A Wee Bit of Advice

 ~ For Friday Writings Magaly has us considering the juxtaposition between despair and delight ~ 

Good Afternoon, my friends. Take a step outside to breathe in that fresh air, sit yourself down for a moment of peace and quiet ~ enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, a glass of lemonade, wine ~ or a stiff belt of something stronger if you so desire. 

NOW turn “them” off. I'll wait. Just turn them OFF! OK? Better? Turn off the scrolling doom, the flashing alerts, and the weight of a world that feels constantly broken. We need moments like these, to resettle ourselves, to turn off the crazy noise.

Breathe in, breathe out, you'll know when the volume, the incessant shouting, has diminished. Now close your eyes, open them to look at something that gives you joy, peace and comfort ~ maybe your garden, your child, your pet.

Simply BE for a moment. IN the moment. You may learn that between despair and delight lives afternoon delight! 

I Promise.

---

The Dark Side

Time for a 44-word Quadrille in the dVerse poets Pub ~  WhimsyGizmo  [ aka De ] is hosting ] The magic word today is JUMP or some form of the word jump. 

problem is

they suck kids in

with tantalizing images of 

bad boys

naughty girls

cigs dangling

 from pouty moistened lips

~ come on, kids ~

jump on board the bandwagon

cigs for a boost

cigs to lose weight

cigs to look cool

~ teach your children well ~

Remembering Sally ~~~

 

 

She formed words

in her mind

brilliant, succinct

words she could not speak 

mind intact, body failing

motor neurons misfiring

muscles wasting

bone density lost 

like iron converting to rust 

there was no way out

 

no happy ending

disintegration unstoppable

ALS ~ a cruel, merciless disease

Wildfire

 Merril is hosting Poetics in the dVerse Poets Pub today ~ Butterflies are on her mind ~ and on ours as well. Words in color are butterfly names. 

the sky has forgotten how to be blue

it hangs above Oregon like a grief

too heavy to name

its lungs full of ash

its heart beating in a frantic rhythm

forests collapsing into themselves

a cathedral of green

becoming a barrage of cinders

birdsong folded into silence

we search for something alive

LOOK ! butterflies

clouded yellow finding nectar 

in flowers that insist on returning

orange sulphur lifting from fresh

clover like a small declaration

mourning cloak no longer mourning

but bearing witness

we cannot unburn the forests

but we can plant, rebuild porches

trails, homes and trust 

we can plant one sapling beside another

one kindness next to another

until the land remembers itself

and perhaps the butterflies

[ who have always known 

how impossible transformations begin ]

will find us there

Call It What It Is ~ "A Potpourri"

 Time for Poetics in the Pub ~ Kim is our host and shares Rupert Brooke's poem "The Great Lover" 

Our challenge: create a "list poem" of times and things we've loved in our lives, that are precious. Poems must begin with 'these I have loved' and end with 'all these have been my loves'

these i have loved ~ 

The presence and energy of my precious children and grandchildren ~ of my  extended family  

 

Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumlebee' ~

how it challenged that flautist ~ twelve-year old me 

'I Will Survive' ~ how karaoke and laughter got me through a few of the hard times 

Train from London to Wimbledon, off-season ~

a groundsman allowed me to walk onto Centre Court 

~ managed with a wee bit of flattery and flirting

 

Concerts ~ Pavaroti, Springsteen, Brandi, Eagles, Stones, Garth, Tina, Keith, Jackson, Prince, Carrie Rod, Frampton, Neil, Jackson ~ and on and and on 

Sunrise in Sedona, sunset in Cairns 

Gaudi in Barcelona, caprese & wine in Tuscany

 

Boarding a train, ship, hot air balloon, plane ~ landing in a foreign country ~ never knowing what lay ahead

Thunderstorms, the bigger the better ~ the aftermath splashing in puddles ~ freshness of the air

More than a few good men

Playing tennis from dusk to dawn ~ sunning topless on Seven Mile Beach in Negril ~ what a feeling

How Abba's "The Winner Takes It All" always made me feel invincible

All these have been my loves!

And Away They Go!

 It's Prosery Monday in the Pub ~ Merril is hosting and asks we use a line from Arthur Sze's poem Jaguar Song in a prose piece no longer than 144 words..

"I am the creature who smells your darkest thoughts”

A white Jaguar and a black Jaguar roared into Helen's driveway like two overconfident bachelors crashing a posh cocktail party. They began to preen shamelessly. White Knight purred “Darling Helen, observe my flawless six-pack.” Black Beauty revved “please, I am the creature who smells your darkest thoughts.” Helen looking elegant as ever, raised an eyebrow obviously interested. Six-pack Whitey flashed its headlights winking seductively at her. Blackie leaned in close vying for her undivided attention, both engines humming with hope.“You know boys I'm only making a supermarket run this evening.”

Both Jags deflated, indignantly they sputtered “Helen, you must know supermarkets are SO beneath our status in the automotive realm!” “Wait ~ White Knight offered “I've always believed groceries are the cornerstone of a balanced motoring lifestyle ~ does the supermarket have speedbumps?” Dark thoughts & Black Knight  never had a chance.

Puff Puff

Time for a 44-Word Quadrille ~ Lisa is hosting, the magic word is "PUFF"

slow press

with heavy sigh

velvet puffs

fill hollow sky

shells resist

yet take in more

standing in rows

slick, swollen, undone

shameful dozen

shimmering in the sun

one final dusting

like a lover's breath

before sweet bite that

puts them all to death

Are We Ever Too Old??

