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

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

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

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