Little Leaves

Photo by Dmytro Tolokonov on Unsplash

Lost against the bark
Minuscule leaves are
Nature-shy as they try
Out new life in the air
Proving the worth of spring before
Queuing up and rushing out

Dredge for Toasted Stars

Photo by Carolina Heza on Unsplash

Everything’s coming up roses
Thorns striking up a foxtrot
Their fragrance singing all the time
The wooden door has lost its key
Smooth worn metal from the many fingers
That never held it
And caused the hens to lay
The purring painting of opportunity
When you knelt in the night sky
Dredging for toasted stars
And the fox will say
Machines will learn
And burnished roses glow
Beside the wooden door



This mixed up little poem comes from a prompt called "Twenty Little Poetry Projects." There's a list of twenty random things to stick into a poem. I didn't get all of them, but it kept me entertained!

Dreams

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

The fleeting light of singing stars
And bursts of color never seen
Paint the night with a scintillating
Dream that curls like a leaping cat
And stretches like a noontime shadow
Twisting, growing steady until
It disembarks in sunlight and paints the world

Awaken

Photo by Nynne Schrøder on Unsplash

rest your head against my shoulder

in sleep

and babble every hour

point to the wakening world around you
today my baby
tomorrow 

you’ve grown too soon

Written for dVerse.

 

Naught

Photo by Liana Mikah on Unsplash

In the nothingness

Absence

Floats gently

Without a trace

It curves without lines

Coming up empty

Whistling through the void

Soundless and blank

Waiting

Photo by Miguel Maldonado on Unsplash

She plucked the long awaited fruit

Watched the buds appear and grow

The leaves spread out wide and green

Branches climbing through the sky

Slim stem broadening to solid trunk

Sapling rising shyly up

A tiny shoot, burst of green

Soil over the seed set in earth

She made room for the tree

The Fairy Godmother Has Her Say

Photo by Alex Hudson on Unsplash

It’s just as hard these days

The application process has changed

That’s all

Oh yes, please sit down

Fill out your name and address

Hobbies, griefs, and anguish

I’ll see what I can do

No, Ella didn’t have it easy

Scrubbing and washing and hoping

Dreaming of something better

When every door is closed -

Well, you know about that

Yes, I wave my magic wand

A dress like the sun

Silver shoes

Pumpkins become carriages

(For you, a scholarship)

But Arthur didn’t love the dress

He fell in love with her

The story skips how much they talked

Of history, dreams, and law

(If Ella were you, she’d be a lawyer,

But she lived then, not now)

I gave the opportunity

She did the rest

For you, four years of collage

Two more of grad school

Opportunity, all on you

Ella still doesn’t have it easy

(You won’t either)

You see, no one gets her name right

Her stepsisters left that mark on her

Better? Of course it’s better

Just not easy

Written for dVerse.

