Poetry Matters

Drawing Inspiration From Art

2012-05-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

For Poetry Jam

Inventor, artist, scientist, engineer, sculptor, anatomist, biologist, musician, architect, philosopher...
Leonardo da Vinci was all of these things and more.

Dissector of the human body

A Renaissance man

Understanding human form as no other

Sketching in three dimensions

Inventing new vocabulary

Imagination gone wild

Flying machines, revolving bridges

Scuba gear, giant crossbows

The brilliant work of a genius

Mankind the beneficiary

For Tess and Magpie Tales

2012-05-26T08:58:00.010-07:00

For Magpie Tales

The East. The eastern front door direction is also good for young people, especially those starting a career and willing to make their dreams come true. This is a favorable house front door direction for

businesspeople and entrepreneurs.

The West. Such a front door is the best for families with small children. The entrance door’s Feng Shui will help the kids to grow and develop well. This direction is also related to romantic feelings and pleasure.

House At Dusk ~ Edward Hopper, 1935

Sun sets in the West
Front door appears to face East
Is this good Feng Shui

I enjoy the weekly Magpie Tales challenge .. make every attempt not to miss one
~ 119 visual prompts ~
I missed a few during the first weeks of the challenge ..

( Playing catch up today )

Magpie #1

Sitting on the shelf
Gathering dust, what a shame
Put me to good use

Magpie #2

It has been too long
Meet me in Slovakia
I'll wait for you here

Magpie #3

Kilograms to pounds
Conversion calculations
It's all Greek to me

Magpie #4

Poaching on the rise
Ivory is coveted
Humans are so vain

Magpie #5

Painful arthritis
Joints feeling disconnected
Shaking hands is hard

Magpie #6

Excruciating
Scraping nails on a chalkboard
Making me shudder

Magpie #7

A yellow jonquil
Peeking up from wintry soil
Spring, glorious spring

Magpie #9

Pointed, flat or slant
How we wear down tubes
Says much about us

He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother

2012-05-22T20:44:00.001-07:00

For Poetry Jam

Write about a time when someone close to you was bullied ...

Carl, Me, Louis, Elizabeth, Christopher ~ 1975

In their 40s / 50s ~ I'm still hearing the stories

My Brother's Keeper

Yes, there were times

They caught him alone

No brother or sister around

To run interference

To shield him

From the laughing

From the pointing

From the bullying

But those times were

Few and far between

Kids knew not to mess

With this boy

His siblings simply

Would not tolerate it

Magpie 118

2012-05-20T10:55:00.003-07:00

Many readers ~ although they know that they cannot trust the tabloids for their objectivity ~ nevertheless like them. That is why they do such a great business.

Marc Chagall
1967 ~ The Circus With The Yellow Clown

Star power

movie stars and athletes

well aware exposure is the key

creating in us the desire

to crave more, know more ..

a ruthless industry willing and able

to ferret out the most salacious and revealing,

damage control way beyond reach ..

star power ~ it's contagious

whatever the cost, send in the tabloids

make clowns of us all

Tetractys In The Garden

2012-05-19T17:31:00.005-07:00

For Imaginary Garden

Tetractys ~ the challenge is to express a complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise, within the narrow compass of twenty syllables per stanza ~ 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 ~ in reverse for multiple stanzas.

Google Image

No More A Victim

Screw

It all

Had enough

Never going

To allow you to hit me, abuse me!

I am out of here, going far away

You won’t find me

Missing you ..

I hate

You!

Way

Too late

I knew you

Needed fixing

Seek help .. for your sake try to get healthy!

(it's not about me)

Queensland Rainforest

2012-05-16T13:25:00.008-07:00

Surrounded by the World Heritage Rainforest, the picturesque mountain retreat of Kuranda lies just 15.5 miles northwest of Cairns in North Queensland, Australia. In 1985 I rode the Kuranda Railway from Cairns ~ through 15 tunnels, around 98 curves, over 40 bridges ~ to spend three days in one of the most fascinating places on Earth.

Kuranda Scenic Railway ~ ready to ride

October, 1985

Rainforest Wonderland

The rainforest beckons and I follow

Dreaming of Kuranda Village ..

I walk under a lush canopy of green

Through wild orchids and strangler figs ..

I giggle at monkeys and tree frogs

Wallabies and toucans ..

Sights and sounds more wondrous

Than one can imagine ..

Please do not awaken me

I want to linger in this wonderland forever

Magpie 117

2012-05-13T09:49:00.002-07:00

The Meal ~ Paul Gauguin 1891

Mother's Day is a celebration that honors mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.
It is celebrated on various days in many countries and cultures .. dates chosen to fit already existing celebrations honoring motherhood.

