dandelion puffs
balloon wishes to the sky
breeze blows hope for life
hope
Makin’ Noise
I have these dance shoes
full size, my size now
taps on soles like woodpecker nose
silenced in a drawer.
Could make loud flaps
not with wings but toes
not on trees but floors
shuffle off to buffalo
make myself be known.
Had smaller ones years ago
noisy kid on taps on tap
poured out energy bar none
little girl was big out there
brave feet shushed by none.
Maybe I should tap again.
Written for Holly Wren Spaulding’s class. Prompt: “free yourself from the standard rules of English syntax” and perhaps also write about something that could have another meaning. Two ways to read to my post today: 1) read only the lines that are not indented to find the poem within the poem; and 2) read the entire thing. As the phrase goes, popularized when Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced in a congressional hearing not so long ago, “She persisted.” (We shall not be shushed.) For the non-tap dancers: a flap is a tap step, as is the shuffle-off-to-buffalo. And yes, those are my shoes in my drawer and yes, that’s me many many many years ago! Shared with dVerse where today is open link time – meaning anyone can share one poem with dVerse readers – the virtual pub for poets across the globe. Come post your own or imbibe some words! Bar opens at 3 PM Boston time.
Mountain Haiku
earth sheds detritus
clutter clutched in melting snow –
rivers cascade spring
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets from across the globe where today, Paul is tending bar and asks us to write about rivers. Pub opens at 3 PM Boston time. Come river dance with us!
Wishing
Feather dust star strewn night,
spread sparkle sheen to darkest place
and shine the earth with hope.
Written for misky’ twiglet prompt, “shedding dust.” The words are used to motivate a thought, fragment, idea…the shorter the better.
Dawning
Sun struggles behind shrouded sky.
Three rays burst through darkness,
beacons that proclaim
there shall be hope this day.
Photo taken at dawn from deck of our rented apartment in Bermuda. No filters – no photoshopping. It was truly glorious.
Sea Life
She lives her life as a barnacle would,
clinging tenaciously to faith
in an eroding world.
Whose Child?
I am your global child.
Barefoot puddle splasher
hand outstretched, ghostly smile,
sunken-eyed innocence.
I live in your cities.
Under bridges, in alleyways
on your streets.
Blessed are those . . .
which those?
See me. Hear me.
Offer me
a morsel of hope.
Quadrille (44 words, not including title) for dVerse where Kim asks us to use the word or a form of the word “ghost.” DVerse, (the virtual pub for poets) opens with today’s prompt at 3 PM Boston time. Come join us!
Louise
She stands on the precipice
life before, a memory
life after, a question
life now, a quest.
In the shadows,
she seeks hope.
Photo taken some years ago in a beautiful church in Tallin, Estonia. Update: My dear friend Louise lost her two year battle with ovarian cancer on Sunday, February 12, 2017. She was a woman of incomparable spirit.
Resistance
Hear the guttural call
a loon in the midst of porous fog.
Tall ships tack ‘gainst angry waves
sails unfurled defying blowhard wind.
Sturdy spruce dig in, roots entangled,
stand valiantly in permafrost.
Voices merge, rise from depths,
like dawning sun they swell.
Their magnitude undeniable,
push their way
gain strength and energy,
overcome darkened skies
You cannot dim her torch
it shines her promise for the many.
Those who passed her by in awe
eyes raised, hearts knowing
hope lives and shall
forevermore.
Geometric Maxim
Closed shapes separate,
inclusivity is an open arc.
photo in public domain
lillian the home poet 