For Poets and Storytellers

Friday Writings

(me .. a while back)

when c.s. lewis whispers

"you are never too old to set

another goal or to dream

a new dream"

i nod ~ stretch my hips

and start planning 

something outrageous ..

a designer wardrobe ~ a brand new city

a new love ~ maybe

[ if he's got good hearing,

can dance and carry a tune ]

after all it feels like i'm 

just getting warmed up!

 

~~ A HUGE IF~~

 For Poets and Storytellers

Friday Writings ~~ Hammer / Teeth / Blooms

photo ~ Lori Crawford

if i held a hammer

i would not raise it for war

but strike a steady rhythm

on the door of every heart

i would use my teeth, voice, mouth

to bite through the overwhelming silence

speak whenever weary souls are forgotten

smile broadly when morning returns

if i carried blooms

i would scatter them 'cross barren fields

not as trophies of victory

but as promises planted in our soil 

Scarlet Fever

Time for Poetics in the dVerse Poets Pub ~ Lillian is hosting ~ she asks us to bring our crayons, its' time to color poetry!!! Found my box of 64, reworked an oldie.

Christopher Shay ~  Red Umbrella

midnight in Bangkok

behind a camouflaged door 

where deals are done 

bargains struck, goods exchanged 

head down, shoulders hunched, walk away

with your precious stash of hash 

tucked inside that tiny scarlet bag

 smoke it, blow it, get on with it, it's your life

but you will need that lovely red umbrella

 

for all the rainy nights in Bangkok

Poof ~ Gone

Time to dance the Quadrille with the folks enjoying the evening in the dVerse Poets Pub ~ De is hosting ~ the magic word is "myth"

 you seek a mortal form

yet find fresh air

sweet fleeting myth that lingers everywhere

i walk as whispers thru ancient trees

a phantom traced in starlight 

and in a breeze i never lived

yet somehow i remain

your perfumed dream

dissolving in the rain

This Would Be Me

 Melissa is hosting Poetics in the dVerse Poets Pub ~ our poetic challenge ~ the ‘unpunctuated’ poem.

while others dive 

beneath blankets

counting seconds between 

flash and boom

i fling open 

the curtains

hostess with the 

mostest

thunder arrives wearing 

muddy boots

lightning shows off like 

my cocky cousin at a reunion

and i sit there grinning

the neighborhood oddity 

with weather in her heart

it's called ceraunophilia

which sounds suspiciously 

like a tropical disease

but it simply means

when the sky throws 

a tantrum

i feel strangely at home

in my element

And So It Was

Time for Meeting the Bar in the dVerse Poets Pub ~ Laura requests we choose a line from Dylan Thomas, compose an acrostic using each of the words ~ let our imaginations wander. During a family reunion years ago many stories of my maternal grandparents were shared ~ my acrostic is imaginary and only hope it would ring true if they could read it.

I chose a line from one of my Dylan Thomas favorites "The Fern"

"In the sun that is young once only"

Wikipedia

IN

the first wild summer of your kiss

i believed the moon itself leaned close to listen

certain youth would never fade

THE

roses climbed our windows without shame

sweet crimson mouths opening as we laughed

while time stood barefoot in the garden

SUN

poured gold upon your hair

love burned quick as butterflies took  flight

beautiful because they could not stay

THAT 

autumn found us quiet

holding hands through storms 

learning devotion has a steady flame

IS

it not strange how young love dazzles the eye

yet older love becomes the hearth itself

the place weary souls return to warm their hands

YOUNG

our promises beneath trembling stars

age taught us the truer vow

to remain when beauty alters its face

ONCE

i feared the silver in your hair

until i saw how tenderly the years

had etched mercy into your smile

ONLY 

now do i understand romance

not the swift fire but the glowing ember

that survives the longest winter .. and still gives light

LET THEM ~ LET ME

Mish is tending bar today in the dVerse Poets Pub ~ Her inspiration? Mel Robbins and the philosophy she follows! 

it took me forty years

to stop rearranging my soul

to make other people comfortable

years of ironing opinions flat

serving apologies warm

nodding at nonsense

i spent too many years

trying to earn gold stars from folks

who could not find their own joy

and then somewhere between

reading glasses and forgetting

why I walked into the kitchen

i discovered the holiest phrase

gifted to women

"let them"

let them whisper

let them think i may laugh too hard that

i'm too old for bright colors, bold patterns

here i stand wrinkled, wiser

harder to shame

easier to delight

let them misunderstand me

underestimate me

roll their eyes

i am unapologetically myself

after so many years

"let them"

Something About This Tree

 

For Friday Writings ~ Poets and Storytellers United

Ghost Tree

in my imagination

 

it has leaves

alive

in my reality

its beauty astounds

something magical about a ghost

On Mother's Day my Family and I celebrated with a late lunch at a restaurant with a great outdoor eating space. Right next to our table was a large tree that looked "dead" to me. It was explained they are called Ghost Trees and used frequently to enhance landscapes. Literally moved from wherever they are, transported to their new homes. Roots secured within a concrete base deep into the ground. This tree was simply beautiful and silly me didn't take a photo. Which meant a return for more of their tasty food! Which I did.

Hot Time in 'Chi-Town'

 

De reminds us it's time for Quadrilles in the dVerse Poets Pub ~  Inspiration?  “This One’s Gone to the Dogs”.

I'm snowbound in Terminal Three

with canceled flights trapping poor me

this blizzard roars loud thru the night

while the crowd grows surly, (might fight ?) 

... and a Hot Dog keeps calling to me

they're always quite messy to eat 

this gastronomic treat can't be beat 

when O'Hare shuts the whole world away

those hot dogs will rescue the day

** first comes the "dog" in a steamed poppy seed bun, toppings are layered in a "specific" order: yellow mustard, neon green relish, chopped white onion, tomato wedges, a dill pickle spear, pickled peppers and finally a sprinkle of celery salt.