posting poetic prose
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.
25 Jan 2022 31 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: cancer, death, friend
“After last night’s storm the tulip petals are strewn across the patio where they mortally fluttered.”– from Church, a poem by Jim Harrison
She lost her best friend…
husband and loyal confidant,
devoted father, avid fisherman;
a man for his time and beyond
who served country, church
and community well. He bloomed.
Did he enjoy flowers? He receives
them now with thin-petaled eyes
closed, smile line of lips stilled,
silent as the cancer that spread.
Like delicate flowers, we too are
seeded, planted, nurtured, watered,
weeded, sometimes uprooted, and
lovingly tended to our fragile end…
when God plucks and gathers us
into his eternally beautiful bouquet.
Thanks to Linda Lee Lyberg for dVerse poets prompt to write inspired by line from Jim Harrison’s poetry. Written in memory of Norm De Boom…for Sherry.
26 Dec 2021 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: death, fear, psalm, sin, wisdom
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
note gray hairs
another wrinkle
an ache in bones
or problems with
private plumbing
forget a name or
why (oh why?) you
came into the room
then go back again
to seek missing key
the key to wisdom:
remember you die
but why (oh why)?
death comes by sin
it’s without & within
fear of death and
God’s wrath; we
deserve both yet
He bore worst of
both for you, me
believe in Son
sent from the One
in whom justice
and mercy meet;
our Father & home
Inspired by sermon on Psalm 90 today by Pastor John Lee.
06 May 2021 19 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: choice, death, life, palinode
I.
embrace death
it is everyone’s end
accept the coldness
into your spirit well
before it strikes you
down, go down to it
II.
choose life
to live every day
accept what it gives
with an open spirit
don’t let life slip away
step up, live up to it
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” –Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV
Palinode poem where first verse is refuted by second…link to dVerse poetics with Grace hosting today.
03 May 2021 31 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: death, hospice, pastor, quadrillle, seed
The day my father died,
warm body barely cooled,
Holy Spirit nudged pastor
to visit; he offered prayer
as hearse driver waited.
We circled to hold hands
with hospice social worker,
asking God for His peace.
Pastor said, “Death is
like planting a seed…”
Linking to dVerse poets invited to write quadrille (44 words) on “seed” theme.
04 Jun 2020 19 Comments
in rhyming verse, tercet Tags: breath, death, dignity, justice, violence, virus
twenty-twenty’s canceled year
contagious virus threatens death
people hiding at home in fear
victim fights for final breath
under law officer’s cruel knee
“racism!” claimed as shibboleth
martyr suspect held up to be
reason for more murder and mayhem
lady justice still cries to be free
every violence we must condemn
learn to listen before we speak
protect dignity of all shades of men
____________________________________________________
Frank challenges us to write verse in triplets (tercets) at dVerse today. I used ABA BCB CDC rhyme scheme for my current events poem. Pray for America!
08 Nov 2019 6 Comments
in free verse, question poem Tags: black, cat, death, ignorance, shadows, truck
searching for any witnesses,
he questioned as if suspect:
“where were you?” he probed
“in my room,” a shocked reply
(nowhere near bloodied body)
at least, victim didn’t feel much,
unexpected and instantaneous.
trucker on road never slowed,
could not see in night’s blackness
didn’t notice impact, drove on.
circles under eyes mark grief
remembered as good mother;
affectionate, gave warm gifts.
she’d lived life until the ninth
when bad luck found black cat.
how often we commit dark deeds;
does ignorance prove innocence?
Linking to dVerse poets. This “mystery” poem fits previous prompt (shades of black) and current prompt (changing perspective). Written in third person about our barn cat found on the road but also thinking of a former acquaintance who was struck by a truck and killed. It’s always sad when animals die but how much more a human being?!
05 Aug 2019 2 Comments
in haibun, question poem, Uncategorized Tags: abortion, culture, death, hate, violence
Awful week of three senseless public shootings by U.S. citizens at garlic festival in Gilroy CA, Walmart shopping center in El Paso TX, and popular nightclub neighborhood in Dayton OH.
We wonder why domestic terrorists perpetrate violence against unsuspecting victims? Why should innocent people die while enjoying their life? Why is our society spiraling down into a culture of hate and mayhem?
Why is it legal for mothers (whose nature is nurture) to pay doctors (whose profession is healing) to dismember their preborn infants? Why do fathers abandon or abuse their own children after conceiving them? Why do we insist our lives are superior and consider other lives expendable? Why not choose to love and protect one another, starting with our family?
Perhaps there is some connection here, an unnatural progression from selfishness, disrespect, broken relationships and alienation into a macabre culture of death. The shooters are guilty of crimes against humanity but we are all culpable.
killing on home turf
abortion births death culture
all victims bleed red
28 May 2019 6 Comments
in haibun Tags: babies, death, family, grief, journey, mourning, sorrow, tears, why
We lament with this family suffering awe-ful grief. Beloved infants lost at 26 weeks gestation; twin grandbabies happily anticipated. Expectant mother, more than halfway through pregnancy, heard heartbeats and viewed ultrasounds but no more… no more expectations, no more movement, no more fast swooshing of babies’ hearts beating their distinct rhythms. Only mother’s lonely heart beats now, heavy with slow sorrow.
The relentless spring rains mirror this drowning grief. Tears falling in torrents, flooded emotions. Erosion of the soul. What kind of broken world is this, where little lives can be cut short by the cord that was their lifeline? We may ask “why?” yet not receive an acceptable answer to the anguished questions. We have only our faith in God himself to cling to. Lord, have mercy on your children. As we remember precious twins taken; remember us too, for we are dust.
grief’s painful journey
rosebuds fade…family mourns
inadequate words
03 Apr 2019 12 Comments
in cascade Tags: blood, breath, cross, death, firstborn, forsaken, son, tomb, wood
firstborn son cruelly beaten
pierced, hung on rough cross
dark blood trickles down wood
utterly forsaken by God
cries out in deep agony
firstborn son cruelly beaten
releases his final breath
pagan soldiers insure death
pierced, hung on rough cross
bruised body claimed, wrapped
gently laid in bare, stony tomb
dark blood trickles down wood
Requiem written in cascade form…linking with Amaya’s prompt at dVerse.
06 Mar 2019 19 Comments
in free verse, scripture Tags: breath, death, Ecclesiastes, life, preacher, vanity, world
Join dVerse Poets where Lillian quotes Eccles. 3: 1-8, a time for everything.
“all is vanity,” says the preacher
life’s breath ~ “chasing after wind”
somewhere in the weary world
newborn baby first sucks in air
toddler tosses pebbles into pond
young girl twirls a wedding dance
farmer plants seed in hope of harvest
lovers laugh to embrace ~ weep, to not
developer digs dirt in hope of homes
man grieves loss of beloved wife
old woman stacks stones on beach
dying man expires with final sigh
somewhere in the weary world
“all is vanity,” says the preacher
life’s breath ~ “chasing after wind”
17 Feb 2019 2 Comments
in tanka Tags: coyote, death, howl, prey, rabbit, scent, snow
shadowed rabbit tracks
blue moon illuminates snow
coyote’s eerie howl
keen nose follows scent of prey
end is mercifully swift
Chèvrefeuille at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai invites us to find a haiku from our archives and re-write it. I decided to post a haiku I submitted to a poetry contest last year…and make it a tanka. Death is part of life in our natural world.
a poem in my pocket 
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