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

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

"I Regret to Inform You..."/Poets United Poets Pantry -- the sunday whirl Wordle #378

“I Regret to Inform You…”

“I regret to inform you….”

So many sad-news-letters begin 

The news on TV

Should begin this way

So much of it bad

“He sailed away

Never to be heard from

His boat adrift on a foreign sea”

The ebb and flow of life

The highs and lows

The comings and goings

The finding of things unexpected

We stand on the fringe

And cheer with the crowd

Things aren’t perfect

But we are told, we are free

“I regret to inform you…”

Comes with such a sting

The words pierce the heart

Your breath catches in your throat

November 25, 2018

 Wordle #378

A Letter to You/mini challenge imaginary gardens with real toads

A Letter To You

Empty

I feel to the bottom

With my fingers

Nothing there

I close the book on that chapter

I take up my pen

Find words

Write to you a letter

Now my thoughts are full

I tell you all that has happened

Since that day in May

And how blue the sky

November 24, 2018

I Beckon to You to Share My Bed/dVerse

I Beckon to You to Share My Bed

You forget I am a dinosaur

You ask me to speak

Yet, I remain silent

I look around for escape

The windows are shut

The doors are all locked

There is no escape

I sit quietly

What can I say

What can I share

Slowly the words come to me

The wall paper burns

The walls blister

The fire in the hearth

Is smothered

Deprived of oxygen

At last I speak

I would not want to go on

Without you

I beckon to you to share my bed

Whisper secrets of shared desire

My body warm against yours

We slip into the bliss of desire

Tangled into one

November 22, 2018

A Love Poem For Thanksgiving/imaginary gardens with real toads

A Love Poem For Thanksgiving

So many Thanksgivings

I have experienced

As a child

At home with my family

The turkey roasting 

The kitchen filled 

With holiday smells

We knit a life together

You often cooked the turkey

A perfect meal

Welcomed the early morning

With eggnog

The family around the table

And after dinner a nap

Today, I am with my family of choice

Many empty chairs at the table

Remembered faces

Contribute to the emptiness I feel

I am aware life is but a revolving door

Some coming and some going

Still the celebration goes on

We knit a life together

The play continues

The actors different

Give thanks that we are still here

The kitchen is filled with holiday smells

We knit a life together

Mend and patch

November 22, 2018

My Mom, My Dad, My Grandfather, My Grandmothers, My Sisters and their children, My Husband, Jack, and his Mom and Dad, and my child, Jim.  My Aunts and Uncles, and cousins.    Annie and Theodore, Jr and Jeanette, George, Tom, Johnny, John… so many it could fill a page.

Prayer/poets united midweek motif/prayer

Prayer

To whom do we pray?

As a little girl

My parents took me to church

But I guess…

Church didn’t take to me

I do find some satisfaction

In prayer

But I am not sure…

That my prayers are heard

Maybe it doesn’t matter

If they are

Perhaps it is only to be centered

Quiet

So that I can see

Things become clear

I can see all the way to the bottom

I can see who swims with me

I can see you, too

Time to sort things out

Give gratitude for all that is given me

November 21, 2018

Spoil/dVerse

Spoil

I would not want to be the one

To spoil it for you

But sometimes

All can become a bucket of snakes

It has happened

Perhaps a word spoken

….or misspoken

A misunderstanding

Someone melted

Like the tigers in the story

Little Black Sambo

November 20, 2018

Happy Birthday/imaginary gardens with real toads

Happy Birthday

Just a pause…

A celebration

Like most tea parties

There was cake

Just a little cake

Not too much

To celebrate the year past

The year to come

This day of all days

A day together

The sun shone this year

The snow still on the ground

All was gentle

We sit in your kitchen

The cat stops for a brief hello

The dog sleeps in the sun

We share words

Try to catch up...