Rain-light

Photo by guy stevens on Unsplash

in the rain-light

splattering rays

fall down on sprouting

umbrellas that bloom 

and grow,

dancing flowers

unfurling wings

and taking flight

sending a rainbow to the sky

In the Kitchen

Photo by Andy Chilton on Unsplash

plum pudding does not steam itself

does not mix together the flour

or orange zest, or cinnamon,

the raisins, the nuts, the plums

that smell like Christmas

vegan cheese does not spring from cashews

fully formed, ready for plucking

there is soaking, and blending

and nutritional yeast

also, salt and garlic powder

and they do not measure themselves

nor does dinner call you to the table

laid out with dinner forks and salad forks

and knives and soup bowls and goblets

and places for desert

breakfast and lunch 

also take no  thought for themselves

so I take thought for them all

for the two hours of plum pudding

for the laying away of cashews

for the dinner and the breakfast and the lunch

I have but one complaint

the dishes do not wash themselves

Thyme

Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash

she planted a garden of many hues

to weed and to hoe

reaping and gathering

what her own fingers grew

peaches, raspberries and sage

pumpkins, garlic, lettuce and tomatoes

basil and mint and rosemary

for she has time

and bliss

Grandma

Photo by Devin Justesen on Unsplash

The ghosts of you

Walk throughout my life

Painted on the walls in watercolor

Stitched in strawberries with a peterpan collar

Planted in rows

And rows

Tulips, grapes, currants

Trees of apricots and apples

From you my inheritance comes

She taught me and you taught her

Passing threads that tether us

Beyond the slippery sands of time

How to Love a Baby

Happy National Poetry Writing Month! 30 days, 30 poems. Let's get started!

Photo by Christian Fickinger on Unsplash

Step One

Counting his toes is easy

And caching his smiles for winter days

Rocking, rocking, rocking

As he snuggles into dreams

Step Two

Is diapers

Attention to his every comfort

Changing, changing, changing

Repeating once you’re done

Step Three

Asking impossible questions

He won’t answer

As he cries

And rocking, or

Soft words, or diapers

Isn’t the answer

Step Four

All the hours of every day

Gathered in his fist

Clutching your hair

Anchoring him

Step Five

First is waiting

Nine months

Then minutes and days

For giggles,

For crawling, walking, running

Waiting years

For soccer games, his driver’s license,

(The first crash)

First date

His career

(Astronut? Electrician? Painter?)

Wedding bells

The beating heart 

Of his new baby

Prompt: Instructions.

Inherited

From your head to your toes

my finger gnawing baby

with the chubbiest of cheeks

I seek the mirror

of me

Whose eyes stare back at mine?

Are these my fingers here?

Or your grandfather’s chin

or my grandfather’s nose?

Do you speak with my voice

write with my pen

reach out to pet the yarn

and the cat, with my same joy?

Or do you introduce yourself

in a kaleidoscope of colors I don’t know

singing a song I’ve never heard?

Hourglass

Try to stop the falling grains of time

As they slip through your fingers

This past you cannot change

The words unspoken

Deeds undone

What if

With a flip

What sowing of joy

Would leave no regrets

Coating the past with golden dust

That shines forward into a future day?

Written for dVerse

Starlit

Turn your sight to the sound as

Unicorns flit between the trees

Vanishing down the starlit walk

Where sharp crystal hooves rap

Xylophone-like on flagstones leaving

Yellowed notes in the autumn breeze

An alphabet sestet: A poem of six lines where each line begins with a consecutive letter of the alphabet.

Written for dVerse.

You Hear Me

Lord, You heard my cry

When all the No’s

The stops

Blocked paths

And closed doors

Stood like stonewalls in my way

You reached down to me

Promising

With Your hand in mine

To walk the unknown with me

Then my heart had peace

Give me strength in my afflictions, Lord

I cannot go into the dark night alone

Alma 31: 30&31

…O Lord, wilt thou give me strength, that I may bear with mine infirmities…

…O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me…

Written for dVerse.

New Tricks

Teach the dog new tricks

Old, old, or young

Don’t let them lie

Complacent

And teach the cats

Send them away with tutors

Bid the mice work quantum wonders

Each one flocking together

Playing in fields of insight

Written for dVerse.

Reasons

It’s all about
All about the fun
The twist of words
Braided strand by strand
Woven with cadence
Rhythm and rhyme
Knotted with precision
Until every word is lace
Or else a tangle
It happens sometimes



Written for dVerse.

Reverie

Dreams
Sure as water
Held by a chain link fence
woven by starlight
And harp chords
Stronger than lions

Faith

Blindfolded with gossamer threads

With my eyes wide open

Seeing the swells, the wind 

Danger

No pathway through a raging ocean

But a whisper, like a dove

Flying steadily leads me on

Through the impossible

Past the tempestuous sea

Emerging on the far shore

Feet planted in the golden sand

Free from the storm; turning back

I see

Each link in the bridge that carried me