May 13 ~ Around The World

Anguilla Aruba Australia Austria Bahamas Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Bermuda Bonaire Botswana Brazil Brunei	Canada Cambodia Chile People's Republic of China Colombia Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark	Dominica Ecuador Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland Germany Gold Coast Greece Grenada Guyana Honduras Hong Kong Iceland India	Italy Jamaica Japan Latvia Liechtenstein Macao Malaysia Malta Burma Netherlands New Zealand Pakistan Papua New Guinea Peru	Philippines Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia South Africa Sri Lanka Suriname	Switzerland Taiwan Tanganyika Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Uganda Ukraine United States Uruguay Vietnam Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe

No matter the date
Celebrating motherhood
Is what matters most

War Is Hell

2012-05-11T13:33:00.003-07:00

Google Image

Death, around them in every form

Emotions run rampant

Attempting indifference

They must set aside their feelings

Go about the business of putting bodies back together

Broken bodies with gaping wounds, turgid limbs

They’ve been taught how to manage this

Accepting some will live, others not

Physical wounds will heal

Emotional wounds will linger

Jammy Idioms

2012-05-09T11:09:00.004-07:00

Image from Google

Like the blind leading the blind

I beat around the bush

Feeling down in the dumps

Falling through all the cracks

As I drag my feet

In way over my head

Feeling under the weather

Wet behind the ears

Rubbing folks the wrong way

I continue to bang my head against a brick wall

Please take me under your wing

I’m not ready to throw in the towel

Or jump the gun

Life is truly just a bowl of cherries

It’s as easy as pie ~ to live and let live

Cruising Down The River

2012-05-07T11:21:00.004-07:00

River Irwell ~ Image, R.A.D. Stainforth

Mississippi River ~ SS Admiral

Grande Dame of the Mississippi

We sailed her often, sailed her well

Girls, not women ~ dancing our afternoons away

On a polished wooden floor
Flirting with oh-so-handsome musicians

Certain we were ‘hot stuff’

Primping in powder rooms

With peachy-pink mirrors
Iridescent stars stenciled on the ceilings

'Rosy-glow' reflections smiling back at us

Nothing left to chance

Mr. Stainforth's River Irwell reminded me of summers in the 50s ~ sailing the
SS Admiral .. an excursion steamboat operating on the Mississippi River from the Port of St. Louis, Missouri. The massive boat, longer than an average city block, was planned from stern to bow, inside and out, by dainty Miss Mazie Krebs, a fashion illustrator for St. Louis department store, Famous-Barr.
It was a man's job for a girl!

Music ~ A Way Of Life

2012-05-04T13:25:00.006-07:00

1942

1939 1955

Trumpet, piano, saxophone, a saw

Instinctive talent, natural .. raw

Spoons, piano, harmonica, drums

Accordion, banjo .. I watch as he strums

Perfect pitch, he plays by ear

I learn at his feet .. repeat what I hear

Osmosis, genetics, I’m incredibly blessed

Evidence of his genius .. in peace may he rest

** Today is the anniversary of my father's death in 1958 ~ a natural talent when it came to music! Though he could play any instrument placed in his hands ~ he could not master my flute!

Roadie ~ For The Toads

2012-05-02T22:32:00.004-07:00

This chick was

Born to run

Follow the Boss

Rumble down Thunder Road

A twisted road leading

Nowhere .. leading everywhere

This chick felt at

Home on the road

Following Bruce

Believing her life authentic

Amidst rock gods

Screaming .. adoring fans

This chick was

Born in the USA

Singing and dancing

Down the yellow brick road

Until life and reality

Finally caught up with her

The simple and functional road has long made its imaginative mark on the human psyche. Perhaps it is because we like to live in the future context of our own lives: the possible outcomes which are yet to present themselves .. write about roads!

(I have a bit of a Springsteen fantasy going on here)

Everybody's Talkin'

2012-05-02T11:45:00.003-07:00

Everybody's Talkin'

Harry Nilsson ~ Featured in the film 'Midnight Cowboy'

Everybody knows

Jabberwocky makes no sense at all

Talkin' at me

Talkin' 'bout me

Talkin' through me

Just shut up

Everybody knows

I have selective hearing

Shoutin’ won’t work

Insults don’t work

Lyin’ can’t work

Just shut up

Everybody knows

I need to move on

Magpie 115

2012-04-29T11:35:00.005-07:00

Image ~ Manu Pombrol

"Everything started to make sense. I found out (a little bit late) that photography was the perfect tool to show what was in my mind. I was seduced by the insane idea of mixing reality and surrealism, trying to create my own art language." Manu Pombrol

Immersion Therapy

Submerged in a 2004

Domaine de Belliviere Jasnieres Les Rosiers

He relaxes with a good book

Vinotherapy well underway ..

Grape extracts soothe his skin

Antioxidants slow the aging process

Troubles simply float away

Vessel less than half full ..

