posting poetic prose
06 Mar 2020 2 Comments
in poem for children, rhyming verse Tags: arboretum, cotton candy, dandelion, moon, summer, wisteria
what the world needs?
ask any child and they’ll say:
swimming pool in my backyard
or smiling dandelion bouquet!
turn world into arboretum
smell the wonderful wisteria
pass around free cotton candy
play in full moon lit mysteria
please rub on that gold genie lamp
and send us all to summer camp!
Linking to Linda’s paint chip poetry prompt here…
04 Mar 2020 9 Comments
baby boy
bouncy baby boy
beautiful bouncy baby boy
big beautiful bouncy baby boy
brother to four
older sister-mothers
who coo when you cry,
“you know that we love you!”
breast-fed and chubby
with soft rolls of charm
your smiling blue eyes
and adorable dimples
grandma’s ticklish touch
triggers wiggly giggles
you’re round and delightful,
sweet-cheeked apple of my eye!
02 Mar 2020 18 Comments
in haibun Tags: biosphere, C.S. Lewis, Mars, science fiction, volcano, war
Linking this haibun to dVerse Poets pub where Frank Tassone is our host…
Mars, that ready, ruddy, rusty, dusty planet hangs between Earth and Jupiter; named for the Roman god of War. We contemplate his heavenly body in the mighty month of March: muscular, iron clad, and vengeful. Is not war an erupting march to madness, leaving black death and blood-stained pockmarks in its wake?!
Violent dust storms, extreme seasons, and an atmosphere of carbon dioxide make Mars inhospitable yet aerospace scientists dream of manned flights to the fourth planet. My sons participated in a Mars project where 6th graders designed a biosphere for future immigrants. We once visited an abandoned biosphere in Arizona where personnel’s’ personal relationships were the demise of the mission.
Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles and C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy put science fiction on the cultural map, stretching literary minds and stirring curiosity in our celestial, terrestrial neighbor beyond our moon. In Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet, Oyarsa, the ruling power of Malacandra (a.k.a. Mars), declares,
”The weakest of my people does not fear death. It is the Bent One, the lord of your world, who wastes your lives and befouls them with flying from what you know will overtake you in the end. If you were subjects of Maleldil [God of Malacandra] you would have peace.”
mars’ olympus mons;
civilization’s high peak–
active volcano?
image courtesy of NASA
27 Feb 2020 5 Comments
we’re passing shadows
from dust to dust again;
Jim’s baptism~memorial
marked in same church.
his body now laid to rest
soul released into glory;
farmer planted in the soil
harvest is brought home.
casket bouquet features
corn, fishing pole, tractor;
children, grands & greats,
fruit of faithful marriage.
he outlived son & one lung,
now breathes heaven’s air;
entered the land of living…
those left behind will come
26 Feb 2020 Leave a comment
fallen…in rebellion
we are but broken twigs
fuel for feeding the fire;
ephemoral ash and smoke
all black-tarred with sticky guilt
destined for eternal combustion
in hot flames of the Almighty’s
justifiable wrath; pure holiness
cannot ignore injustice and
violence interminably nor can
Love itself tolerate ingrates’ hate.
his heart weeps as he sweeps
the good earth clean again in
a purifying inferno.
__________
forgiven…lifted up
by Grace we learn to
see our true selves as
repentant and redeemed;
washed joyous clean again
in the blood of the Son’s one
done sacrifice; destined for
eternal restored relationship
with our Creator/Father
who in open-armed mercy
accepts us in Agape love itself
which transforms our earthly
mirror images to reflect light
of perfecting peace.
25 Feb 2020 25 Comments
in story Tags: business, coffee shop, grocery store, haircuts, small town, women
two mature women,
we follow each other
around our small town
from pharmacy to the
grocery store; probably
visited same hair stylist
(who is also my niece)
by shape of our haircuts
smile, exchange names
by parked grocery carts
mourn recent loss of
local coffee shop which
offered espresso, lattes,
(and favorite chai tea)
along with scones, tarts,
and crusty baguettes.
why couldn’t our town
sustain the business?
would anyone start it
again (sans machines,
a larger investment)?
we need a place like it
although obviously we
didn’t patronize enough
better than starbucks,
unique small town shop
with drive-up window
and friendliest service
has me contemplating
the reason for reading
(or even for writing) a
daily poem, served hot.
Borrowed line from L.L. Barkat: “contemplating the reason for reading a daily poem” for Poems from the Coffee Shop prompt at Tweetspeak Poetry. Also linking with dVerse Poets where Merril prompts us to write about “impermanence”.
24 Feb 2020 6 Comments
in haiku Tags: barn, bold, brave, freedom, kitten
brave little kitten
strong paws climb to freedom’s heights
bold-striped liberty
Linking to “kittens” prompt at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai…
24 Feb 2020 6 Comments
in quadrille Tags: apple, onion, peelings, potato, song, teardrops
peelings, nothing more than peelings
trying to remember apple peelings of life
teardrops rolling down on my cheeks
trying to forget onion peelings in sink…
woo-oo, peel potato in my hands
slip like never lost u
slide like never leave u
again in garden…
My apologies to songwriter Morris Albert who wrote 1975 hit, “Feelings”. I’m linking this to dVerse quadrille prompt on “peelings” 🙂
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
17 Feb 2020 24 Comments
in prosery Tags: bonding, calf, cow, head, kick, post-partum, rope
We were dressed, ready to leave for worship when farmer husband heard bellowing. He backed pick-up to check inside shed. A new calf had arrived but mama was upset and attacking it. “You go on to church,” he told us, taking off his good coat.
She was a first-time mother; nervous and skittish post-partum. She circled stall wild-eyed. He put cow in head gate so calf could safely nurse and drink the vital colostrum. Even after hobbling cow’s back legs so she couldn’t kick and tying her head with short rope so she couldn’t box, she wasn’t bonding with calf.
I sternly lectured cow about her important role as mother. I spoke gently to baby, petting him in view of mama. We decided to try putting them together. There are moments caught between heartbeats…mama sniffed, then licked her baby.
Prosery is a short story (exactly 144 words). It includes a line from another author’s poem; in this case the poem, Coda, by MacNeice. Part flash fiction but based on a real experience 🙂 Kim is hosting at dVerse Poets pub today.
16 Feb 2020 4 Comments
in american sentence, haiku, tanka Tags: birthday, cake, chocolate, love, mama, roses, valentine
Linking to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai in the month of love…
be my valentine
red roses, dark chocolates
bake a heart-shaped cake
mama and i shared birthday
brief time to celebrate love
❤ ❤ ❤
If someone gives you their heart, you can’t give it back without breaking it.
❤ ❤ ❤
heart broken open…
perhaps that lets the love out
to spill on others?
13 Feb 2020 1 Comment
in tan renga Tags: chrysanthemum, flower, light, moon, snow
Winter chrysanthemum,
Wearing nothing
but its own light
bright orb illuminates snow
february’s super moon
Linking this tan renga response to beautiful haiku at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai
a poem in my pocket 
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