a piece of solution
That at first seemed to be word soup.

“He was tall”, says one; “A cowboy” says another
“That knock-kneed fellow, his name rhymed with pain”
And in no time at all, we’ve solved the dilemma
“Of course” we all shout, “His name was John Wayne!”

We enter a room and forget why we’re there
We park the car, then can’t remember where
A lifetime of memories are filed in our brain
And “It’ll come in a moment” is a common refrain

Put us together, we’re sharp as a tack
Alone we recall it, but it takes longer to come back
We’re happy together with our walkers and canes
Looking forward  to tomorrow and the time that remains.

MAGIC

Paul has asked us to set aside somber issues and
consider magic for Poetics Tuesday.  I am "blissed"
with nature's magic daily by visiting hummingbirds. 
Submitted to dVerse Poetics Tuesday.
September 4, 2017

Magic outside my window again today.  The hummingbirds
have come to call.  These magical little creatures, with emerald
green backs and ruby red throats are no bigger than the pad
of my thumb.  They dart through the air with what seems the
speed of light, suspend for a moment over the feeder, then settle
and drink deep of the nectar.  Their eggs are smaller than jelly beans. 
It’s said their average heart rate is 1200 beats a minute, and
during migration, they fly 500 miles nonstop across the Gulf
of Mexico.  Now THAT’S magic! 

AUTUMN SPLENDOR

Haibun/haiku Monday. We are asked
to feature the change of seasons, our
experiences, etc.
Submitted to dVerse
September 4, 2017

The very word autumn brings a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and scents to me.  There are childhood memories of hayrides, V’s of southbound geese overhead, fall displays of gourds, corn shocks and pumpkins, trips to the apple and peach orchards, the sounds of harvest in the fields, bonfires, and wiener roasts.  After marriage and children there are memories of football games, marching bands, fall festivals, the state fair and girlfriend getaway trips to the Smokey Mountains.  And always, always, nature’s backdrop of the glorious palette of autumn, when the hardwoods of the Midwest don their glorious wardrobes of crimson, gold, russet, and orange; when the birds flock for migration and busy squirrels can be seen burying their winter stores.  In September, there’s a subtle change in the air, and the occasional crisp morning offers a harbinger of the season to come.  I’m reminded of the words in Ecclesiastes “To every thing there is a season…” 

**************
feast of the senses
savor the gifts of autumn
gratitude abounds

THE SPIDER AND THE FLY

A bit of fun inspired by a photo taken by
a friend.  (Thanks, Bev Lloyd).
Submitted to Poetry Pantry #368
September 2, 2017

Consider the talented spider
Who, with nothing but genetics to guide her
Creates delicate lace filigree

Her industrious endeavor
Is devilishly clever
For she has a plan, you see.

When a curious fly
Comes cruising by
He’ll be headed for eternity

Before time can ebb
He’s caught in her web
There’s no hope for the fly to flee

For all of her spinning
She’s accustomed to winning
An anticipated gourmet repast

And the ill-fated fly
Who came wandering by
Will find the journey his last.
**************

IMAGINE ALL THE PEOPLE

Frank has requested our Midweek Motif  be in
acrostic form.   The recent hurricane in Texas
has reminded me so much of John Lennon’s
song “Imagine” … hence my acrostic is
Imagine All The People
Submitted to dVerse Midweek Motif
August 31, 2017

It was  a storm of dreadful fury
Making landfall, pounding highways
And turning streets to  rivers 
Growing deeper minute by minute.
In desperation people fled
Not knowing whereto or how
Each praying for survival.

Asking only for dry shelter 
Leaving all they had behind 
Looking for someone to help them

To reach the higher ground.
Help wore many hats
Each selflessly determined.

Pouring rain continued
Everywhere the water rose
Overwhelming homes and byways
Pummeling all within its path
Leaving lives upturned, disrupted 
Ending catastrophe at last.

**************************

MAGIC SLIPPERS

Kim has asked us to consider SHOES
for Tuesday Poetics.   This is a
reprise, but it SO fits the niche!
Posted to dVerse Poetics
August 29, 2017
********************************

I found the sparkly  slippers
In a battered treasure chest
“Magic slippers”, the genie said
I said “Surely you speak in jest”.

But I took them out and put them on
Convinced it was all for naught.
It’s silly to believe in magic…
At least that’s what I thought.

But the minute I buckled those beauties on
They changed my life, it’s safe to say
My aches and pains just were no more
Unbelievably, they’d gone away.

Well, I’ll be darned, I said to myself
I can probably dance and skip
If these things are really working
I’m off on a pleasure trip.