What you don’t see

Is the straw through which he sips

Vampire Lugosi

2012-04-28T14:35:00.006-07:00

V oluptuous perfection .. he watches

A s she sleeps .. dreaming of

M ansions and ball gowns .. he has

P lotted the next move .. plunging fangs

I nto her soft white neck .. his pulse

R aces .. an erection he cannot control

E very fiber of his being .. on fire

S leep my beauty .. sleep

I'll Drink To That

2012-04-27T11:17:00.002-07:00

Alphonse Mucha ~ Art Nouveau

I’m no beer snob

No siree

Dark beer, light beer

It’s for me

Sudsy, malty

Heavy, light

Earthy, creamy

All just right

Weekend’s here

We’re off the clock

Cheers to us

Tick tock, tick tock

Lusty, bawdy

I’m such a tease

Pour me another

Will you please

Poetry Jam ~ History

2012-04-25T13:13:00.004-07:00

'La Traviata ' ~~ One who goes astray
Artwork ~ Elizabeth E. Schuch

Innocence is lost

They say she has ‘history’

If you get my drift

Magpie 114

2012-04-24T08:42:00.010-07:00

Photographic Image: Alex Stoddard

Transparency

World falling apart
Honesty an illusion
I see right through you

Nineteen On The 19th!

2012-04-19T01:48:00.001-07:00

Jennifer

I met her within minutes

Right after her birth

My heart was so full

I thought it might burst

Ferocious love, gentle love

For this copper-topped child

A granddaughter to dote on

A gift from above

To Jenn I am Woonie

A constant in life

Through good times

And sad times

Through happiness

And strife

I watch as she navigates

Each high and each low

Our Jenn is a strong one

This truth we do know

Happy birthday dear Jenn

May your day be the best

Be joyful .. laugh deeply

Forever be blessed

Magpie 113

2012-04-15T15:27:00.005-07:00

Marc Chagall ~ Red Roofs ~ 1954

"My hands were too soft.. I had to find some special occupation, some kind of work that would not force me to turn away from the sky and the stars, that would allow me to discover the meaning of life." Marc Chagall

Will he love me ~ or love me not

Man in the moon

Remains speechless ..

Diminutive Jesus knows,

I pay him no heed, so far away ..

You lay flowers at my feet

While dreaming of unsullied virgins ..

I bathe myself in red, the color of sin

Shield my head and gaze into the apple

Will he love me ~ or love me not

Poetry Jam ~ Mystery

2012-04-12T21:51:00.004-07:00

Running, dancing, bending, kicking

Skeletons ~ Posers all ..
Mystifying structures

Bones alive with nerves, blood vessels

Muscles attached ..

Like strings pulling

Puppets through space

Haiku Wednesday ~ Car Talk

2012-04-11T08:24:00.006-07:00

Got my eye on you

The day ‘old Cabrio’ dies

I'm heading your way

I will be sad to see 'old Cabrio' go, I've driven her since September 2000!

Little 'Mini Cooper' makes me happy whenever I see her!

Magpie 112 ~ Incredible Edible

2012-04-08T09:53:00.005-07:00

Egg Island ~ djajakarta

"Go out to the chicken house. Any eggs that say, ‘Take me,’ you go ahead and take. But if you hear any say, ‘Don’t take me,’ you leave them be."
The Talking Eggs, Robert D. San Souci

Incredible, edible egg

Into the frying pan

Into the fire

We cover our eyes

Protect our thin shells

We scream and we point

You! You! You!

Now a topper for toast!

Survivors all ...

Until tomorrow morning

Poetry Jam ~ Tools

2012-04-04T13:19:00.003-07:00

At the tender age of four

I wore designer dresses ..

Though that concept eluded me

Haute couture not in my vocabulary

From feed sacks and remnants

My frocks were fairy tale creations ..

Fashioned by my mother

One of a kind, custom, unique

Nary a pattern or dress form ..

A simple sewing machine and measuring tape

Hand made appliqué and smocking

Ruffles, buttons and lacy trims

At the grown-up age of fourteen ..

I sketched my own designs

Flat images drawn on typing paper

Transformed .. as though she used a magic wand

I was raised in a house of fashion

Where hand made and custom designed

Were synonymous ..

The envy of my peers ~ always in vogue

Magpie 111 ~ I'm Home!!

2012-04-01T10:46:00.004-07:00

For Magpie Tales

ParkeHarrison ~ Study of Nest ~ 1994

"Most of the time these kids lose their jobs it's not their fault -- it's layoffs or downsizing."

Wall Street Journal

Wall Street chewed him up

Took what they needed from him

And then spit him out

Mom, Dad .. I’ve come home

Just like you always taught me

Shoes off at front door

I won’t stay too long

Won’t be a problem promise

To obey house rules

In our golden years

Empty nest felt mighty good

A sign of the times

Kids returning home

Generational living

They might care for us

His refuge his nest

Until he’s back on his feet

Standing on firm ground