Cello Fellow

Photo by SilverGardenia

Music from a charming fellow

Pulling notes from an elegant cello

Glides over small flowers yellow

Sweet and soft and mellow

Written for dVerse Open Link Night

Commence

Photo by Penguinuhh on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Begin all the way at the end
with the reaping of wheat,
in the amber field by the river’s bend.
The stalks cut down arrive at death,
for the harvest is here,
when sheaves take their last breath,
gathering in each bountiful ear.
And should some stray kernels escape,
drifting down from the breeze
across the soft earth they drape.
Then at last it’s finally these
that bring us to the start,
to the seed that runs rife
with creation at it’s heart,
the commencement of life.

 

This poem is inspired by the following quote from Hemingway: 

 

 It is very hard to write this way, beginning things backward…
–The Torrents of Spring (1926) 

 

Written for dVerse.

 

Covid-19’s ABC’s

Photo by Ibrahim Boran on Unsplash

A is for Asymptomatic
    If you don’t know you have it, it’s quite problematic.

B is for Banana Bread
    Everyone’s baking it, they said.

C is for Contact-tracing
    Hold tight, we’re going virus chasing.

D is for Doctors Save Lives
    It could be your husbands or your wives.

E is for Emergency
    Treat it with urgency.

F is for Facemask
    Keep it on, that’s your task.
    
G is for Grocery Delivery
    A necessity; not a frippery.

H is for Home
    Stay put, don’t go roam.

I is for Isolation
    When you’re sick, hello frustration.
    
J is for Johnson & Johnson
    A one-dose option.

K is for Keep Sanitizing
    Stop the virus from arising.

L is for Loss of Taste and Smell
    Is it tasty or stinky? You can’t tell.

M is for Moderna
    Number two in the fight against corona.

N is for Nose Swab
    Yes it hurts, but it does its job.

O is for Online Learning
    But, in-person classes are the yearning.

P is for Pfizer
    Take it and be a little wiser.

Q is for Quarantine
    The post-travel two-week routine.

R is for Restaurants Closed
    Stay away so you don’t get exposed.

S is for Social Distancing
    Six feet apart and please don’t sing.

T is for Toilet Paper Rush
    Make sure you’re all stocked up and don’t forget to flush.
    
U is for Unemployment
    A dreadful disappointment.

V is for Virus Variants
    Villainous and nefarious.

W is for Wuhan
    Where the virus dawned.

X is for X Out Travel
    And watch our lives unravel.

Y is for Year Long Disaster
    When the virus was our master.

Z is for Zoom
    The universal electronic room.

 

 

Shared with dVerse. 

 

Guarding the Road

Photo by Alejandro Luengo on Unsplash

Across the river spans the ivory bridge
Linking perilous roads from to ridge to ridge
In the turbulent waters below
Dwells the troll
He keeps the bridge and guards the road
If you chance upon him do not run
Though his tusks are sharp and his mace can stun
And he could smash you into a blot
Without a second thought
Don’t try to hide
Just accompany him down to brunch
Where he’ll serve plums and quiche and punch



This is an update to a poem I wrote last year: Bridge Troll and shared with dVerse.

Monarch Revisited

Photo by Alex Guillaume on Unsplash

Inching o’er the milkweed stalk
munching leaves around the clock;
it has no time to stop and talk,
but continues on its hungry walk
feasting throughout the day.
Until at last it can begin,
to spin and spin and spin,
before retreating deep within,
hanging in a grand display.
On the branch, bundled; sleeping
resting from its insect creeping
in renewal steeping
tucked away from gazes peeping;
the chrysalis sways.
And morphs from gentle green to clear
until at last the cracks appear
now it’s time for the premier:
watch the tenant fly away.
Flitting now from flower to flower,
glorying in its newfound power;
as it wiles away the hour
monarch of this fragrant bower
lights upon a purple spray.
Glances o’er its fertile land,
where mint and lilac hand in hand
fan out like jewels in vistas grand
under the sun’s dazzling rays.



I started this poem back in 2019, updated it back in February, and then revisited it again now. I think I'm done at this point, but who knows! Shared with dVerse for OpenLinkNight.

The Sound of Sleep

Photo by insung yoon on Unsplash

The sound of sleep
Descends without a peep
With a flock of curly sheep
In bounds and leaps
Where the baby lies
Devoid of desperate cries
In a perfect dormant heap







Written for dVerse

Directions

Photo by Brianna Santellan on Unsplash

This way to your life, my friend

Go straight three blocks to the bend

Turn left there and slowly wend - 

No! Not to the right, come back!

Didn’t you hear a word I said?

Don’t you see this map I’ve got?

Better follow it to the end.

But now since you’re at the beach

To keep life’s goals within your reach

Go buy a ticket for the boat,

The boat I said, not the ferry!

