Love

As the Stars Would Have It ~ quadrille

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As the Stars Would Have It

The sky has been ours
from the moment we met

Whispered words of light
in vision and dreams

Blue nebulae in the dark of night
Embrace of sun and moon

I in your orbit, you in mine,
just as the stars would have it

This is my response to Quadrille #112: The Sky’s the Limit,
the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word sky in a 44-word poem,
with no required meter or rhyme.

Image: the banner from our wedding,
held on the lawn of the lighthouse at Presque Isle, Erie, Pennsylvania

This Is the Life ~ limerick

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This Is the Life

Locks shorn in my late twenties,
worn that way till I retired,
I thought about letting them grow,
knowing I wanted a ponytail
but not wanting to wash the dust
of loading docks and freight yards
out of it every night. Then came the day.

No work and all play, and my hair
was here to stay. But I wasn’t.
Behind the wheel of one more truck,
filled with what was left of my life,
I drove cross-country to be with she
who would, one day, be my wife.
Her fingers run through my hair,
and I know I have found happiness.

This is my response to Come and take a selfie! – the prompt from Sarah at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem about ourselves. For a bonus, here’s a limerick:

There once was a scuba diver
Who worked hard as a truck driver
But then he retired
And now he’s inspired
His poetry is to die for *

* poetic license 😉

Photos: “”The Move” ~ 2012

On the Subtle Nature of Eros

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On the Subtle Nature of Eros

With Poetics: Exploring Erotica as a Literary Genre, Sanaa Rizvi (adashofsunny) at dVerse ~ Poets Pub reminds us that erotic poetry “demands a higher degree of lyricism through an expression of subjectivity and ‘complex feelings’ ” yet need not rely on explicit sexuality.

I decided to start cold, by writing something yesterday, but erotica is not my thing. So, today I decided to tweak some of my older poems (none from WordPress) to achieve a subtle eroticism. Two of the poems received minor edits while a third (the second, here) is a blend of two separate poems to achieve the result.

Undying Thirst

Beauty that brings marvel
whenever I drink her in

Eyes most welcoming
Lips always tentative, at first

Neck inviting
Skin so soft, responsive

Curves that invite,
gladly meet

Always this marvel,
and a thirst never lost

yearning realized

sensuality
touching on fantasy

urgency embraced
emotions intertwined

soul gazing into
finding soul

thoughts coalescing with
anticipation realized

gratification
far exceeding anticipation

savoring sensations

a cheek resting gently turns
lips brush hip in tiny arcs, swirls
savory sensation

tongue lightly, cautiously
traces lines
savors the taste

lips move across, slowly
pausing midway
always savoring

lips reach the other side
hip mirrored
in swirls softly stroked

thoughts savor your approval
as hips move
echo your sigh

Images
top: Smithsonian American Art Museum – Eros et Musa, by Henry O. Walker
middle: Wikimedia Commons – The Victory of Eros, by Angelica Kauffman
bottom: extracted (cropped) from a photo by Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA
via Wikimedia Commons – Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, London
(Anteros, twin brother of – and often mistaken for – Eros)

 

In Love’s Warmth ~ haibun

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24 June 2017

In Love’s Warmth

A shining day approaches, the celebration of the day, three years ago, when family and friends witnessed the union of two souls beneath a lighthouse tower on the shore of Lake Erie. Our paths, separate and whole, met and became one in a way possible only through a desire to be complete, each with the other, no longer alone. As equals, we gladly followed the path before us, each knowing the love, grief, joy, hardship, and elation of the other.

Experienced by all present, our beacon of love could not be denied.

passion’s waves
flow from heart to heart
in love’s warmth

This is my response to Traditional writing: on a shining topic,
the prompt from Lillian at dVerse Poets Pub, which is to write a haibun
about “One Shining Moment” in the writer’s life.

Love’s Light

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Love’s Light

moonbeams dance ’round
your face, mingle with the light
of nebulae swirling within
your eyes to shine on this heart,
a reality this writer struggles
to put into words

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #137 offers three phrases for inspiration:
     1. Writer’s Platform
     2. Writer’s Cave
     3. Writer’s Reality

This also is linked to Open Link Night #267

Image source: © Francesco Batistella via Astronomy Picture of the Day

One Man’s Heart ~ haibun

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One Man’s Heart

There is no sea so wide that I would not cross, nor mountain so high that I would not climb. I would cross the driest desert and brave the wildest jungle, weather any storm of frigid snow and stand against the strongest of gales. All of this I would do so that I could proclaim to all the world my love for you. Not in sonnet nor in flowery verse, but in words so clear that none might question their intent.

one man’s heart
could not be more full
than by your side

This is my response to Haibun Monday 4/27/20: A Portrait of Two Masters,
from Frank Tassone at dVerse Poets Pub, where the prompt is to write a haibun
inspired by William Shakespeare and Matsuo Bashō.

~ Day 27 ~

In the Beginning ~ haibun

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The prompt for Haibun Monday 30/03/2020: Snapshots of Our Lives, from Kim at dVerse Poets Pub, is to write a haibun that tells the story behind a poem from our personal archives. This is the story behind How I Knew I was a Poet, my video poem from 2017.

In the Beginning

I first visited YouTube in 2006, and it wasn’t long before I was making videos of my own, including video poetry. As time went on, I joined other video sharing sites. In 2010, one of the vloggers I followed was planning to travel from Chicago to Boston on his motorcycle, and he asked those along his route about meeting up for coffee. I took him to see Niagara Falls, and offered a room and a bed for the night. He told me to visit him any time, offering the use of his spare room.

The following year, we planned a meetup that included four other vloggers. Two of them also were from Chicago, one was from Washington state, and the fourth was from Missouri. Over several days, we visited a blues club, took a boat tour of Chicago’s architecture along the Chicago River, and visited the Green Mill Jazz Club (the home of slam poetry) and The Poetry Foundation. Everyone had a good time, and I had some interesting conversations about poetry at The Poetry Foundation with, little did I know, the woman who would one day be my wife.

I moved to Missouri in 2012.

whispering verses
witnessed by poets
in the beginning


Image: The Poetry Foundation, in Chicago

Known, All Along ~ quadrille

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Known, All Along

Would I peel back the layers,
only to find what I’ve known
all along? Never, the need for that,
when knowing your many sides
is what makes you so dear to me.
To have my heart held within
those layers is more than enough

This is my response to Quadrille #98: Peelings… Nothing More —
the prompt from Mish at dVerse, which is to use the word peel
in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.

Image source: teepublic.com