poetry

Concerning Matters Gray

/ Ken / rivrvlogr / 16 Comments

Concerning Matters Gray

The entrance to the maze
that holds the answers
to your questions,
if they’re the questions
I ask myself every waking day,
does not exist, unless you’re willing
to take what I say at face value,
considering this response comes
from the very maze you must enter.

Cup my face in your hands
and place your fingertips
against my temples, pressing
inward on both sides, simultaneously.
A brief whirring sound will commence
as my eyes glaze over.
Smack my forehead three times
with the heel of either hand
to reveal a hairline opening
at my hairline. Imagine that.

Firmly grasping a handful of hair,
lift the top of my skull to reveal
the very maze you must enter
to answer your question,
assuming it’s the same question
I ask myself every waking day.
Which do I put on first, slacks or socks?

Aren’t you glad you asked?

I wrote this last week for Meeting the Bar ~ On Nonsense, Narrative and Neologisms at dVerse ~ Poets Pub. Although it definitely is a bit of nonsense, I decided to hang on to it. Instead, I’ll share it with OpenLinkNight LIVE.

Oh, and if you have the opportunity to follow these instructions, pass. It’s a pretty scary place in there.

Image source: Adobe

Dog-eared Darling

/ Ken / rivrvlogr / 44 Comments

 

Dog-eared Darling

Often have I looked your way
when searching for the words to say
what simple words cannot convey.

Seldom have you let me down
when seeking words that lend a sound
of confidence, perhaps profound.

Other times I’ve simply laughed
at words you’ve placed within my drafts,
small lessons in this writing craft.

Dog-eared pages show the way
to all the times I’ve thanked the day
your words were gathered by Roget.

Today is National Thesaurus Day. This poem is my response to Poetics: The Poets Store House, the prompt from Laura Bloomsbury at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem inspired by the thesaurus.

Worth scaling any height ~ American Sentence

/ Ken / rivrvlogr / 12 Comments

Worth scaling any height, comfort found in kinship is no small matter.

A threefold trio of tiny people arrived today, from good friend and artist Claudia McGill, and Rose couldn’t be happier. It’s hard to believe that Rose has been with me for three years. I know she appreciates having some friends from her home world. Claudia is such a creative artist, and it’s an honor to have her tiny people in our home. Thank you, Claudia.

Ripe Tomato at 3 pm

/ Ken / rivrvlogr / 47 Comments

Ripe Tomato at 3 pm

Not a meal, but a Saturday treat.
Heirloom, of course, ripe with memories.
Savoring the process of your hand moving,
slow and smooth, the serrated knife laying
each slice on the bread, each slice layered
with mayo turning pink with juice.
Now held in two hands, that second slice
firmly in place, mayo in a bead, hugging
the crust edge, juice falling to the plate
in languid drops. Eyes closed with each bite,
you relish this simple pleasure.
My pleasure now in recalling this,
bringing you back after so many years
as I take my own bite and savor the memory.

This poem is my response to Poetics Tuesday – food!,
the prompt from Sarah at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.

Image source: washingtonpost.com

Defy Darkness

/ Ken / rivrvlogr / 31 Comments

Defy Darkness

Measure the walls.
How many hands?
Enough to hold them
up even as they succumb
to the encroaching darkness?

Or do they close in on us?
Isn’t that the same?
Overwhelmed,
how can we be anything
but alone? That’s not
rhetorical, or even a question.

Dark corners everywhere,
and nowhere to turn,
yet light everywhere,
if we consider ourselves.
We are not.
Alone.

Our selves are just that.
Ours, to embrace.
To share, more or less.

More?
Or less?

Less, if we consider
that we are one, not separate.
More, when taken as a whole.
More light in those dark corners.
More hands to hold up the walls
that hold out the darkness,
push them ever outward
eliminating the fringe
while embracing it
as part of the whole.

As a response to a poem by an offline friend, this is a WIP

Shared with OLN #307 – Eat Your Grapes at dVerse ~ Poets Pub

Ashes in the Air ~ haibun

/ Ken / rivrvlogr / 22 Comments

Ashes in the Air

Our county has an open burn season for brush, etc., that runs from the first of November through the first of March, provided high winds are not a factor. Our city does, as well, and resident are encouraged to be considerate of neighbors. In fact, they are encouraged to take broken tree limbs, leaves and brush to the city’s yard waste site where mulch is made available to residents. Why burning is allowed in the city, where up to five houses may be within an acre of land, is beyond me. Even the slightest breeze will carry smoke hundreds of feet. With the mild winters and temperature fluctuations that we have, it’s not unusual to have an occasional fifty to seventy degree day with open windows as an open invitation for that smoke.

smoke slowly rises
as dry leaves and branches burn
ashes in the air

This haibun is my response to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt
#Challenge 391 BURN(ed/ing/s) and Old.

Image source: 11alive.com