Balance

Yes, it has been a while since I wrote and posted a poem. This came from the prompts from a Yahoo writer's group I belong to (CHPercolators). Enjoy!

In the province of apathy the scarabs drive, heading to the scales of fate

Driving to see if the feather of truth balances each their weight

If the scales balance, the scarab becomes the feather - free to stay or fly as she chooses

If the scales tip, the scarab once again becomes the beetle coming forth from the dung to climb the seven rungs, at each level asking his heart not to stand witness against him

But first they must cross the sands of apathy, where they may yet drown and never again be found

For such are the vagaries of Fate

Haiku for Mars

So, NPR posted about MAVEN sending haiku to Mars - and of course, I took up the challenge. The first stanza is all that was submitted (only one entry per person for this one)...

Haiku/Senyru to the Red Planet

Red planet, sister
what lessons can you teach us
before it's too late?

Red planet, brother
what wars decimated you
long 'ere I was born?

Red planet, mother
did your people flee here
for a better life?

Red planet, father
protector or destroyer
sent us sons of strife

Red planet, beacon
lesson for us all on Earth
to reconnect with her

Red planet, ghost of
things yet to come, future can
be changed; can we choose?

Day 16 - Focus

Focus
Brings into being
That which is focused upon

Focus
Draws out the light
Draws in the darkness

Draw out the light
Draw out the laughter
Draw out the twinkle
That lives on ever after

Draw in the darkness
Draw in the night
Draw in the sorrow
Lose sight of the light

Focus on the light
Drown out the darkness
Draw out the twinkle
That lives on ever after

Day 15 - #3 - Industrial Heritage

Inspired by a TEDTalk on Industrial Heritage by Timothy Scarlett:

Writing the biography of

a building

a machine

a kiln

a workplace

a residence

Dissecting and examining the remains

of all of the above

Tying the threads of

human history

the concrete jungle

the wild heritage roses

the industrial revolution

the aesthetics of industrial decline

What are we leaving for 

the archeologists

the paleontologists

the curiosity seekers

of the future

to find

to dissect

to analyze

and to theorize

about?

Day 15 - #2 - For

Also inspired by the TEDTalk by Tim Gallaway:

Silence for serenity

Windsong for peace

Birdsong for love

Rapids for cleansing

Flats for clarity

Ah, the sounds of nature!

Day 15 - #1 - Nature vs Concrete

A haiku/senyru inspired by a TEDTalk video by Tim Gallaway:

Spiritual moments
Awakening in nature
how, Concrete Jungle?

Day 8, #2 - Windy Haiku

Wind, blustery, gust
Bird feeder falls, windchimes sing
April more like March

Day #14 - Animal Nations

The chollima paws the ground
nostrils flaring, teeth baring
angry neighs pass its lips

the dragon slowly turns its head
to glare at the small winged steed
wings twitch a warning with their tips

The eagle bats a baleful eye
across the sea, across the sky
wonders if and when the apple will fly

The people wait with bated breath
fearful of a fiery death
wish the dragon would lend a hand,
put dragon's claw over horse's neck

Day 13, #2 - Butterfly Tanka

I see butterflies
On the wing, in the meadow
Fluttering, landing
On the flowers, loving sun
Beautiful butterflies, smile!

Day #13 - If I Were Not Afraid

The impetus for this was a line out of Sheryl Sandberg's book - Lean In - what would you do if you were not afraid?

What would I do if I were not afraid -

I would have run away as a teenager and made my own way

I would have gone to visit my dying daddy anyway

I would have joined the man who loved me since I was fourteen in Germany

I would tell myself that what I want DOES matter

I would follow my gut and my heart no matter what

I would not worry about the cost

I would simply not let anything be lost

But wait, life is not over

Life is not done

I can follow my gut

I can follow my heart

I can follow my dreams

And I am no longer afraid!

