Only So Long
A different place, a different time,
when I told myself
I was happy.
I wasn’t.
How to change what’s broken,
when it was broken all along?
How long do I stay broken?
Only so long.
Now, a different time,
a different place.
I’m happy.
This is my response to Quadrille #201 – Poems of Place, the prompt from De Jckson at dVerse Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word place in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.
Presque Isle Pilgrimage
Ever drawn by the rewards
offered by blue water,
to float upon its surface
or venture down below,
to walk along its banks in
sight of herons and cormorants,
to answer the call of lapping waves,
whether current-fed
by a mighty river or windswept
on pebbled shores with
the added gift of frosted glass,
would I not be compelled
to divert my course along the shore
of that Great Lake, Erie,
to take in a spit of land
that holds all of these, and more?
The trails of green that pass
sedate, hidden coves that,
in turn, lead out to Erie’s harbor.
The lighthouses, vital aids
to navigation, most notably the tower
that gazes out onto the lake from
a miles-long sandy shore. The same
tower that was witness to vows
that will live forever in my heart.
I might divert my course
every time I pass between
Cleveland and Buffalo, but
it is not a diversion. It is
a destination, one I seek
willingly, so strong is the hold
it has on this heart of mine.
This is my response to dVerse Poetics – Pilgrimage, Wandering, and Walkabout, the prompt from Lisa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem that is about either a pilgrimage, wandering, or a walkabout.
Image
Presque Isle Lighthouse, Erie, Pennsylvania
Our Blue Nebula
Not the stars with their tributes
that map the night sky,
nor the moon with its pale glow.
Not even the sun’s fiery blaze
can outshine my love for you.
With your brilliance by my side,
we are the brightest light in the heavens.
This is my response to Quadrille #200, the prompt from Mish at dVerse Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word blaze in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.
Off prompt for Day Thirty of National/Global Poetry Writing Month 2024 at napowrimo.net.
Image
NGC 7023 – The Iris Nebula
© Tony Hallas via Astronomy Picture of the Day
A Matter of Perspective
Our planet may still look like a blue marble from space, but the true story is found on the surface. There are no hidden secrets here. The disrespect for Mother Earth is laid bare for all to see. Forests are razed for industry. Air and water pollution may seem on the decline, but to say that it will ever end is denying the truth. We are destroying our planet. Every day should be Earth Day.
her hidden beauty
a matter of perspective
when you know the truth
This is my response to Haibun Monday 4/22/24: Earth Day,
the prompt from Frank Tassone at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
Off prompt for Day 22 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month at napowrimo.net.
Image source: nasa.gov – Earth seen from a million miles away
by the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite
Beyond Words
How would you describe that which
holds all that I’ve given to you?
Would it be the space between the stars or
between the notes of your heartfelt song
for me? Or my words of longing for you
in response to your own words for me?
For those are the words that it holds,
my vision of the stars in your eyes, thoughts
that fill the space between the lyrics
you share with me, a space that would be
ours as told to you in my lyrics
of how we would become inseparable.
If it were a box, it would be full of words,
overflowing with my love for you.
And it was, framed by the pixels that traveled
between us in separation and the words
I wrapped around that separation. The words
continued until no box could hold them, so that
they are now found in your heart and mine.
This my response to A Box of Poems, the prompt from Kim at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem about a metaphorical box, to be autobiographical, free verse, and in three stanzas. The first is to describe the box; the second what is in it; and the third where its kept.
This is off-prompt for Day 9 at National/Global Poetry Writing Month at napowrimo.net, and it may lead to a break in for me in Poetry Month, as I will be traveling for the next eight days. I’ll try to keep up with comments, and perhaps drop a poem or two while I am gone.
Sto(a)ked
With no memory of its past,
centuries long gone,
when it was but a sapling
among a forest of grand trees,
it stands alone, surrounded by
fields of soy. Regal in its size
and beautiful in any light,
it drives from my mind
any thought of the maples
along the Niagara I hold so dear.
Crowned in Missouri, across the nation,
for longevity and size, twenty feet
its girth and twenty stories its height,
its storied past is punctuated by
lightning strikes that have scarred
its resilient hide. Were it not for
a spring pollen that plagues my senses,
it might uproot those maples
from their place in my heart.
This is my response to MTB: Breaking Your Truth, the prompt from Laura Bloomsbury at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a palinode, a poem that contradicts or retracts something a poet has previously written. In my case, the previous poem is Missing Maple.
Additional note: Laura reminds us that the day of the prompt “is white lie day so it doesn’t have to be true!”
In the poem, “20 stories” fit so well, but the tree is actually 90 feet tall, which would be 10 stories.
Off-prompt for Day Five of National/Global Poetry Writing Month at napowrimo.net.
Image Source: Heath Cajandig (flickr) CC by 2.0 DEED
Beyond Badlands
The road I drive across Nebraska
is straight and level as we head
to Casper, finally winding and climbing
when we reach badlands. Wyoming
now to our north, we parallel
the Casper Range, its grand contour
as imposing as the task that awaits us.
This is my response to dVerse – Quadrille Monday #198 – Fuzzy Frameworks, the prompt from Lisa at dVerse Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word contour in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.
Off prompt for Day One at National/Global Poetry Writing Month.
Photo: Casper Mountain, as seen from Casper, Wyoming, 23 March 2023
Affecting Our Content
Childless, but parent
and grandparent to generations,
she gave more than she received.
Spring far in her past,
but full of life to the end,
time spent with her was like
waking to a golden dawn,
silver smiles from beautiful eyes,
never beckoned but always welcome,
her gift to all she knew.
Gone from us now, memories
of her are a golden echo.
This is my response to Poetics: Daffy for Daffodils, Sprung in Spring, the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use in a poem at least three phrases from a list of daffodil varieties. I’ve used four names: golden dawn, silver smiles, beautiful eyes, golden echo.
My title is from a line in Emily Dickinson’s “A Light exists in Spring.”
Image source: Wikimedia Commons ~ Narcissus poeticus
Not How It Looks
From an early age, I’ve learned.
my lessons. Rules are made
to be followed, and so I do.
I learned to never cross the street
without looking both ways,
unless I’m in a hurry
and no one is looking.
And, of course, I never exceed
the speed limit while driving,
unless I’m in a hurry
and no one is looking.
It’s how you look at things
that matters.
This is my response to Poetics: Young and Green, the prompt (Linky now expired) from Dora at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem on being young and green.
Waking Wish
Slumber, grant me the gift of knowing,
understanding the visions that dance
before me, when past and future
pretend to be present, then fade away.
Then, if only for the moment,
will I be satisfied, all of that
changing the next time we meet.
This is my response to Quadrille #196: Let’s have a Slumber Party!, the prompt from Punam at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word slumber in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.
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