March lioness snowstorm
cattle huddle in corners
lone crow’s rebel caw
plastered ghost tree sentinels
wait stoically for spring thaw
jet setter
08 Mar 2021 11 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: bird, common swift
the Common Swift is
uncommonly swift &
flies at amazing speeds
higher than high in
azure atmosphere
nary a nap ever needs
from Scandinavia to
to the sub-Sahara,
migrating as it feeds
stays in the air
with nary a care
pausing only to breed.
image by Carl Bovis, courtesy of Sarah at dVerse poets pub
https://www.audubon.org/news/the-common-swift-new-record-holder-longest-uninterrupted-flight
zansetsu haiku
07 Mar 2021 11 Comments
wet birth of fresh calf
sanctifies muddy season
remaining snow melts
“Zansetsu” is a Japanese kigo that means “remaining snow”… from Frank J. Tassone’s recent prompt at American Hajjin
ralph’s legacy
03 Mar 2021 16 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: found poem, Lord of the Flies
Like kids acting
like a crowd of kids
got small fire all right,
again that strange mood
of speculation so foreign;
when lit from above or
below–what was a face?
Inarticulate in effort
to express mankind’s
essential illness, living
through circumstances
in which incantation
was powerless to help.
Ground was turned over
near the pig-run and
droppings that steamed
(bent down as if loved them
and sized them up… )
at last, gave up and
Looked back; saw the
white teeth and dim eyes,
the blood—and gaze held by
ancient, inescapable recognition
softly surrounded by a fringe
of inquisitive creatures beneath
the steadfast constellations.
Semicircle of little boys,
bodies streaked with colored clay,
sharp sticks in hands, standing
on beach making no noise at all,
and in the middle, (he) wept
for the end of innocence, the
darkness of man’s heart, and the fall.
A “found poem” constructed entirely of quotes from William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies. A prompt I discovered on Tweetspeak Poetry’s lovely site…I receive a daily poem from them.
power struggle
02 Mar 2021 17 Comments
Link to dVerse Poets where Lisa is hosting…I chose challenge #3 to write a poem using the word “fringe” as my first thought was of the biblical narrative.
on the FRINGE of society
(and personal sanity)
no one hears her/their/our
silent scream in isolation
feeling outcast, unclean,
misunderstood, forgotten.
disappointed by hope of
promised treatments that
didn’t provide any solutions
(no permanent heart change)
no turnaround in health issues
of bad blood, life leaking away
UNTIL…
we reach out in bold faith to
seek the impossible miracle
and touch the fringe of HIS
robe to find life energy flow
in wave of wholistic healing—
will we dare answer question:
“WHO touched me?!”
war hero
22 Feb 2021 37 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: asthma, battle, cry, Leukemia, quadrille
tactically,
we assumed
she would die young,
like her sister and her son
who lost battles to asthma
but Aunt Jeanette held her
fight to breathe for 81 years
till leukemia attacked.
Her final orders: “You
better go now before
you make me cry!”
De at dVerse poets pub invites us to write quadrilles (44 words) on the theme: GO
crystalline
18 Feb 2021 8 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: crystal, frost, haiku, ice
pastel dawn… on ice
winter frosts branches, fence rails
diamonds will sparkle
conservation conundrum
11 Feb 2021 2 Comments
red, green, silver, gold
symbol of prosperity
chinese dragonfish
raised inside chainlink fence
rare asian arowana
in need of a hug
08 Feb 2021 24 Comments
his familiar embrace… warm, firm, intentional
envelops my core being
reassures my doubtful heart
lightens my mundane mood
raises happy endorphins
shares heady pheromones
sparks dormant emotions
speaks wordless comfort
calms restless thoughts
melts any resistance
husbands my wifeness
my one and only… valentine
Linking to dVerse quadrille (44-word) prompt and Merril’s “embrace”theme…
surf’s up!
03 Feb 2021 4 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: beach
roaring down the beach
at the height of winter waves
mist clouds
© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)
roaring down the beach
dangerous surf erases
beachcombers’ footprints
at the height of winter waves
surfers in wet suits compete
catch wave or wipe out
mist clouds
rise as waves surge against cliffs
salt spray drenches rocks
© Lynn Wielenga (2021)
Link to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai “troiku” challenge to take each line of original haiku and begin a new haiku.
ponderous currents
27 Jan 2021 12 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: dementia
what do you do
when your parent
becomes your child?
when they’re lost in old
memories and cannot
find their way back to
reality’s present?
how do you map a mind
with its labyrinth of neural
pathways meandering
like tributaries of wild
untame-able river?
My father is suffering from dementia following Covid isolation and oxygen deprivation.
writer’s blockhead
12 Jan 2021 8 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: class, quadrille, questions, writer's block
am i real writer or
perhaps dreamy dabbler?
skilled smithy of words or
unintelligible babbler?
can i complete homework
by end of the week?
my pen, now tongue-tied, can hardly speak!
when i begin online writing class
such baffling questions i myself ask!