No one gets anywhere on a ferry!

Once you’re there don’t set up camp

Don’t you know what the weather’s like?

Oh, very clever, you’ve brought a tent

A sleeping bag, a camera, and a lamp

But listen, you can’t stay here

You’ve got to live your life my dear!

And yet you’re living without a map

How do you do it without mishap?

This is not to say that all life advice should be ignored. But I'm sure we all have people in our lives who wonder if we even know where we're going.

Written for the Poetics Aside prompt Dicrections.

Shared with dVerse.

Defined

Harp: noun

1. Stringed instrument plucked by fingers 

    - Sweet notes echo long, begging me to stay and linger like a fairy’s beguiling song.

    - May I ever lift my voice each day with the harp in dulcet lays.

2. Musician’s soul

    - An aria in every breath and strings that make me whole, transcending even timeless death.

    - An immortal rhyme that opens portals of harmonies sublime.

    - A stunning debut of forgotten things that still ring true.

Synonym: a wild hymn, a golden lyre, a soul that sings with fire

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?

Storm and Stars

Photo by Tom Strecker on Unsplash

Listen to the song that sings in

clouded skies o’er a violin

of nighttime waves; beyond our ears

unheard. It’s meant for other spheres

where it glistens for the heart and

mind turning upward from the sand 

towards lightning; stars. An aria

for the eyes with soulful aura

bidding the patient seeker ask

the dark conducting skies unmask

the mysteries of light; melody

of the stars. The symphony

plays on with no hurry nor pause

to thunderous celestial applause.

Shared with dVerse OpenLinkNight.

Looking Ahead

Away in the distance
The path curves
Bending round the pines out of sight
I’ll only walk it once
With braced nerves
Yet ready for the mountain’s height



Shared with dVerse.


Prompt: Distance.

Snowfall

Snowflakes from the sky are hurling
In pale billows flurrying
Fluffy and puffy they’re swirling
Catching in eyelashes upward turning
Delight and laughter earning
Around and around the children are twirling
While the whiteness continues whirling


Written for dVerse.


 

Land Dreams

as the earth quakes and stirs

turning over in the night

dreams rousing from the blurs

pulling close a sea of blanket furs

spluttering in departing twilight

as the earth quakes and stirs

against the day’s saboteurs

blades of crackling light

sending dreams into blurs

the cycle whistles and whirs

silver beams to golden sight

As the earth quakes and stirs

the dawn chorus confers

wrens and finches take flight

fizzy dreams tumbling into blurs

As the earth quakes and stirs

Written for dVerse

Sister poem written by my friend Sarah can be found here.

Homophone Fun

Chic

Around the park take a peek

Dachshund, collie, and a peke

Glossy furred, stand at their peak

How dog shows can interest pique!

Peke is a short form for the Pekingese dog.

Cair Aureate

Air clear and bright this day my only heir

Dear look to the forest where run the deer

Pair by pair under golden hanging pear

Hear finches warble flying there and here

Hares fleet footed dart between maidenhairs

New kittens mewl learning what mothers knew

Bare bone facts for adventures they will bear

Flue warmth; spoken softness; where phoenix flew

Cair Aureate’s wealth all this; soon thy care

Peer well from castle to watery pier

Fair sights and sounds all come with the same fare

Tears or joy come walking its many tiers

Blue skies or gray I bore each way the wind blew

To face each wind stalwart is thy task too

Maidenhair is a kind of fern.

"Cair Aureate" is a Shadow Sonnet. In this sonnet form the first and last word of each line are the same or homophonic. 

Written for dVerse 

Paper flight

Fold for me a paper plane

We’ll fly away, just us twain

Lifted on a dulcet strain

I’ll be the pilot and steer us clear

While you behold the sights my dear

The clouds once so far draw near

See the heights we will attain!

We’ll fly over snowy peaks

Dive down with delighted shrieks

With mistrals breaking across our cheeks

Racing against the pearly cranes

Then hie we to the milky river

Past the moon shining silver

There we’ll land for new adventure

Propelled on by a sirin’s refrain

This poem is a Zejel, a Spanish from with the following pattern: aaa, bbba, ccca, ddda and can be continued for as long as one likes.

 

Definitions:

Dulcet -  pleasant to hear

Hie - to go quickly

Mistrals - cold northern winds in France.

Sirin - the Russian version of the Greek sirens. The sirins can be benevolent, which is what I wanted portrayed in the poem.

written for dVerse

Luna

for dVerse                                   

                                     full gibbous glimmer

                                     maiden aunt

                                     watching playful stars

                                     

nieces and nephews    

sitting still                   

only for moon’s stories

                                    

                                     ancient silver tales

                                     of magic

                                     wolves and unicorns