Friday, December 28, 2018

The Disillusion of Snow/imaginary gardens with real toads

Springtime by S. Anderson



The Disillusion of Snow

A heavy blanket of snow
On the ground
Today, more is promised
Beneath the snow

Old wounds are healing
Dissolving into the earth
The limited moisture awaited
The year that is ending

Has been a hard one
As hard as a stone
Lodged beneath the heart
The morning silent

It is as if all life
Has gone underground
Like the bulbs in the garden
Healing happens out of sight

All waiting new life
Waiting for spring
The garden colorful
Bird song in the air

When winter is over
And spring comes
Will we remember 
These last days of snow

December 28, 2018



Wednesday, December 26, 2018

The Last Poem/imaginary gardens with real toads

The Last Poem

Words cobbled together
Lose old meanings
Take on new meanings
It is a birth of sorts

We change the numbers
We write on our checks
Look for the meanings
In a barren land

We agree, things are not 
What we would want them to be
But still, you are here
And I am, as well

We look together to the new year
With hope and expectations
It will not be from black to white
Rather a slow change

Like a snail in the garden 
Leaving a trail behind
Keeping track of where we are going
And where we have been

December 26, 2018







Sunday, December 23, 2018

A Woman Gives the Full Moon Names/imaginary gardens with real toads

A Woman Gives the Full Moon Names

Native tribes have names
For the full moon
To mark the passing of time
A woman could give the full moon

Names to mark the passing of her life
Beginning with the time of birth moon
Little girl moon
School begins moon

Time of the young woman moon
Time of marriage moon
Time of children moon
Time of the full woman moon

Time of old age moon
Time of death moon
The circle 
Of the moon complete

December 23, 2018

Thursday, December 20, 2018

An Empty Chair/imaginary gardens with real toads

An Empty Chair

Something that was there
But isn’t
I stand patiently
Waiting for your return

Sometimes I hear your footsteps on the stair
Or I can hear you walking about
On the floor above
I hear your voice calling for me

I hear your laughter
When busy playing alone
Or I can even hear you
Drawing quietly in your room

So many nights I waited past midnight
Sick with worry
But each time you returned home
Safe and well

Sometimes I even catch sight of you
Just a glance
As you disappear behind a tree
Playing hide and seek

You were so special to me
It is hard to believe you are not here
The years pass quickly
Your chair, like my heart, remains empty



December 20, 2018

Monday, December 17, 2018

Christmas in Espanola Valley/dVerse

Christmas in Espanola Valley

Sunday Afternoon
The bright morning sun
Now drops to the western horizon
The day’s light slips into the cracks and canyons

Shadows have grown long
The windmill quiet as if waiting
The sky cloudless
There are strong contrasts of lights and darks

The outlines of the mountains
Drawn hardedge
Their shapes defined
The limbs of the bare trees

Create patterns of lace
Against an empty pale blue sky
Traffic lights blink
The ribbon of cars slows down

Christmas trees
Cut this morning 
Lean against a white truck
In the parking lot

Each looks a little forlorn
Waiting to be selected
A large Christmas sign of red candles
Lighted at the top like flames

Blazes Merry Christmas
To Sunday afternoon travelers


December 17, 2018

Sunday, December 16, 2018

The Christmas List/poets united poets pantry -- the sunday whirl


The Christmas List

The North wind howled
At my door
Dropping the lock
I invited him in

He had come to play
He whirled around the
Sparkling tree
He played with the train

Touched each gaily wrapped gift
Examined the tags
There was no gift for him
The smile dropped from his face

He spun around to leave
Then he took a folded piece of paper
From his pocket
It was a list

A list of things that could be done
To make the world a better place
It was his Christmas list
With downcast eyes…he said, “Maybe next year?”

December 16, 2018




Wordle 382:  wind, howled, neck, hundred, play, touch, shop, train, drop, spin, plan, lucky

Friday, December 14, 2018

Working Without a Prompt/dVerse

Working Without a Prompt

Is a little bit like
Flying without a trapeze
Or…finding your way
Without a compass

Of course, it can be done
Most anything can be done
But to find the will to do it
Is the challenge

The sky clear
Low lying clouds
In the valley
Wind chimes hang limp

There is a sense of waiting
So much of life spent waiting
And then
When the incident happens

We are unprepared
Have no plan
As Barbara Kingsolver says
We are like chickens

When it rains,
We think it will always rain
When we are told the outcome
It isn’t what we want

Therefore, we won’t accept
Have no idea how to accept
Accepting is a hard lesson
One not easy to grasp