So I went to Bora Bora
And danced with the natives there
Then off to Hawaii to surf for a while
With the sea and sand in my hair.

I shopped til I dropped on the streets of Paris
And climbed the Eiffel Tower
I took a gondola ride in Venice
There was no end to my staying power!

I climbed the heights of Machu Pichu
On the high plains of Peru
I saw the Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat
And Thailand before I was through.

I saw the terra cotta soldiers
And danced on China’s Great Wall
I stopped in Dubai for a game of roulette
I was determined to see it all.

I was off to Easter Island
(Those heads are mysterious, methinks)
Then I traveled on to the pyramids
And marveled at the sphinx.

In Italy I saw the coliseum
And castles in the land of Eire
I visited the Cotswolds in England
And learned to pronounce Staffordshire

I saw the white cliffs of Dover,
Budapest, Hong Kong and Singapore
Berlin, the Alps and Sicily
And oh, so many more.

Then on we went to Jerusalem
And the shores of Galilee
There wasn’t a place we didn’t go
My magic slippers and me.

I wore out those magic slippers
But, oh what a ride it was
Do I believe in magic now?
Yes I do, because … well just because!

**************************

BLISS

Quadrille Monday, and our theme
word is BLISS…and don’t we all
need some of that right now?  With heavy
heart for the people of Texas, I offer
this blissing.
Submitted to dVerse Quadrille #39
August 28, 2017

May blisskrieg settle
upon your household
as mists enfold crisp
autumn mornings.  

May you be blissed
with loving family
and good friends.  

May your muse be
beblissed with profound
and reassuring words.   

May your spirit be lifted
with blissipation each
and every new day.

******************

Photo: My great grandsons in
Eagle Creek Park (with
Photoshopped friend).

YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW

This poem was written shortly before
my retirement.  I am reminded of the
frantic pace of my life at that time, and
grateful I have reached the age to savor.
Submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry #368
August 27, 2017

As I speed along the freeway
in the usual morning race,
my thoughts turn back to other times
when life had a slower pace...
when there was time for dreaming
and wriggling my toes in the mud,
and close examination
of each leaf, and flower and bud;
for listening to autumn breezes
as they rustled through fields of grain;
and for smelling the wonderful fresh bouquet
of a late Spring evening rain;
for idling under a shade tree
when no one knew where I was
and studying the intricate mechanics
of what makes bumblebees buzz;
for listening to trills of songbirds
as they flitted from tree to tree;
for looking for four-leaf clovers
in grass like a great, green sea.

It seems now my days are so busy
these pleasures are things of the past
I try to find time for dreaming,
but the time hurries by too fast.
I think of the time when I'm older,
and time on my hands again,
how I'll treasure these special moments
much moreso than I did then.
God in his infinite wisdom
has bestowed a very great favor
What in youth we take for granted
In age we will have time to savor.

**************************
*Photo is my digital art, image credit
to Jesse Wilcox Smith

GOOD MORNING, WORLD

Idle thoughts on a new day and the
sights, scents and sounds of Nature.
Submitted to Poets United Midweek Motif
August 23, 2017

Awakening to the sound of gentle rolling
thunder and the patter of raindrops on
the leaves of the snowball bush outside
my bedroom, a wisp of air carries the
scent of new rain through my open window
and I  inhale deeply of its fragrance.  
The trees beside nearby Eagle Creek
resonate with the morning gathering of crows. 
I am always amused at their agenda.  First
a single voice addresses the group, then there’s
a great cacophony as everyone speaks at
once, much like a meeting of  the ladies’
auxiliary when they discuss a new project. 
Then they all fly away, as if having received
their daily assignments. Nature at work. Our
boy cat meanders into my  room to assure
himself I live to fight another  day, then wanders
off to get the rest of the household in order so
he can settle down  for his morning nap.  Good
morning, world!  Thank you, Lord, for granting
me yet another day.

********************************

MISSISSIPPI CRUISE

It's Haibun/Haiku Monday, and we're asked
to write about a memorable summer vacation.
Submitted to dVerse
August 21, 2017

One of my favorite trips was a cruise on the mighty Mississippi with friends.  We drove from Indianapolis to LeClaire, Illinois, where we boarded the little Riverboat Starlight for our two-day cruise.  Along the way we saw the huge barge trains of 15 (3 abreast and 5 long) pushed along by the powerful little tugs.  Northbound trains carried coal to the nuclear power plant, southbound trains carried grain.  We learned an empty barge sits 12 feet above water level, but, when loaded, 9 feet submerge.  Who knew? We passed what was left of the little village of Comanche which was destroyed in a powerful tornado in 1908, said to be the greatest natural disaster in the states.  Debris from this storm was found 90 miles away in the city of Peoria, Illinois, and 232 perished, many never found and presumed to be swept away in the Mississippi.  

