This gloaming settles
Calm and gray
And ominous,
Its shadows falling
Black on dark
From each detail
That fills this room:
A chiffonier,
That nightstand lamp,
The closet door
She left ajar,
And, buxom,
Looms her silhouette,
In reticence
Beside the bed
Where loneliness,
This gloomy night,
Will be held at bay.
September 13, 2017
Silhouette Poetry Contest,
Craig Cornish, Sponsor
Categories:
chiffonier, loneliness, night,
Form: Free verse
Vintage photo hanged
In the defaced wallpaper
A remembrace of years
Recollected and encased
In the cedar chiffonier
3-28-2016
Categories:
chiffonier, imagination,
Form: Tanka
I woke to find confusion in my yard,
signs FOR SALE! had sprouted overnight,
it seemed that people far and wide had heard
EVERYTHING MUST GO! a welcome sight.
"Take Vanity," decried the auctioneer,
"Arrogance and Anger, special, two for one,
Indiscretion will look good on your chiffonier,
a case of Grief, come on, we're almost done!"
'Twas barely noon, my garden was a wreck,
bits of Indecision scattered here and there,
Laziness had gone, nary a speck,
no sign of Despair, no remnant anywhere.
Hundreds rummaged through my underwear,
like a bargain basement they were indiscreet,
they left, and there was not a thing to spare,
my soul was clean at last, my life was sweet!
Categories:
chiffonier, writing,
Form: Quatrain
...inspired by 'The Auction' by Theodore Roethke
I woke to find confusion in my yard,
signs 'FOR SALE!' had sprouted overnight,
it seemed that people far and wide had heard
"Everything Must Go!" a frightful sight!
"Take Vanity," decried the auctioneer,
"Arrogance and Anger, special, two for one,
Indiscretion will look good on your chiffonier,
a box of Grief, come on, we're almost done!"
'Twas barely noon, my garden was a wreck,
bits of Indecision scattered here and there,
Laziness had gone, nary a speck,
no sign of Despair, no remnant anywhere.
Hundreds rummaged through my underwear,
like a bargain basement they were indiscreet,
they left, and there was not a thing to spare,
my soul was clean at last, my life was sweet!
Categories:
chiffonier, business,
Form: Verse
Present Date: December 25, 1995
Envelope Date Stamped: December 23, 1944
From: _______ no return address but clearly overseas
To: Addressed to widow living in same home 54 years
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Letter
The letter came by mail on Christmas Day
The envelope was clearly decades old
No postal service can be used today
From overseas the stamps were sealed and sold
This could not be about the man I lost
The mystery of where he is remains
Is MIA from World War II his cost
In this enfolded missive clue contains
An overwhelming fear takes hold of me
To get this letter on a holiday
My life content but miss my man at sea
Potential subterfuge to my dismay ?
Sit next to flaming hearth not thinking clear
There's something that this letter has to say
Mentation meditates the chiffonier
I put away to read another day
Categories:
chiffonier, first love, lost love,
Form: Iambic Pentameter
...inspired by 'The Auction' by Theodore Roethke
I woke to find confusion in my yard,
signs 'FOR SALE!' had sprouted overnight,
it seemed that people far and wide had heard
"EVERYTHING MUST GO!" a frightful sight!
"Take Vanity," declared the auctioneer,
"Arrogance and Anger, special, two for one,
Indiscretion will look good on your chiffonier,
a box of Grief, come on, we're almost done!"
'Twas barely noon, my garden was a wreck,
bits of Indecision scattered here and there,
Laziness had gone, nary a speck,
no sign of Despair, no remnant anywhere.
Hundreds rummaged through my underwear,
like a bargain basement they were indiscreet,
they left, and there was not a thing to spare,
my soul was clean at last, my life was sweet!
Categories:
chiffonier, on writing and words,
Form: Quatrain
Round clutches of merriment,
And contemplative fumes,
Rattle the chiffonier of things past.
Off-white memories are shaken out,
Studied and delicately refolded for safe keeping.
In the distance, the hues of evening,
Drape gently across the castle walls,
And warm the clouds over the sea.
The breeze so close to show His face,
Something neither word nor man can capture.
To my starboard side, my golden glance,
My rose petals in a Grecian Urn,
My heart for her, given on the altar.
Ever closer our touch, ever stronger,
Our bond in this life, cast in off-white plaster.
Forgiven the herald of the Rock’s betrayal,
A rooster crows for awakening,
In the early evening, perched in an orange tree.
“Be awake in this life, and be grateful,
Or you may pass by those sweet fruits that grace golden toil.”
Categories:
chiffonier, faith, inspirational, life
Form: Free verse
FOR SALE!
...inspired by 'The Auction' by Theodore Roethke
I woke to find confusion in my yard,
signs 'FOR SALE!' had sprouted overnight,
it seemed that people far and wide had heard
"Everything Must Go!" a frightful sight!
"Take Vanity," decried the auctioneer,
"Arrogance and Anger, special, two for one,
Indiscretion will look good on your chiffonier,
a box of Grief, come on, we're almost done!"
'Twas barely noon, my garden was a wreck,
bits of Indecision scattered here and there,
Laziness had gone, nary a speck,
no sign of Despair, no remnant anywhere.
Hundreds rummaged through my underwear,
like a bargain basement they were indiscreet,
they left, and there was not a thing to spare,
my soul was clean at last, my life was sweet!
Categories:
chiffonier, dedication
Form: Quatrain
FOR SALE!
...inspired by 'The Auction' by Theodore Roethke
I woke to find confusion in my yard,
signs 'FOR SALE!' had sprouted overnight,
it seemed that people far and wide had heard
"Everything Must Go!" a frightful sight!
"Take Vanity," decried the auctioneer,
"Arrogance and Anger, special, two for one,
Indiscretion will look good on your chiffonier,
a box of Grief, come on, we're almost done!"
'Twas barely noon, my garden was a wreck,
bits of Indecision scattered here and there,
Laziness had gone, nary a speck,
no sign of Despair, no remnant anywhere.
Hundreds rummaged through my underwear,
like a bargain basement they were indiscreet,
they left, and there was not a thing to spare,
my soul was clean at last, my life was sweet!
Categories:
chiffonier, fantasy
Form: Quatrain