Who would have guessed — when I tilted my heart
toward baby lizard, perched on a colored desert stone,
she’d blink one eye at me, turn to smile, it seemed,
and lend a listening ear?
I’d only said in a lizard way:
I love you.
And who would have thought — that when stone had heard me
loving her, it would, it seem, speak back?
Loving stone, I was!
Stone, I so admire your villages.
I smile to your many stone peoples.
I eavesdrop on universal questions posed
around sacred fires carefully tended.
And around one hearth, among
cinder specks scattered– that one minute wisp,
grain of cinder there.
Dare I say I love you too?
I do! I do!
In that cinder grain I hear —
worlds of stars, sweetly singing!
By way of explanation, reader friend,
such is what a practice of
loving all beings equally
has made of me.
Crazed being?
Could be.
But could you nonetheless
accept the possibility
and likewise go love adventuring?
If you’d prefer, we could earnestly
and objectivity talk it all through.
Or say ~ Love come!
Speak through us.
Teach us how to listen.
Spending island time
adventuring into
the sunshine beaches
palms, bars
and vacation memories
bringing warmth
value and good vibes
to our health and soul
The mind pirouettes, ideas come about
creative imagination seeded then sprout.
The thickening of the roots
the strengthening of the limbs
flourishing concepts from within.
Now it’s time to go beyond
an expedition to worlds not found.
It is here to be courageous
and test limits of intellect,
adventuring outside
parameters of being correct.
Shinoatis carinthitim spendocious tellee
Hoven precurios shallus ohhe freeh
Nowtween freye overis beh thye lates
Slowwlly koming bakk inside guarded gates.
It is this risk that must be taken
leaving the conforming habitual haven.
These outside worlds bring inside veracity
deepening the roots of life’s capacity.
Quiet, restful Summer took us venturing
the season that matured from early Spring.
But now it's facing change, adventuring
to the stage that bends to Autumn's call.
Blissfully canceling direction, enters Fall
to soon create new glories all its own,
as Summer's pastel colors overhaul
to golden, burnished hues new days will bring.
Air becoming cooler, daylight even fades
as the sun sets earlier each day.
Landscapes turn to ash till each pervades
bright Autumn leaves that fall from every tree.
Left meandering near open places, quilts
of colored leaves grace the withered lawns;
while naked tree trunks stand like waiting stilts-
to sleep in Winter and awake next Spring.
bison-decisive way
to kill
mosquitoes
§
fire up
those patties
§
not
before eating
the reborn
fish feast
of
Yellowstones’s Spring
§
believing
naturally that
bison’s
dung-scent
discourages
the buzz
§
curbs
madness of
interloper’s
adventuring
§
withstanding
the stench
not
wasted
We can do almost anything
take a nap or go adventuring;
I get lost in how you make me feel
still I wonder is this connection real?
You set off such carnal energy
while keeping your thoughts from me;
So much love in a single glance,
or is it merely coincidence?
Catchy refrain oh the things you say;
then other times you just walk away;
Fighting then I sit and count to ten,
I’m In love with us all over again.
i can’t complete a scene
no voices heard
in early years
i’d not retain
i’m all alone
i see it all -
school tables
the painting easel
the cardboard bricks
graham crackers and milk
i’d bounce along a truck tire -
sandbox of neighbor
ate cream cheese
& jelly sandwiches
on the braided rug
their mother crafted
but don’t recall
our conversation
life was quiet
i took it in
the subtle moods
and the trees
were always my friends
the breeze before the storm
the excitement as they whipped
and roared -
i retain this
the forest of my mind
tethered to sweet honesty
and honeysuckle scents
to loneliness
and friends
later I’d own a record player
go ‘round and ‘round with puppy love
and shake your booty
hang out with girlfriends
talking of spooky things and boys
i’d pack my bag
fly south in the Winter
take hold
of my seabag
go adventuring
searching for words
8/3/2022
When the sun comes out on a cloudy day
Neighborhood children come out to play,
My spirits are lifted, and gloom goes away
Because I am old, I appreciate the young
They bring back memories, songs I sung
Times adventuring, flings that were flung.
Carefree and happy, I watch them grow
Running everywhere with no place to go
Makes me want to go back….….although.
Looking up, as the sun was beaming above.
My eyes did water for I felt in my heart, love.
Could this be the path that we will take one day?
As the clouds looked beautiful as they spread in a way.
For I felt complete to even think this could be a path I may take.
For when I leave this world and a transition I make.
Could this be what they called heaven, could this be the way?
For it was magical and maybe I will find out one day.
For now, I will rest and see what life will bring.
From my morning coffee and listening to the bird's sing.
I will enjoy time with my family and my friends.
Dancing and learning new twists and bends.
Most of all I will make memories and enjoy life at its best.
I know I will be busy so I won't forget to rest.
Yet to think of beauty on earth is what we make of it.