The Starlight followed a circuitous route marked by red buoys on the right and green on the left.  We went through the locks, which are a fascinating process of changing water levels.  The Mississippi is majestic, at times so wide it seemed to be a lake.  We were entertained along the way by a folk singer and a calliopist and arrived at our destination of Galena, Illinois, ready for a day shopping in that historic little town, once a busy lead mining center.  It is said to be possible to drive underground from Galena to Wisconsin, so extensive are the tunnels that remain.   After a wonderful day of shopping and restful evening at the Chestnut Resort, we reboarded the Starlight for our return trip to LeClaire.  On our return trip, we passed the largest river cruise ship, American Queen, which dwarfed our little Starlight.  She greeted us with a mighty blast of her  foghorn, and our little Starlight responded with its calliope.  We arrived safely back at LeClaire, with a new appreciation for the Mississippi, which rises from northern Minnesota and meanders southward to the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans.   It was a memorable trip.

*****************
Mississippi lore
A summer magic byway
With stories to tell

13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A ROCK

In the spirit of Wallace Stevens’
“13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”,
I’ve taken a look at famous rocks.
Submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry #367
August 20, 2017

Ancient Phoenician landmark
Pillar of Hercules
Rock of Gibraltar

Aboriginal sacred site
Uluru, red behemoth
in Australia’s outback

Giant head on Easter Island
standing silently in mystery
through the centuries

Endless task of Sisyphus
pushed onto the hilltop
falling again to valley floor

Stone of Blarney
kissed by many
famous bit of Irish lore

Plymouth Rock beside the shore
welcome sight to Pilgrims
arriving to new land

Imposing Devil’s Tower
thrusting upward
from Wyoming’s vast expanse

Signature Rock on westward trail
where steadfast pioneers
left their marks for history

Rosetta stone
that cracked the code
of Egypt’s ancient hieroglyphs

Rushmore’s rock of faces
countenances of history
worn smooth by wind and rain

Part of Stonehenge Circle
holding fast the secrets
of ancient druids

Haystack Rock of Oregon
legacy of ancient lava
sentinel at Pacific shore

Faithful voices raised in chorus
“On Christ, the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.”

*******************
*Photo is my own digital art.

THE LAST TIME

It’s Meet the Bar at dVerse, and Bjorn has
asked us to write a sonnet without rhyme, without
meter …a volta (two quatrains and two tercets)..
ala Pablo Nuerda.
Submitted to dVerse Meet the Bar
August 17, 2017
**************


The pages of life’s calendar turn inexorably onward
and I find the phrase “the last time” plays often in
my mind.   A dear one passes into the Great Perhaps
and my thoughts turn to our last words to each other.

It is easy to suffer some minor offense, stuff it in our
backpack and carry it with us.  How much lighter our
backpack if we take the time to make peace, and know
each night, if it’s our last, we’ve left no words unsaid.

Life unfolds by startling circumstance that sometimes plunders
opportunities to make our “last times” what we  might wish
them to be, and we find ourselves left full of words.

If  we approach each instance as “the last time“, how different
our demeanor, whether it’s a kind word or simply taking
the time to notice a sunrise, a sunset, a shower, or a birdsong.

FINAL JOURNEY

Time for Midweek Motif at Poets United
and we’re asked to feature the word Flood.
Submitted to Midweek Motif
August 16, 2017

When I was a child, there was a burbling little creek a mile or so from our farm.  It was  the kind of stream that meandered through the meadows, shallow enough that one could wade across it at any point.  But, in the Spring heavy rains, it became a raging torrent, quickly rising beyond its banks, flooding fields and galloping on its way south, where it eventually emptied into the Mississippi River and thence into the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.   Someone once wrote “All the waters of the world are one”, and so I think perhaps a flooding rain drains from the fields into the ditches, into the rivulets, into the streams, into the creeks and into the rivers, then rushes to the ocean, where moisture is drawn up into the clouds until their fat bellies are filled with rain and the cycle repeats itself.  The power of floods is the stuff of legends.  Many years ago, when working on family history, I discovered that the cemetery where many of my ancestors were buried was swept away by massive flooding of the Mississippi.   They were hardy pioneers who made their way from Virginia to Kentucky and into Indiana.  Strange to think that, dressed in their funeral finery, they took yet another journey to heaven knows where. 