December 14, 2018






Thursday, December 13, 2018

Another Ordinary Morning/dVerse -- In praise of ordinary things

Another Ordinary Morning

Another ordinary morning
The sun rises in the same place
Lights the day
The wind howled all night

The morning reveals a skiff of snow
The flakes huddle together
So, few I could count them
The studio waits for me

I enter and feel the warmth
My kitten curls by the fire
My tools in their place
They wait for me

Ready to begin the day
Plans made the day before
Small paintings pinned to the wall
Reveal the hand of the painter

A lover of color
A language spoken without sound
The message revealed for you alone
The day filled with ordinary things

Taken together
Create an extraordinary life
A life of exploration
Success and failure

December 13, 2018






Unique/imaginary gardens with real toads

Unique

It is so sad
When anyone hides who they are
Or thinks they should
All the things that make someone special

I wonder if he knew how special his is
From head to toe
Would he continue to play
Hide and seek?

How hurtful it must be
To find the me of me
Needs to hide
Unseen

Not good enough
A little less
Different
And that is the very thing

We should all wish to be
Come into our glory
Dressed in a lizard suit
Scales glisten

Empowering to know just who we are
Even when we don’t know where we are going
Usually we know where we have been
Unique as a fingerprint

December 13, 2018







Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Peace on Earth/poets united midweek motif -- Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth/poets united Midweek Motif - Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth

What could this mean
What would it look like?

Calm
Serene
Tranquil
All wars have ended
Children no longer frightened or hungry

It all seems simple enough
Perhaps there will be a great leader
That will decree it so
No longer sending young men to their death

With our history
There is not much hope for such
We are cranky human beings
We feed on the blood of the young

We stand and cheer for our side
Without thought of the “other”
War like a football game
Is necessary for us

Few of us know the history of our land
Or our people
We are good 
At pointing a boney finger at others

Like children we want to be sure 
We get what we think is ours
Our share (and then some)
We are entitled

If you don't consider what we have done...
We are good people, always kind
We are an example of empathy
There is not much appetite for “Peace on Earth”

December 11, 2018



1 comment:

Sherry Blue Sky said...
Indeed, as people we are kind, as countries, at least as far as the rulers go, we seem power-mad, unable to live and let live. It is our weakness and our curse and will likely do us in. Well expressed, Annell.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

An Honest Conversation/dVerse

An Honest Conversation

Yes, I think you are right
When you say poetry
Is more honest
Perhaps poetry is a mirror

Not a fun-house mirror
With its many distortions
No, a common-sense mirror
That hangs in your room

Perhaps your most honest friend
It will show you exactly how you look
Will show all of your little flaws
The tiny wrinkles around you lips

It sees if your jeans are too tight
And reports accordingly
It sees your eyes dart away
No… look your mirror right in the face

Take the criticism
That is meant only for you
And take the compliments
“Not bad for an old girl”

Bring your tea over
Let’s sit and chat
Can you take the honesty
That is offered

Sometimes it is hard 
To have that conversation
With yourself
And your mirror

December 11, 2018




A Holiday Greeting II/imaginary gardens with real toads

A Holiday Greeting  II

A little over the hill
She stands on the corner
With her cardboard sign
Life has not been gentle

Low light
Late afternoon
Snow is predicted
Where will she sleep

I offer what I have
And a holiday greeting
She returns a big smile



December 4, 2018


Sunday, December 9, 2018

Empty Chairs/poets united poets pantry -- the sunday whirl world 380

Empty Chairs

What is missing
What is this entity
Which creates space
But is not there?

There is evidence
That is was here
Like an animal
Leaves evidence 

Where it makes it’s bed in the grass
What is the potential
Of finding this missing something?
Does it leave a scent in the air?

This feeling of something missing
Rolls over me
Leaves all wounds bare
Sometimes it is hard to decide

Is there really something missing?
Or is it just an everyday emptiness
I feel…
To overcome the feeling 

Would be a victory
Perhaps it is just a feeling of loss
A festive table set with empty chairs?
No one expected


December 9, 2018

Wordle 380:  missing, potential, with, bare, victory, air, evidence, decide, rolling, me, lose, entity

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Merry Christmas to All/imaginary gardens with real toads

Merry Christmas to All

There is a sound of tearing
As the band-aid is ripped 
From the wound
Long ago bound

He stays in his room
Shuns people
The shades drawn
He is Christmas past

Perhaps it is best not to bother him
Allow him to sulk
Feel sorry for himself
He has plenty of reasons

