The Sanctuary
The wind grows cold, branches turning bare sending yellow leaves down in silent arcs.
Raindrops tap a steady rhythm on the window pane while inside, the world stays safe and still.The espresso machine hums its lazy tune and spiced cider flows in deep gold waves.
I hold the heavy ceramic cup, absorbing the heat watching steam rise in soft, slow curls as cinnamon and roasted beans sweeten the air. Every sip tastes like a quiet afternoon a brief pause while daylight fades into an early night.
The ceramic mug clicks against the wood, empty I push past the heavy glass door breaking the spell of cinnamon and steam.
The street greets me with a sharp, gray slap—traffic roaring, the wind pulling at my collar.
My shoulders tense under the weight of what waits next stepping back into the noise and the heavy, crowded day, but for a few blocks more the ghost of warm cider stays on my tongue ,a small, hidden shield against the frost.
Fall is here, its aroma stays upon my lips, warm soft fall sweater wrapped snuggly around my neck, untill tomorrow where my Sanctuary will once again beckon me
What can a loving community bring?
Hope, like a blossoming flower in spring.
Gentle winds that green trees will swing.
The melody of a beautiful bird’s chirp and sing.
Sunlight rises, bringing rays of a golden sky.
Children wake up excited, while the parents sigh.
The family prepares for this wonderful day.
Holding a basket of food, they drove away.
Arriving at the park, they greeted loved ones and friends.
As children run and scream with joy, that never ends.
Cut green grass plays deliciously on bare feet.
Picnics for families and lovers ready to feast.
In the afternoon, a playful wind invites kites to fly.
Children gleefully run, enticing them to the sky.
Crowds of the loving community gather at dusk.
Swapping tender stories of families as children fussed.
A star-studded night gives way to the fireworks display.
The crowd parts with hugs and smiles, going their way.
To their home of incredible love and happiness.
They bed their children with dreams that are blessed.
Good night, dear community. We’ll see you again.
Praying for another day of love and happiness that never ends.
Mermaid
This afternoon a mermaid swam to the shore and took flight, so you didn’t, know that the beautiful creatures who live in our seas can fly, she lifted her delicate silky wings and flew seeing me staring forlornly by the kitchen window with a dishcloth in my left hand not seeing a fairytale being I used to believe in as a child
She knocked on the window I opened up, but not much because close up she lolled like a Karen of the type saying men are useless but call you to open a tin of sausages or fetch her slippers in the bedroom Suddenly she took fright and flew away but the
knocking persisted it was my neighbor who wanted me to scrub her back, I helped her out of the bathtub, and before stood a scrawny 84-year-old mermaid
A picnic basket I will bring
Inside will be most everything
I know you like, and also more
I'll pick to try from favorite store
A picnic blanket where we'll sit
The grass so green, your hair sunlit
I'll lay straight back upon one arm
And take you in, all of your charm
The attributes that you imbue
They turn me upside down, it's true
I'm not a silly goose you see
It's really your effect on me
The afternoon, a lazy day
Spent just with you, no work, all play
And it will still get better yet
It won't be long until sunset
Moody Blues is playing through my speakers
And my mind
A gentle tune of yesterday that feels so
Very kind
Tuesday afternoon, a fairyland
of awe
Plays scenes of yesters' visions
From youthful dreams
I saw
I close my eyes, time drifts away
Aloft a tune,
of yesterday
Sun-ripe strawberries oh so sweet
Tempting swollen fruit to eat
Red berries in dish of cool ice-cream
Awesome moment a summer dream
Wonderful taste lingers on tongue
Beloved by all of us old and young
Each afternoon a strawberry wish
Ruby rhapsody in my dish
Remembering when I was very young
Idyllic memories of summer sun
Each lick of my spoon was sheer delight
So much enjoyed each swallow and bite.
Ice Cream
Poetry Contest
Sponsored
by:
Julia Ward
Compulsory words:
strawberries, dish, tongue, afternoon
28/06/2022
Pixabay Image by:Kai_Vogel
What's an Easter twofer?
Rose and Ted celebrate
Jesus first, then bunnies.
Bible story done, then
read the Sunday funnies.
What's an Easter twofer?
fancy hat Rose will wear,
new clothes, they go to church.
Mid-afternoon, a feast,
as candy eggs they search.
What's an Easter twofer?
Rose's hat serves her well;
morning - it warms her head.
Better, this afternoon
hides her goodies from Ted.
April 19, 2022
Sponsor Andrea Dietrich
Contest Name ALL APRIL in MONCHIELLE
Theme: Anything to do with Easter
The Free Dictionary defines "twofer" as an offer or arrangement in which a single expense or amount of effort produces two returns.
A poor soul approached who was singing the blues
He asked, 'What does God no longer want me to do?'