***************
Photo is my own surreal
digital art creation.

MANO A MANO

This week’s Quadrille #38 is to feature
a form of the word DREAM in exactly
44 words.   I don’t usually write 
political rants, but one seemed due.
Submitted to dVerse
August 14, 2017


The world dreams in fear and trembling
as two deranged world leaders
who drank from the poison well of power  
engage in a juvenile game of mano a mano,
their missiles phallic symbols of their
insecurities in their game of “mine’s
bigger than yours.”

*************

THE VAGABOND

Armchair travels for this week's
Poetry Pantry #366
Posted to Poets United
August 13, 2017

Arthur was a vagabond
On whom travel cast a spell
He set off adventuring,
A story we will tell
He spent some time in Africa
On a mission to help the needy
Lived in an underground hotel
And mined opals in Coober-Pedy
In temples deep in Thailand
He consorted with the monks
He met the royal elephants
And rode upon their trunks
He stopped at Machu Pichu
On the high plains of Peru
In Nepal he stayed with Sherpas
And met their llamas too.
Then on he went to Egypt
And boated down the Nile
Paying a visit to the Valley of Kings
Where he spent a little while
Arthur traveled onward
A victim of his desires
To Ireland, Scotland and England
Visiting local shires
He journeyed on to India
Visiting  the Taj Mahal
And small islands in the Pacific
Whose names I can’t recall
The seven wonders of the world
Were on his bucket list
He traveled on  to see them all
Assuring none were missed
At long last the day arrived
When Arthur said “I’m done”
And he packed his bags and set off
For the place where he’d begun
He told his friends, “Yes, I admit
I had an urge to roam
But that’s all over now
There is no place like home!”

*********************

OF PRINCES AND FROGS

It's Open Link Night #201 at
dVerse where we enter a
poem of our choice.  I'm submitting
an idle musing.
Submitted August 10, 2017

Ah, I was your Scheherazade
You were my handsome prince
Passion burned within my heart
I’ve not seen the likes of since

My friends just shook their heads
They thought I’d slipped a cog
They all knew before I did
That you were just a frog

****************************

MIDNIGHT EPIPHANIES

Lillian challenges us to use the
word SHADE in our poetic
endeavor today at dVerse.
I've added a bonus haiku.
Submitted to dVerse Poetics
August 8, 2017

I’m a dreamer by day and a thinker by night and,
when I lay me down to sleep, will-o-the-whispers
wander in and out of my thoughts in a rustle of
satin and silken swish, flinging words and phrases
like tangled skeins spun by some shape-shifter’s
loom. Carousels and chapel bells, cowboy boots
and vagabond’s loot, lamp shades and nines of spades,
ballet slippers and champagne sippers, smooth talkers
and sky walkers drift through my mind on their way
to some future poetic adventure.  Occasionally there
springs from this abyss of word salad a midnight
epiphany worth recording in my bedside journal. 
Once words are committed to paper,  the nightly
marathon ends and I’m allowed to drift into blessed
slumber.  Ah, the glorious sleep of an octogenarian
would-be poet!  Bliss.


***********
Sleep is slow to come
Slumber is inhibited
Til midnight epiphany   
***********************

IMPERFECTION

Victoria asks that we consider
Wabi-sabi (the beauty of imperfection)
 for our Haibun this Week.
Submitted to dVerse
August 7, 2017

Eloquent with age
secrets lie within
your chipped porcelain
of lips that drank
from your communal cup
cool, clear water
from some unknown well
I drink from your beauty
enhanced by the scars of time
My thirst is slaked
with your eloquence.

****************

faded porcelain
for everything a season
your beauty remains

*****************

MODERN FAIRY TALE

Sometimes I think fairy tales should
have happier endings, so I've revised
the story of Little Red Riding Hood to
suit my fancy.
Submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry #367
August 6, 2017
 

The little girl with cloak of red
Tucked in her basket a loaf of bread
Set off through the woods with a hop & a skip
She always enjoyed the forest trip
To her grandma’s house, all snug and warm
With never a thought of fear or harm.
The wolf himself was in the woods
Seeking his dinner and other goods
He stalked through the trees with heavy tread
Until he saw the cloak of red.
She skipped so happily it warmed his heart
And he ceased the mischief he’d thought to start.
Smiling to himself, he said
“I think I’ll not bother the girl in red.
It’s elsewhere I’ll look for what I seek
I’ll let her pass by with only a peek.
Her smile made for me a brighter day
So I’ll not bother her on her way."