Starting tomorrow, creating and adventuring will be the perfect fit.
My heart lies amongst those majestic hills
Where the sun stretches to warm the holler
When spring comes, sending down rippling rills
My heart lies amongst those majestic hills.
Life’s plain, there are not many fads and frills
Beauty in natural adventuring making thrills
The reds and yellows of autumn, the “color,”
My heart lies amongst those majestic hills
Where the sun stretches to warm the holler.
Life’s plain, there are not many fads and frills
Beauty in natural adventuring making thrills
My heart lies amongst those majestic hills
Where the sun stretches to warm the holler
The red and yellows of autumn, the “color,”
But some folks only see poverty’s squalor.
Written January 27, 2022
[This is a trionet, a poetry form I invented,
adding a second stanza to the triolet and
producing a fourteen-line rhyming sonnet]
I pressed my face against the thick pane of glass
And stared out into the black of nearest space
Where my planet-home Earth hung suspended
Like a special well-worn ornament on a spruce tree
Decorated with multi-colored bulbs and angel hair
Earth swirling inside webs of gray cloud shrouding
So peacefully, it appeared, she drifted silent there
While I saw visions of peoples struggling to be free
Knowing on us so much of their future depended
Adventuring to the unknown, and finding a place
Where Earth’s inhabitants might egress en masse.
written October 23, 2021
[using a reverse rhyme I often
employ in more recent poems]
I would like to live in a house in the The Shire;
sit upon the stoop, smoke a pipe, blow fancy rings
into the air.
I would like to go adventuring; slay the dragon,
retrieve it's hoard of gold, become a legend.
I would like to live to one hundred and eleven,
celebrate, then disappear.
Inspired by the adventures of Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit in JRR Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring".
INVENTIONS
ARE THE MATERIALIZATION
OF THE IMAGINATION.
IMAGINE...
IF YOU WILL...
A SMARTPHONE
THE SIZE
OF A GRAIN OF RICE.
IMPLANTED
IN YOUR HEAD.
WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AND CONNECTIONS
TO SUPER COMPUTER
SATELLITES
ORBITING THE EARTH.
ANSWERING QUESTIONS
FASTER
THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
GRAPHENE LENSES
COVERING YOUR EYEBALLS
PROJECTING IMAGES
FOR VISUAL ASSISTANCE
AND FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED.
IMAGINE FREQUENCIES
REVERBERATING
BACK AND FORTH
BETWEEN YOU
AND THE UNIVERSE.
CREATING VISUALS
OF GALAXIES
2.5 MILLION
LIGHT YEARS REMOVED.
IMAGINE...
TRAVELING
TO THE EDGE OF QUASARS.
ADVENTURING
INTO AND THROUGH
BLACK AND WHITE HOLES
WITH OUT FEAR.
EXPLORE DARK MATTER.
EXPERIENCE
THE FRAGRANCE AND TASTE
OF COSMIC DUST.
COMMUNICATE
WITH A DEGENERATE DWARF.
VISIT AND MINGLE
WITH A BROWN DWARF.
UNDERSTAND
HOW AND WHY
THEY ARE CONSIDERED
THE UNDERACHIEVERS
OF THE UNIVERSE.
FEEL THE ENERGY OF
THE UNIVERSE.
EXPLORE THE THEORY
OF MAGNETIC STRUCTURE
OF MATTER.
COMPREHEND AND UNDERSTAND
THE HELICAL SOLAR SYSTEM.
COMPLEMENTS OF YOUR
FUTURE SMARTPHONE.
Michael E. Harris
08162021
The distant rumbling din at readied aircraft,
Signaled impending flight in space, anticipating
Adventures never experienced by humans
News media reservedly calling them daft.
Speeding skyward they eventually entered space
And circled against the earth’s restricting high
Repeating their tasks, their circling game,
They returned, landed at the planet’s face.
Respectful applause the adventuring “nauts”
Shyly received, (they surely earned it much)
Trips never dreamed feasible as such,
Special rewards received were many lauds
Their place in the prestige-heavy almanac,
Brave men saying they will always fly back.
A lipogram (the letter “o” carefully omitted)
written on May 31, 2021
for “Lipogram” poetry contest
sponsored by Emile Pinet
It is neat to gaze upon a star;
light shows the way -- God's route.
Adventuring near, adventuring far
affirming persons who doubt.
Light shows the way -- God's route.
My story is that light can infuse each rift
affirming persons who doubt,
forgetting malice which love will lift.
My story is that light can infuse each rift
forgiving faults with peace and joy
forgetting malice which love will lift.
Givers are more blessed than getters, Ahoy!
Forgiving faults with peace and joy
adventuring near, adventuring far.
Givers are more blessed than getters, Ahoy!
It is neat to gaze upon a star.
January 12, 2020, revised Jan. 30, 2020
Major edits since the contest was judged.
Always striving to improve.
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