soft puffs of air
you beside me
exhale, exhale
night quiet sounds
I smile, loving you
eyes close shut
lullaby of puffs
happiness
Mama’s Refrain
Hatless, wind ruffled hair
winter snow flake dandruff
red ears and mustache icicles.
Iowa snow gnome I am
when I see my breath.
Ninety percent of your body heat
escapes from your head.
Well mom, that’s why I’m so cool!
Photo: corner of Boston’s Court and Tremont Streets several winters ago. Story behind the giant tea kettle: manufactured in 1873 by Hicks & Badger; a “sign” outside the old Oriental Tea Kettle shop. Signs were common in early Boston to identify shops for those who could not read. On January 1, 1875 a contest was held to guess its capacity and Boston’s Sealer of Weights & Measures officially measured it. 10,000 spectators stood by as 8 boys and 1 tall man concealed themselves inside the kettle. The court was officially measured to hold 227 gallons, 2 quarts, 1 pint, and 3 gills. An attached mechanism produced steam. To this day, in the cold winter months, steam is seen coming out of the kettle. Starbucks made a wise decision to place their store here!
Poetry prompt: final assignment in Fall 2015 Poetry Apprenticeship with Holly Wren Spaulding: write an “advice” poem — perhaps from shoulds and should nots of your early days!
Cousin Janice
Carmen Miranda,
her dancing model supreme
only not with fruit.
Carmen Miranda, pictured on Click cover, was a Portugese Brazilian singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star popular in the 1930s to 1950s. Photo on right is cousin Janice, always a very happy and lively dancer!
Missing You
Dear Iowa,
It was osmosis.
City girl absorbed red barns
waving cornfields and fresh plum jam
tractors spewing dust from dawn
drop-in neighbors and party-line phones
sheets flapping on backyard lines
towns without stop lights
and churches with hats.
Neon lights are not fireflies.
Lillian
Our Rural Roots
Cars travel dirt roads
on hot sultry summer days,
dust clouds trail behind.
Cornfields stretch for miles.
Farmers perched on green machines
rumble through the rows.
Keepers of the land,
they rose before the sun
to feed you and me.
Haiku trio. Photos: corn from our Iowa garden many years ago. Tractor: by Loretta Humble.
Old Woman?
I am an old woman
with the audacity to hope.
I shall wear purple
and travel to 1,000 places,
walk in the woods, eat, pray
and make love to a staggering genius.
I shall write letters from the earth
to all my friends above.
Tell them plain and simple,
at this age, the heart leaps
much higher than leaden feet
and I intend to do the long jump.
I will not stay off camera.
And I will settle for nothing less
than a raucous standing ovation
when I do decide to exit
center stage.
In the form of Found Poetry: created from book titles on my shelf – When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, The Audacity of Hope, 1,000 Places to Live, A Walk in the Woods; Eat, Pray, Love; A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Letters from the Earth, Plain and Simple, and Off Camera.
October 31, 2015
Sousa by Nature
He chose a hickory nut tree
acorns too dainty,
tinny in their ping.
Tree-felled hickory nuts
percussive on the roof
pelted solid deep raps.
Band leader by trade
he created a Sousa drum line
directly above our heads.
Photo credit: Mike Vam. John Phillip Sousa: 1854 – 1932. American composer most famous for his military marches IE Stars and Stripes Forever and Sempir Fidelis (official march of the U.S. Marines).
Her Name Was Melody
Her goal
to live a pentatonic life
like the piano’s black keys,
always in harmony.
She Liked to Taste Life
Sample the edibles
while sauntering by a vendors’ stall
savor the sour and the sweet
lemon tarts with a marzipan carrot beside
devour her lover’s kisses by night
and wake up to humorous tidbits
and some evenings, dine by candle light
lick beads of moisture
from her wine glass
while supping alfresco by the sea.
She fancied herself a chef
stirring the pot
and turning up the heat
if it simmered too low.
Written for Margo’s Poem Tryouts, which I recently found thanks to Chalk Hills Journal, a wonderful blog. Margo asked that we find highly-descriptive words relating to a ‘simple’ subject, make a list of those, and then write to those words. I chose the “simple” subject of eating. Photo taken this past summer on the deck in Provincetown….indeed, eating alfresco!
Starring….. Ms. Autumn
One leaf at a time
nature does a slow strip tease
blushing crimson red.
Photo taken last week in Boston’s Public Garden.
lillian the home poet 