And so it is, and the rule is thus
What we give to others, comes back to us.

************************

TRIMETER

It's Meet the Bar at dVerse, and Frank would
have us try trimeter.   Apparently the dog
ate my homework.  I seem to be at a loss.
Here's my tongue-in-cheek excuse, submitted
with abject apology.
Submitted August 3, 2017

****************
My muse has gone away
I hope just for today
What caused this wild foray
I’m afraid I cannot say
Perhaps the feet and metre
Were likely to defeat her
She didn’t tell me why
Or stop to say goodbye.
Without her I’m bereft, alas
Simply put, I have to pass.

****************

THE END?

Paul at dVerse has asked us to contemplate
"The End" and its meaning to us.  For
once, I didn't think in rhyme!
Submitted to dVerse Poetics
August 1, 2017


 We equate the end with death … but we don’t like to call it dying.  We say a dear one has “passed”, or we use euphemisms like “drop off the perch”, “take a dirt nap”, “meet your maker”, or “enter into the long sleep”.   I’ve always felt we live our life in chapters.  When one chapter ends, another begins … the end of childhood is the beginning of being an adult; the end of being single is the beginning of being married; the end of a job is the beginning of retirement; and so on. Every ending is a new beginning.  My father was much revered by all in his family.  When he died, we were all gathered in his hospital room to say our last goodbyes, and when he took his final breath we went to the hospital nursery to see the new babies, to remind us of the circle of life.  At times in my life when I’ve felt a bit depressed, I’ve sought a new interest to rejuvenate my spirit.   A new beginning never fails to spark enthusiasm.   So, when my life reaches an end and I pass into the Great Perhaps,  I’ve told my children I want my epitaph to be “What’s Next?”

*********************
*  The question mark at the end of the title is NOT a typographical error.

FEAR

Victoria hosts Monday night's
quadrille of exactly 44 words
to include the word FEAR.
Submitted to dVerse Quadrille #37
July 31, 2017

I couldn't decide whether to be hopeful,
or  succumb to it, so I've written
two quadrilles.  Bear with me!

***************************
#1:
Catastrophes and chaos
Calamity and disaster
Clamor with intention
To capture us in fear  

If we let them overtake us
And let our faith forsake us 
We miss all the good things
In the short time we are here.

Believe faith can conquer all.

*****************
#2:
I heard the rustle beneath my bed
I clung to my pillowcase in dread
I’m glad I wore my underwear
I should’ve brought along a spare 
It’s black as pitch, I cannot see
Is it a monster after me?  
Helplessly, I wait in fear
…and now ,,, it’s HERE!

*******************

ALPHA AND OMEGA

Submitted to dVerse
Open Link Thursday #200
July 27, 2017

**********************

Joy reigned in the beginning
When love had just begun
One selfish, careless act
And a piece of love was gone.

A door was closed to closeness
That could not be regained
But love is slow to disappear
And still some of it remained.

One final breech of trust
More thoughtless than before
No need to discuss forgiveness
For now love is no more.

****************

SANCTUARY

Poets United Midweek Motif  asks us
to find a sanctuary.  Also submitted to
Poetry Pantry #364
Submitted  July 30, 2017
**************

In my home there’s a room where I spend my days
And the hours pass in a pleasant daze
In the corner a chair, all plump and comfy
For reading or napping, if it strikes my fancy
A big L-shaped desk for my computer and such
A sewing machine I don’t use much
Paints and pencils and things for my art
Happy pastimes that are dear to my heart.
There’s a bookcase wall with shelves for my treasures
Photos of loved ones and mementos of pleasures
A pocket watch my father carried
Photo of a niece on the day she married
A cage with glass birds my mother collected
Favorite books, of course, as might be expected
Books that transport me to exotic places
I travel the world,  just in my bookcases
From a trip to the Smokey’s, an arrogant duck
A carnival clock my father won with some luck
Painted by granddaughter, a colorful plate
A pair of brass swans from Tennessee state
A cross-stitched Welcome from my daughter, Lori
A shelf of art journals that record my life’s story
Special keepsakes from my friends who are arty
A photoshopped Sinatra from a long ago card party
From Germany a domed clock, a gift from my son
A small oil painting on glass I did just for fun
Notebooks of essays and poems I write
And outside my window, a pleasant sight
Feeders where feathered friends come to call
Such a blessing to see them all
This is my sanctuary, my safe place to be
With a heart full of happy, I’m glad to be me.

***********************