NaPoWriMo

During the  month of April I will take part in National Poetrry Writing Month. My goal is to write a poem every day.  I will not say "commit" though, as I do not want to set myself up for a situation in which I would have to beat myself up if I fail.  Wish me luck; and if you are one who will participate, I wish you luck too.

Musty Moments

(For We Write Poems)


Musty Moments

Musty moments
line my mind,
stale thoughts abound.

No sunlight can find
the way through
to lessen the stench

of the sludge.
I cannot escape
no matter how I try.

Stink overpowers me
makes me gag, drains
passion, compassion.

I scream, no one hears,
I know it will end soon.
I choke on my words.

Soldier

Soldier

Soldier, strong man
kind man. family man
son-in-law you serve country
with determination, courage
intelligence, skill,
prepared to give all
at any moment,
Germany, Bosnia, Kuwait,
Iraq twice, more,
you are prepared
one of many, my hero.
We are in good hands
with people like you

Inseparable

(a bit of fantasy for Writers Island)

Inseparable

She had forty-six dreams
inseparable from one another
telling the stories of lives connected
in forty-six ways for forty-six years.
She conjured remarkable stories,
produced them in Technicolor
as if they were real, and to her
they were. Spider webs connect
them together with silver threads
which glow in the moonlight
and she smiles forty-six smiles,
each inseparable from the one before.

Hope

Hope


(for Poets United)



Hope is what you have
when you have nothing else
when you can do nothing
when prayers fail
the tsunami is about to strike
death is inevitable
and you dream you can
ride the wave, and with
arms outstretched
and a smile on your face
you surf into eternity.

Gold and Green

Gold goes with green
not for St Patrick's Day, which looms,
but for the Green Bay Packers
the team which beat the odds
and won the Super Bowl
praise the lord the underdog
sometimes does win and the
little people sometimes succeed
and damn it feels good to
have something to celebrate now.

Spring at Last

Spring at Last


Mid March think spring
lush violet harbinger
all that is good
all that is beautiful
all that is happy.

Riches abound
surround regal purple
spring majesty
arise triumphant
over winter at last.

(for Magpie Tales)

Against My Grain

(for We Write Poems)

Against My Grain

I write when I can
always crave to
sometimes cannot
do not despise myself
when I produce
only a few lines.

I write when I can,
always crave to
work purposefully
my goal in mind,
do not allow myself
an easy escape.

Sometimes writing
goes against my grain.
With no time or thought
motivation is weak
I always crave to
write when I can.

Ghosts

Ghosts


Sleepless nights, I sort through my mind
for ghosts from my past, people almost forgotten,
but not quite, those I knew long ago, weeks or
months, a year or more, even two or three years,
who might still be important to me yet today
if only they had not walked out of my life,
if only I had not walked out of theirs.
Sometimes the exits were not deliberate
Someone moved or graduated and went
their own way. Sometimes the exits were
intentional. A friendship didn't work out. A
relationship didn't gel. Someone just walked
away no reason mentioned. Those were the
hardest times. I still wonder about some of
these people, only during sleepless nights.
Sometimes I wonder if I made mistakes
the times it was my choice to walk away.
I wonder if those who walked away wonder
the same thing during their sleepless nights
or if I have been totally forgotten. If only their
stories had not ended abruptly, never to be
updated, I might know what happened to these
people from my past, and they might be friends.
I wonder where they are now, the ghosts from
my past. Sad that I'll never know.

Everything Falls Apart

Everything Falls Apart


Everything falls apart
eventually.
Nothing lasts forever.

Governments destroy themselves,
cultures decay from within,
appliances wear out,
technology becomes obsolete.

Friendships wear thin,
body beautiful wrinkles,
knees wear out, eyes fail,
muscles sag, face lifts fall.

Fools believe they can cheat death.
put hopes in charlatans,
chase the cure around the globe,
start foundations in their name,
while cancer cells grow undeterred,

Parkinsons, Alzheimers succeeds,
Michael J. Fox, President Reagan,
Patrick Swayze, Farrah Fawcett,
Steven Jobs, Ted Kennedy, you, me,
no one is immune.from decay.

Nothing is immortal.
Everything falls apart
eventually.

My Song for Today

A friend of mine gave me the book Jersey Rain by Robert Pinsky.  The first poem in the book was "Samurai Song.  Here it is on the "Writer's Almanac" site:

Robert Pinsky's "Samurai Song"

It inspired the following poem:

My Song for Today

When I had no happiness,
the sunrise was my joy.
When I had no time,
I threw away my watch.

When I had no friends,
I walked with my dogs.
When I had no sleep,
solitude was my rest.

When I had no youth
I conjured myself sage.
When I had no voice,
poetry gave me words.

When I had no love, my
granddaughter gave a hug.
When I had no dreams
I learned to enjoy the dark.

When I have no faith
I act as if I do.
When I have no peace
I rest in my God.

My Simple Wish

My Simple Wish

I wish I lived on an island,
had three days only for me,

three days to read poetry,
write poetry, walk dogs.

Simple desires, nothing more.
How I miss walking dogs.

So many human assholes,
stories too long to share.

I try to shut my mouth, smile,
wish I were a better faker, a liar,

but I am not getting any younger.
The dogs aren't getting younger,

and I am tired of other people,
crave simplicity and life with dogs

who demand little and give much.
That is my simple wish.

Love From the Heart

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. "

"You become responsible forever for what you have tamed."

My poem below incorporates the above quotes (which are italicized in the poem) from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery.  This book is one of the few books I have read again and again and again!

Love From the Heart


It is only with the heart
that one can see rightly,
there is no other way.

whoever would say one can
judge actions in another way
does not have the heart I do.

Irrational is sometimes rational,
rational is sometimes irrational.
Sometimes life isn't fair at all,

but my heart will guide me,
God I pray this is true,
and I do the best I can daily.

What is essential is invisible
to the eye, to my eye, to your eye
I keep my eyes focused on love.

Love is my only answer
I am responsible for what
I have tamed.  Forever!

Guardian Angel

(for We Write Poems)

Guardian Angel

I am in search of a guardian angel,
observe strangers on the street,
wonder about people I know,

look around every corner,
hope for an appearance in dreams.
I have heard they are for real.

God, I hope you send someone
to make sure that I'm okay
to take my hand when I need it,

to hold me up if I fall. If so,
I have been trying to find her.
Now I wonder, is it you?

The Dancer

The Dancer

The Dancer

She glided rhythmically and effortlessly
led me through moves I didn't know I could make
inspired confidence in me, a non dancer
made me a believer in spite of my doubt
I see her now as I squint my eyes, she dances
on the lanai under the setting of the Kona sun.
She will dance again someday, I know she will.