it’s seems at least half my life (sigh),
i’ve spent waiting…for you, my dear (smile).
canary yellow(ed)
15 May 2024 7 Comments
in american sentence, ekphrastic Tags: canary, wait, yellow
kitty litter
23 Apr 2024 23 Comments
in ekphrastic, limerick Tags: cat, crows, feathers, feline, hunt
there once roamed a fine feline pack
who desired royal avian snack:
“let’s pounce on low crows,
tasty drumsticks dispose
but the feathers we’ll gladly give back!”
Poetry prompt with Melissa at dVerse to write on Wain’s cat cartoons without using word, “cat”.
love calls in spring
12 Mar 2024 25 Comments
in ekphrastic Tags: daffodils, narcissus, orchard, spring, turtledove
farewell, white lion; we hear spring’s love call,
lone turtledove coos like sentinel in orchard;
schoolgirl swings carefree from supple branch as
she and tree both bud-burst into double smiles.
sun’s gaze reflects golden dawn on water and
we breathe in heady floral of narcissus blooms;
drink goblet of lemon beauty offered by daffodils,
open beautiful eyes to every greening possibility!
Merril hosts dVerse poetics incorporating names of daffodil varieties (in italic) and a painting by Alfred Sisley (1881) entitled, “Orchard in Spring”.
watercolour poet
18 Oct 2023 24 Comments
in ekphrastic Tags: art, canyon, crows, desert, imagination, mesa, paint
“To create one’s own world takes courage.”
–Georgia O’Keeffe
more than a dead tree
or virginal flower flush
with blushing petals,
an artist forms reality
heart lifts in imagination
mind soars with creativity
above dry, dusty desert
of hardpan relationship
soul flies to canyon lands
of welcoming sagebrush;
bleeding art on red clay
bursts from the shadows
paints emotional palette,
wanders beyond rim until
satisfied by fruits of wine
and feast of distant mesa
______________
Ekphrastic poetry for dVerse poets’ pub hosted by Melissa Lemay.
perfumed flavour
21 Jun 2023 6 Comments
in ekphrastic, haiku Tags: cup, perfume, petals, rose, water
scent of rosewater
distillation of petals
sweetness fills my cup
heron’s haunts
14 Sep 2022 9 Comments
in ekphrastic Tags: abandonment, death, gloom, loneliness, marsh
crickets ‘n crawdads sing off-key
in surreal dream left condemned
on river surrounded by marshland
of carolina’s backwaters…look away
like empty windows that stare coldly
as lonely boat cradles dead body in
hull…cut memory loose, let it drift
through mind’s dark tunnel beyond
plaster and bricks’ clayed dilapidation
Written in response to d’verse ekphrastic prompt featuring art by Lee Madgwick. The previous evening, I’d watched the film, “Where Crawdads Sing,”based on book by same title.
dibble~toes
08 Jun 2022 11 Comments
in ekphrastic Tags: sand, sea, surf
seaside holiday
playing cat-and-mouse with surf
transport sand home
______________
A senryu for dVerse poets where Merril hosts ekphrastic poetry.
keyhole in the sky
23 Sep 2020 30 Comments
in ekphrastic Tags: keyhole, man in the moon, star, swallow tailed coat
tired old man in the moon
had had enough of listening
to earth’s noisy troublemakers!
how can anyone sleep with
that infernal decibilled racket?
he was definitely full of it, so
he donned his top hat and
swallow-tailed coat, locked
his door and set sail to a star.
Ekphrastic poetry at dVerse poets’ pub hosted by Lillian and featuring the uniquely surreal artwork of Catrin Welz-Stein.
primary matrix
25 May 2020 20 Comments
in ekphrastic, haibun Tags: Broadway, Denver, grid, lights, summer
Piet Mondrian: Broadway Boogie Woogie
Take me back to Broadway at night! Let’s experience the electric excitement in street lights’ shine, neon signs blinking, billboards’ glare, and stream of traffic headlights or taillights in opposite lanes. Life in Denver drives on pulsating grid.
White delivery trucks, yellow taxis, blue mustangs and red VW bugs follow the streets, avenues, and boulevards of my childhood and adolescence. Dibs on the back seat of school bus! An urgent siren sends all traffic curbside to let a flashing emergency vehicle past.
Be ready with horn or brakes and quick maneuvers. Circle carefully around bustling parking lots. Wait your turn at busy car wash or fast food drive-up window. Go slow through used car lot…lit by aliens? No, it’s a police helicopter checking back alleys.
girl’s eyes reflect lights
cruise city on summer night
buzzy as beehive
Kim hosts haibuns and invites us to “meet Piet” on “Broadway” at dVerse Poets pub.
iris in vincent’s eye
19 Feb 2020 14 Comments
in ekphrastic Tags: bulb, garden, irises, leaves, spring, van gogh
i begin as
dry ivory bulb
asleep in deep dark
until warmth stirs from
far away as sunshine
whispers, “come to me”
i stretch
uncurling in
moist brick soil
insects tickling my
pale skin as it peels off
with sigh, “love, arise!”
i reach up
to throw off the
heaviness of garden
bed’s blanket and am
blinded by yellow light
crying, “it’s spring!”
i grow long
sabered leaves
of vibrant green to
drink in cool rain and
shelter tender buds with
promise, “we’ll dance!
i bloom in
profuse blue hues
from cerulean to indigo
unfurling petaled banners
to reveal frilly stamens and
sing, “behold life’s beauty!”
i fade as
sun sets in gold;
plucked from roots
glory slowly wanes as
flowered energy wilts with
a moan, “remember me.”
irises by van gogh
purple-urple
04 Sep 2019 33 Comments
in ekphrastic, poem for children, rhyming verse
Mish at dVerse Poetics inspires us with the lovely art of Beverly Dyer…and today I did paint one wall of our living room “purple suede”!
paint a purple wall
pluck a purple plume
pick a purple wildflower
play a purple tune
write a purple poem
wear a purple dress
climb a purple mountain
make a purple mess
eat a purple plum
fly a purple kite
plant a purple garden
dream a purple night
tired of my purple riot?
let’s do violet!
Purple Wildflower by Beverly Dyer
shadow tales of cedar
01 Aug 2019 11 Comments
in ekphrastic, poem for children Tags: bears, bells, cedar, hood, shadow, wolf, wood
Goldi wander in wood?
Red Cedar by Emily Carr
beware of three bears
see them growling!
is Red in the hood?
big bad wolf out there
hear him howling!
scare Peter but good
should tinkle bells wear
stop them prowling!
Link to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads‘ prompt inspired by Emily Carr’s art.
a poem in my pocket 
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