'What is hateful to you, do not do to others
All the rest is commentary, my dear brother'
He said, 'I've never heard it that way before
When you've time, I'd like to hear more'
Though I thanked the blues singer very much ~
Hillel's words, not mine, his heart touched
_____________________________________
Hillel was a Talmudic Sage of the 1st Century
BCE. On the brink of the Sabbath one late Fri-
day afternoon, a stranger asked him: 'Tell me
the Torah on one foot.' Hillel replied, 'What is
hateful to you do not do to others. All the rest
is commentary. Go and learn.' (Talmud,
Shabbos 31a)
Strains of chamber music fill the air
Invited guests have come to share,
Cozied pots filled with steeping teas
For the Kitties, Collie, Bear and me.
A table filled with a sumptuous fare,
Cakes, scones with cream, and a torte with pears
Served on plates edged in filigree
A perfect afternoon, a jubilee.
For Eve Ropers Contest: Rhyming Me a Poem Poetry Contest
11/12/21
Photo#4
Placed 1st in contest
The leaf blower sweeps the damp leaves-
they swirl, spin-a congregation of tiny fluttering wings-whose colors are of a light grey storm- cloud awash in an October apricot- gold sunset.
The dead leaves flap like the quick quaver of the wings of the Hummingbird, although its delicate hover is solitary.
Within a sunlit afternoon a Hummingbird alit on a branch in a tree in an Autumn bloom..was still..almost like a miniature inanimate bird, yet zoetic, of course.The winged reptile was the hue of a morning sea.
And the Hummingbird’s beauty transformed into a light perch on the limb of the fully
flushed tree, for the weight of the bird did not bend the dove-tinted branch, not at all.
The tree is now bursting with deep ruby berries. Its slender branch, a "finger" that held the blue-silvery Hummingbird last Summer now lies upon a mass of mocha orange chips.
A tiny beast with sunflower eyes and sorrel-leucous dusky hues spots and chases the culled bony sprig as it is towed by her human. With this tiny leafless limb the cat is lured into her home.
A few dying leaves fall, drift gently, quiver, and rest on the grass. The leaf-blower...
Friday afternoon a Jew's week winds down
His business shuttered
Tired sun sinks toward the ground
A workingman puts away his modest dress
~ A newly crowned king dons his Sabbath best
At a checkpoint sits a four-door sedan, brown paint faded by years of unremitting sun, pitted by hundreds of sandstorms. Only bullet holes exposing fresh metal and the still-inflated tires are new.
Inside, four crimson-splattered corpses: father at the wheel, forced against the seatback by the impact of tens of bullets, his eyes still fixed on the road ahead; mother's head smashed against the caved-out passenger-side window; two children riveted to the backs of the rear seats, a limp rag doll in one lap.
Outside, death lives in the instant silence; hearts slowly descend from throats to resume their monotony; lungs exhale and fear-frozen fingers relax, beginning to feel again.
A year and half later, in his parents' backyard on a sunny Sunday afternoon, a 23-year-old US soldier kills himself with a single bullet to the head.
Gloom of morning comes calling
With fog rolling off her back
Gray skies are equally appalling
When nimbus clouds are black
Bringing steady rain without slack.
Late afternoon a feeble sun appears
To brighten an otherwise dreary day
Lifting our spirits as evening nears
Lets us believe all is going to be okay
Tomorrow blue skies will be so gay.
written July 1, 2021
Greeting children at our school from the car line yesterday.
First car seemed to be parked. No one appeared to be in it.
Maybe someone is gardening, I thought. The garden is six feet from it.
The brake lights came on. I expected a child to get out.
No child did. I had a peculiar feeling about it, an unsafe feeling.
I went inside got a pencil and paper and wrote down the plate number.
Continued greeting children. The car did not move. No one got out.
I was feeling unsettled.
Was someone waiting for a particular child? And why?
That afternoon a man claiming to be a father tried to get into the school.
He was shaking and kicking a side door. A teacher asked what he wanted.
He said he was a father and wanted in. She told him to go to the front.
He went to another side door and tried it.
I gave the license plate number to security when they came.
Because I had felt unsafe.
Man was mentally unstable.
Coasting on a thermal
that is how I feel today
so many changes
my head and heart are relieved
Today I breathe the sea
this morning I glide
on a smooth coating of perhaps
Hear the sound of nature
against the sky
mold my thoughts to the ether
absolve myself of innocent sins
Today I breathe the sea
in the afternoon a walk of contemplation
to hover cautiously with each step
Outside the world calls
crossroads always branching
again, a pause for clarity
tomorrow will come hopefully
Today I breathe the sea
evening brings me eased mind
the shine of a thousand eyes
3-2-2021
1st place
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