Cold Shoulder
What separates us
does not make us better.
Even the thinnest
layer of ice threatens
to shatter all that we’ve built.
Words left unspoken,
never allowed
to reach the surface,
only serve to strengthen
the divide, remove
the chance to heal.
Speak to me.
This is my response to Quadrille #168,
the prompt from Mish at dVerse ~ Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word ice in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem
(excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.
Janus
Which face to wear?
Looking forward
or back? The past,
both blessing and weight,
does not cease to be,
even as what will be
approaches. To know
both is not possible,
yet one gives insight
to the other. I wear both.
This is my response to Reena’s Xploration Challenge # 264. It’s January, and Reena asks us to consider Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and endings, who is depicted as having two faces.
Shared with OpenLink Night LIVE at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
You Call This Winter?
Take a hike in the wild during a Missouri winter,
and it’s a crapshoot. Bare branches heavy
with snow and turkey tracks the only impressions
in the white blanket that lies before you,
or t-shirt weather with the sound of rustling leaves
as you scuff them out of your way wondering
what happened to the four inches of snow
that shut things down just last week.
I may not miss the storms of New York’s winters,
but I sure miss the snow of New York’s winters,
where it knows how to fall and stick around
until it decides to fall again. And again.
Where the beauty of driving through a forest
with a blanket of snow can be appreciated
in spite of the inconvenience of slick roads
or the need to clear your windows of frost.
As much as I may appreciate warm spells
that are more frequent than cold, or the need
to shovel the driveway all of three times,
give me a New York winter, any time.
This is my response to the prompt Poetics: The Blizzard of the Self, from Sanaa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to speak to winter.
A Higher Plane
I follow a light and the path
it offers, the secret held
in musical notes that float
as they dance with sunbeams,
stepping stones that lead higher
and higher. The notes become
so numerous they can’t be
discerned from the light
that wraps itself around me
and opens my eyes to a new day,
one of acceptance of all, by all.
This is my response to Poetics: Visionary Poetry, the prompt from Ingrid at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which asks us to write a poem inspired by a vision or dream.
The Intent of Moonlight and Ethereal Synapses
A haze struggles to dim a light traveling
the distance that binds two bodies.
Our growing world of disconnect, challenged
by invisible connections. Clouds shift,
strain to cast shadows, oblivious to the aura
framing them. Different wavelengths of light,
thoughts conflicting, gelling. Powerless
to impede, branches sway their hips to its pull,
the flow from one chamber to the next echoing
tidal forces, defying the disconnect, absorbing
those wavelengths in a way not imagined
but realized. The embrace of affirmation, a kiss.
This is from a reading at The Gumbo Bottoms Single Pot Still Poetry Society … Gumbo Bottoms Ale House, Jefferson City, MO (09 Jan 2023).
First appearing in easing the edges: a collection of everyday miracles, edited by D Ellis Phelps, The Intent of Moonlight and Ethereal Synapses is now included in my poetry collection, Glass Awash, published by Spartan Press.
How a Heart Heals
Long held in self-imposed darkness,
removed from all past pain,
a heart boldly wills itself to open
to possibilities, that light of day
might reveal a world open to it,
return to it a joy long lost,
that it might once more know love.
This is my response to Q44 #167 – To BOLD-ly Go,
the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse ~ Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word bold in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem
(excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.
an old path
in early morning light
new meaning
This senryū is my response to Colleen’s #TankaTuesday Weekly
Poetry Challenge No. 301, Synonyms: New & Experience.
I was so focused on the fact that I used “old path” for “experience” and “early morning light” for “new” that I overlooked the fact that I actually used “new” in the third line of this senryū.
So… here’s another senryū
this old path
in early morning light
leads forward
Shared with Open Link Night #329 at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
I Was Never There
Traveling this lonely highway,
occasional headlights
the only break in the darkness,
I count oncoming white lines
as they flash before me,
pass beneath me, each one
as familiar to me as the numbers
on my dash that measure my progress.
My surroundings may be
hidden by the darkness,
but I’m not lost. I’ve traveled
this road so many times
that every curve wraps itself
around me. The rumble strip
knows my name, warns me
when the siren of sleep beckons.
Longing to reach the other end,
I wonder if the road is all there is.
Am I meant to be anywhere
but where I am, passed by mile marker
after mile marker, the road passing
beneath me while I remain
stationary, one more element
in the night, yet never really there?
This is my response to Poetics: Are you listening? – the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem that uses two titles from a provided list of podcasts, keeping all words in order and changing only punctuation, if necessary. My poem includes “Rumble Strip” and “Not Lost.” Also, I’ve used another podcast title, “I Was Never There,” as my title.
One Saving Grace
Old year. New. Years advance with fewer prospects as my typical January funk sets in.
my one saving grace
being with the one I love
welcome horizon
What has to be my shortest haibun is my response to Fireworks and a Dripping Tap, the prompt from Kim at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a haibun about our feeling towards this New Year.
Words without Voice
How do I reconcile
thoughts as fantasy
memory and reality
passion with voice
the page as desire?
vision disjointed
no oracle
writer
thoughts recede
fade
empty page
Words without Voice is the opening poem from my collection, Glass Awash, recently published by Spartan Press. It can be purchased at Amazon. Contact me if you are interested in a signed copy.
Shared with OpenLinkNight LIVE at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
Image source: clipart-library.com
rivrvlogr 