A whole year

Poured into the teapot

Fill each cup

We settle into the moment

We remember the days 

Days on last year's calendar

Marked off as lived

Remembered in long sentences

Spoken as remembered

Happy Birthday to you again this year

November 20, 2018

A Light in the Window/the sunday whirl -- poets united pots pantry

A Light in the Window

She held the sleepy child in her arms
The falling snow had ceased
Though tiny flakes
Continued to fall from the branches

Of the trees

Their trunks dark and ominous
In the last rays of sunlight
Brilliant on the western horizon
She thought if she could draw a line

From where she was
To the setting sun
She would know exactly
Where she was

It was then she heard
The song of the windchime
It was a sign
She was close to home

Because it was winter
There would be no buds
In the garden
All would be sleeping

Under a blanket of white
Everything transformed
Her heart lifted
Almost like the coming of Spring

She had lost her way
Now she was found
She knew it would be only minutes
Until she would be home
A light burned in the window

November 18, 2018





Wordle 377 cinch, fine, junk

I Am in a Foreign Land/dVerse

I Am in a Foreign Land

Here we stand

The two of us

Two tribes come together

I am the last of my kind

Older

Wiser

Kneaded like fresh dough

For biscuits in the morning

Each day a good beginning

The sun slowly rises

A beautiful pink to orange glow

Great expectations

Life has humbled me

Taken me to task

Spit me out

To try again

What a bitter pill I must be

An old woman

I croon to myself

A song I used to sing to my son

Years have passed

I solid as a stone

And yet life

Has marked me

Left its hand print on my shoulder

The same as in the cave

Red the color of life

Each new day I am amazed

I walk the labyrinth of life

Go within 

Weigh and measure

Often it is as if, I am in a foreign land

November 15, 2018

If You Forget Me/imaginary gardens with real toads

If You Forget Me

Say you will

Remember for all times

All that is sweet in the world

The looks as our eyes found

Each other across a room

The touch of your hand

The warmth of your body

Next to mine

The conversations

As we sit before the fire

Hours working quietly 

Together in the studio

There really is no more

I will not forget you

Not for all times

Your breath against my cheek

But, if one day...you forget me

Over time...I will forget you

It is not a threat

But a promise my dear

November 15, 2018

The Best is Yet To Come/poets united midweek motif/Age

The Best Is Yet To Come

Somethings are better with age

A man

Who has the secret

He is interested in you

A woman

Sweet and true

Takes her time

Thinks before she speaks

It is not to say

She doesn’t say what is on her mind

It is said in a gentle way

Youth doesn’t age well

It disappears before you know it

Best to put away childishnish

Be the person you were meant to be

It only comes with age

November 14, 2018

Hope, coffee, and Poetry/imaginary gardens with real toads

Hope, Coffee, and Poetry

Nothing more 

Nothing less

You came into the shop

Where I worked

We chatted

You took my hand

We smiled 

As we looked into each other’s eyes

I thought …a lovely man

Now isn’t that hope?

Of course, I did not know

You would be my lover

But what a nice smile

You came to see me 

We had coffee

We talked of shoes and sailing ships

You told me who you were

And I told you about me

All the pieces fit

The puzzle complete

Based on that chance meeting

You listen to my poetry

You write and read to me

My life complete

You deserve a lover

That is the same

He loves me

He loves me not

He takes away lies

Brings hope

Coffee

And poetry

November 13, 2018

"You deserve a lover who takes away the lies and brings you hope, coffee, and poetry.”
~ Frida Kahlo

