May we be blessed as we go through life…
To collect a lot of mementos and photographs…
of things and moments that brought us joy
that made us smile and laugh.
To keep this items close at hand…
these moments in time with friends and family…
so when we grow older all we need do is visit them
to awaken a memory.
Saqi
I yearn
To pluck these stars
Out of their distant stupor
To hurl them
And watch them explode
In the immeasurable
Distance
I yearn
To thunder
My intentions
to rip down
mountainous curtains
I yearn
To make
Curvaceous inroads
And watch the
Majestic peaks
Bend to kiss the valleys
I yearn
To stride across
Universes and
dimensions
And bend destiny
To merge
My reality
in your presence
Saqi I warn you
Tonight I am restless
And I will not be accountable
For all that I profess
Through my drunk verses
And
For tomorrow's consequences
Saqionahigh
Seema Kj
©SeemaJayaraman
27 Apr 2020
Collecting all manner of things,
From battered old derbies to rings,
He still couldn’t find,
It stayed on his mind,
A three-legged scarecrow that sings.
i thought
being alone
would feel like air—
light and open
but it is heavy here
walls pressing in
rooms filled with
everything i’ve lost
silence
settles like dust
covering pieces of me
i am afraid to lose
i watched you vanish
into air
as if you were never here
and now
i am scared
of becoming something
forgotten
on an empty shelf
but even here
with dust piling up
i will clear the space
and find what is left
of me
like i always do
drop me there, he said
because he loves orange
and he has not seen it since he left Urch19
I feel like I am home, he told the device
the ship lowered him into the field
he dutifully beamed a spray up
to show he had landed safely
there was laughter in the distance
he followed the sounds
discovering several children with an adult
since there were more of them than the teacher
he turned himself into another child
when they returned to the bus
the teacher discovered she had an extra charge
he did not respond to her questions
but she could not leave a child in the wilderness alone
he ended up in foster care
where he got a fast education
how to hotwire cars, what to steal and not steal
how to manipulate a foster parent
distorted data he collected to take back to Urch19.
yards mysteries show
small free range tree huggers climb
with nuts in their mouths
The Passion
It was a burning need
the desire to hold and hoard
not cars or rare antiques
but small and natural things
coloured stones from a beach
pales driftwood’s sculpted forms
parrots’ feathers of every hue
and discarded skin of a snake
such wonders of diversity
a bower built of treasured finds
until they overwhelmed my home
overtook the room for me.
old storm drain collects
discarded trash and wet leaves
carried by rainstorm
(Raven and Crystal)
Papa the Objectifier
Everywhere I look there are objects
Every shelf, table, nook and corner
Everywhere another item
Collected, amassed, treasured and displayed.
And this compulsion, obsession, vocation
Never ends, merely shifts around
Embracing a newfound subject
To objectify.
Papa, what did you do in the war?
What war son? Life is just a bowl of cherries,
And when it’s done we collect the pits
And they collect the bones.
(9/21/23)
We all collect something
it is natural to collect
the greater one's purse
the more varied and
abundant his verse. So~
even divine poets literally
not immune
a puddle, a shallow indentation
gathers
a sea, a basin of immense fill
greater renown – we all collect something
drips and drops, torrents of collecting!
Everywhere bloating affections abound –
stamps, vehicles, baubles of glitter~lightning
to wear and flash around
God and the Devil
competing for souls
everything collects something
even collections seeming magnets
for thieves
and dust
pitting and rust
polishing of sorts
affixed to all our lust
we all collect
stuffing our hearts full
until finite hearts bust
the final verse
a new universe
free from collection
my hope
The tide weaves and wends
its' way among the pier posts
where I will dig for tiny
shark's teeth and whelks in the sand;
I love making genuine oceanside jewelry.
A photo your mind's eye took
Captured by a long, hard stare
Like "a painting in a book"
To re-visit memories there
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dedicated to the real Malka Mai. Inspired by Malka, by Mirjam Pressler.
Ch. 12, pg. 96. SPEAK, Penguin Group, 2001.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the poet chases with his verve
to accomplish the ideas and sentiments
that will flaunt verses in his poesie !
The Little Tykes
The little tykes,
They’re early trained
To hold onto little bags —
To carry their collected needs,
Or special treats,
Or found symbols of imaginings
To be kept for them alone —
In their name-labeled bags
That decades later they’ll keep
In the cabinets and closets
Of what they’ll call
As their own homes.
————————————————————————————-
(C)sally young eslinger 6/21/22
Inspiration:
From binkies with a toy and spare diaper; to Matchbox car and a glittery
stone found on the ground: to lunches; to…
Anyone here old enough to recall Penny Candy choices?
Currently like picking $1/ piece in specialty chocolate shops
Shall I collect the petals as they fall?
As you pluck each one without their consent
Will you smile if I can gather them all?
And give them to you a scented present
This field of Spring covered in green clover
Is painted by the sun with soft pure light
And shows new vistas as shades pass over
To cover my held petals with delight
The grass moves in waves across the meadow
From a warm west wind that rolls where we lay
The birds fly high to become a shadow
They follow the sun's light and float away
And though the petals fell, they did not land
Between us, they stayed, still safe in my hand
2/28/20
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