Tick them off like a grocery list
Each year we decorated the tree
Attended church
Santa would arrive

Put stockings on the foot of the bed
Mom and Dad
The whole family around
Christmas is different now

Just you and me
And yet we blow smoke
Keep the fire going
Hold hands in the dark

No, it is not the same
Nothing is
You hold me warm
We kiss good night

Me in my kerchief 
You in your cap
Our hopes are for the new year
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

December 5, 2018

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

the Secret ingredient of Friendship/dVerse

The Secret Ingredient of Friendship

What is it about a friendship
That lasts for years
Why with one and not another
Why do we like to have one close

Is it the way one looks
The way one acts
Or is it just that I know your name
What is it about you

That in your presence
I feel all warm and fuzzy
Hours fly by
Our conversation is never finished

Over the years it continues
Always starting where we left off
The distance between us is wide
Yet you are always in my heart

December 5, 2018

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

A Holiday Greeting/imaginary gardens with real toads

A Holiday Greeting

A little over the hill
She stands on the corner 
With her cardboard sign
Life has not been gentle

She is bent forward
In her attempt 
To stand straight
Walk gracefully

The light is low
Late afternoon clouds form
It will probably snow tonight
I wonder where she will sleep

I roll down my window
Offer what I have
And a holiday greeting
She returns a big smile

The air cold
The winds chill
She pulls her blanket
Tight around her 

December 4, 2018





Monday, December 3, 2018

You Draw Your Sword/imaginary gardens with real toads


You Draw Your Sword

I try to capture the scene
My camera at the ready
You won’t keep still
Constantly moving

Constantly drawing your sword
Challenging thought
Causing a scene
You love conflict

It seems everyday 
For the past two years
You seek the limelight
As if anyone could ignore you

Churn the waters
Muddy the view
Cause anxiety
And like a child you always need more

December 3, 2018



Sunday, December 2, 2018

In Love, With Deep Colors/the sunday whirl -- Poets United poets pantry

Intersections  4/13  10"x10"  Flashe




In Love, With Deep Colors
At first, I didn’t notice the chill
The fire burned in the fireplace
The flames twisting around the logs
Filled the room with the warmth


Of wishes fulfilled
It is that time again
Frost covers the trees
The time of magic is upon us

I find myself slipping
Into that “in-between time”
One year ending
The next about to begin


There is a certain shock
That is the ending of this year
And yet, I feel I hardly know you
Still, these are the final days

There is a certain dread
Of the coming year
Will it be a time
Of mending old wounds


New ideas
New ways of doing things
Will new people fill the empty chairs
Will there be a new lift in my step


Will I be more flexible
Or will I see the world
Through a glass darkly
...I do love the deep colors

December 2, 2018
Wordle 379:    filter

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Imaginary gardens with real toads


Sometimes big things happen. Your life is changed in a flash. There is no beginning, no end.  You will continue to live, to breath, in and out.  Yet nothing is as it was before, perhaps there is a hurricane, a flood, your house burns down, or a thousand other calamites that could happen.  It is nothing personal, it just happens. 

Your world has turned gray, all the color has drained away. Was it all written long ago. Destiny wins out.  

I might say
If only I knew
Things would be different
…but would they?

December 1, 2018

Thursday, November 29, 2018

In the Cold of Morning...Mourning/imaginary gardens with real toads

In the Cold of Morning…Mourning

A spell of magic broken
Darkness is banished
To hide in gloomy shadows
Dreams persist

Like patches of snow
Hiding under the sage brush
Long after all the other snow
Has melted

In clear light of morning
Like a crystal bell ringing
Across the desert
The vibrations of sound

Travel far in the desert
The sun warms the morning
And the cold heart
Also found under the sage

Still beating
Barely beating
Waiting for twilight
Waiting for your return

November 28, 2019




Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Snow-Days in November/imaginary gardens with real toads

Snow-Days in November

November is almost over
The door for its leaving
And for December’s coming
Is open

The days are colder now
But mostly the sun shines
The weather still mild
Twice we have seen

The magic of snow
The transformation of 
The landscape
Wrapped in winter white

No snowball fights with you
There was only one time
And you covered me completely
I choose my battles

And don’t enter
Into ones I can’t win
You are far too experienced
Still a boy with a powerful arm

November 27, 2018



Not Just A Cup

  Not Just a Cup       Southern born Not a tea drinker Always coffee For me   Although I often find  Bitter taste Of the dark brew A bit muc...