I Remember You/the sunday whirl world 376 -- poets united

I Remember You 

It was my birthday

In the year of our lord 1991

We made the journey

You fly-fished in the San Juan

The light sparkled off the water

Without knowing

We were exploring a place

That would soon be my home

Land of Enchantment

With our walking sticks

We hiked and sang songs

Just a little off pitch

One never knows what is ahead

Still we continue

Even what we think of 

As the impossible

You said, you could not be happy

Without the coast

We are never really stranded

The road ahead always looks promising

There is no machine

That can tell you what tomorrow will bring

After you left

The years passed

I yearned to talk with you

Ask what you think

After all these years

I miss you still

November 11, 2018

Wordle 376 

It is Autumn Again/imaginary gardens with real toads

It is Autumn Again

The wind blows the blades of the windmill

The windmill spins

It is Autumn again

The light of the sun

Reflects from the blades

As the leaves fall from the branches

November 10, 2018

A Poem is a Self Portrait/A Mirror of You/imaginary gardens with real toads

A Poem is a Self Portrait/A Mirror of You

You ask for a poem

Made of thin air

Seasonings of your choice

Appropriate for the season

Dust bunnies

Hair and bones

A bit of heart

And you

Knead into a ball

Chill

Roll flat

And bake in the over

Temperature your choice

Do you like it light-brown

Or do you like it burned

Length of baking time

Again, up to you

The recipe flexible

Suited for your own purpose

Arranged on white paper

Words of black ink

Suited to your own taste

Served best to gathering of friends

Delivered with your best voice

Every poem a self portrait

Like your signature

It is one of a kind

A mirror of you

November 8, 2018

Reading Fiction Just for Fun/poets united midweek motif/fiction

Reading Fiction Just for Fun

With our eyes we see

See the words

Give meaning

Collect ideas

Fill inner world

With made up people

Made up ideas

Made up stories

The world seems forever busy

Just to stay alive

Takes so much precious time

Instead I would like to 

Curl up with a book

Let the world go by

Turn off the TV

Turn on the music

Fall down the rabbit hole

Eat the fodder

That enriches life

Colors the narrative

Oh time

Precious time

Why have you forsaken me

I fall asleep reading you

November 7, 2018

The Vote/dVerse

The Vote

The vote was made

Signed sealed and delivered

Dropped into the box

In a wink of the eye

We will know

Either we like it

Or we don’t

The chasm appears deep

We swam in deep waters before

We lived to tell about it

November 6, 2018

Savagely Sad/imaginary gardens witth real toads

Savagely Sad

Savagely sad, you say

But what about the people

Who live in war zones

Who try to escape

Who walk for thousands of miles

Without shoes

Barefoot across hot pavement

Across stickers

With blisters

A trail of tears

Each day they carried their dead

The people who gathered to see

Cried all the way

Bring the teapot to the table

Two tea cups

Sit with me for a while

We will talk of cabbages and kings

Of shoes and sailing ships

We will count the missing

Count the empty chairs

We will remember 

When life was full

When we were needed

When we lost our keys

Late for school

Everything hard edge

A man is expected to live 76.4 years

Individual expectation unknown

November 2, 2018

Note:  In a response to a poem, Brendan said, "savagely sad."  And I thought, what a wonderful title, here is my poem.

Reverie/the sunday whirl #375 -- poets united poets pantry

Reverie

The morning pink
Above the horizon
The mountains a misty blue
All is quiet and still

No breeze blows
It is as if the world
Is holding her breath
Lost in her dreams

The child sings a song of her own
Attentive to the soft kitten
Petting her gently
Mother stirs the eggs

Prepares breakfast
In her mind
She dreams
Of the long drive home

The past rolls before her
Like a movie
The child tugs on her skirt
She returns to the kitchen

As though for the first time
To find her hands have
Completed the task
She puts breakfast on the table

November 4, 2018

Wordle 375:  Note:  runny, find, corn, spray  These are the words I didn’t use.

Head on A Tray/imaginary gardens with real toads

Head on A Tray

How often I have felt

I have my head in my hands

When I have misspoken

When I have foolishly called your name

When I have made a mistake

When I have gone the wrong way

It seems my head

Is not on my shoulders

There is it

Sitting on the tray

Along with the teapot

The cups for tea

Come sit with me

As I adjust my head

In the place it belongs

Perhaps it was but a dream

November 3, 2018

Once Upon a Time/dVerse

Once Upon a Time

Which time am I speaking of

Your time

Behind time

On Time

Lost time

Before time

Slow time

Quick time

Or my time 

The empty shell 

That once held time

Left alone on the sand

The waves wash over

Silent time

The color gray

We gently shake it

No response

The time about which I speak

Is the silence after

No one to explain

What has happened

Why the sky is gray

No one answers your phone

Like the shell

The world is empty without you

November 1, 2018

dVerse