Day #8 - Farewell to Buttercup

This was inspired by the photo below, taken in the park behind my apartment complex on a slightly less beaten path near the creek:

Here lies Buttercup

Taking her final rest

In the place she loved best

Sleeping with the deer, turkeys, hawks, and squirrels

Lulled by the sound of the wind in the trees and the flow of the creek


Sleep well, our beloved

Until we meet again

Day #7 - Where I Feel You

This was inspired by a country song about a young man who felt his dad in the pick up truck. (Lee Brice - I Drive Your Truck)

Where We Connect

I feel you beside me when I'm walking in the park
by the creek
watching the squirrels
listening to the birds, the creek, and the crickets

I remember following you on our property
when I was little
while you were driving poles to put
barbed wire fencing on

I think of you every time I hear
a country song
You watched Hee Haw
and then Muppet Show with me
on Sundays when I came over
after Mom divorced you

I see you in my children
and my grandchildren

I love you, Daddy

Day 5 - homes

A rather unkempt car
Or a place on the local church steps
At least the car is a mobile home

When you live on the steps
You schlep your home around with you
From step to step
Church to church
Living exposed
Prey to the elements
Or worse
Fellow humans

At least the car provides cover from both

Unless of course the humans
Force their way into your abode

Day #4 - Random Bits

So, I was sitting at the Fox and Goose on 10th and R and this is what I jotted down:

Sitting in the local pub
- a British one
sans the soccer game

How can you be a
British pub
without a soccer game
- futball -
on the telly?

Looking up, I see
a mannequin dressed
as a cricket player

At the bar,
a man pays for
three ladies' first round

One says "dogs are work"
to which I rejoinder
"that's why I prefer my cats"

To my left, young - relative -
biologists talk about
spotted owls and such

Looking around, I see
my goodness My Guinness
Trumans Beers
Tetley at Mason Arms
and the Golden Cock

The sign says
Courage is the word for beer
and we are apparently
in the City of Westminster
on Bulinga Street

I am imbibing a Hoegaarden
and learning that in the 1300s
tennis was played in the streets

It became a nobleman's game
after the bubonic plague
swept through the streets
killing the players

Ah, my date is here
time to close for now...

Day #3 - Spring Musings

As I wandered through the park
a couple walked their dog behind me
off leash of course
no one pays attention to the leash law here

The dog, a Weimaraner, wanted badly
to chase the golf disk (we call them Frisbees)
however was well behaved enough not to

As I wound down the path near the creek
I noticed the foxtails had gotten tall
and there were California poppies
crossing the path into the meadow
marching to the creek perhaps

There were other wildflowers too
blue ones and white ones and yellow ones
and purple ones - the kind that make me sneeze

There were ants on the trees and on the grinding rock
there were ladybugs along the path
there were bees dipping into the dandelions
there were song birds in the trees and the reeds

I wonder if the woman treading determinedly past me
with her iPod on
Could hear the trill of the redwinged blackbird
or the call of the magpies or the song of the crickets?

I wonder if the track team or the Little Leaguers
ever take the time to stop and smell and listen
and just be
just be one with Nature in all her glory?

I wonder if the little boy with the teddy bear
I passed on the way back home will be
allowed to just be
just be a kid playing along the creek
catching frogs and chasing dogs,
turning over logs looking for bugs
or snakes or such

It is nice to wander through the park
and just be
just be....me

Day #2 - Suitcase Dreams

Suitcase Dreams

The great roots of night grow
suitcase dreams of easy choices
hopping freight trains
riding off into the great unknown
to a better
or at least different
life.

There are no easy choices
however
and come morning
the suitcase is unpacked once again
and put back in the closet
as the lonely train whistle
blows in the distance

National Poetry Month 2013 - Poem #1

It's National Poetry Month again! 30 poems in 30 days - go!

April Fool

Life is not ended
The world is not gone
You walked through the fire
and you have won

Life is just beginning
The world is still spinning
You have faced the devil
and you have won

Life is worth living
The world is worth giving
You still respond with love
showing you have won

If you are on Facebook, come find us!

http://www.facebook.com/groups/359827237389682/

Letting Go

Let the feelings pass over you,
     ebb through you,
          be swept away from you

For how can you hold the sea when it ebbs from the shore?

Like ripples in the pond,
     feelings will fade and hold no thrall
          unless we insist on clinging to them,
               wearing them like a shawl

A shawl covering our head,
     our eyes,
          our heart

Keeping us from seeing the bounty spread upon the shore

So let the feelings pass over you,
     ebb with the sea,
          be swept away

To hold you in their thrall no more