The moon curls up into the
night,
And fluffs a cloud of downy
white.
He tucks the stars into their
beds,
With silver blankets over their
heads,
Then softly find his golden
light.
zephyr fluffs pampas
grass, chilling its green sharp leaves....
red oak leaves coat lawn
The backyard fills with windy snow
For the whole weekend
Until the floor of the Earth
Fluffs itself
Levitates
And observably lifts its pedestal
A foot closer
To the sky
Reaches
And clutches
The feather
Of my busy wind chime
Hung
To the side of a Maple
Holds it still
By its tail
Brings
The music of the storm
To a stop
I hold my last-chance breath
For the piccolos of the chickadees
To take over
For the trees to slide away
The snowmen they have become
For my mother’s mind to come back to us.
Ivory flakes fluttering down,
Turns the ground into white from brown,
A soft blanket of silver snow,
Kisses from heaven sent below;
It clothes the earth with milky mark,
Has that extra glittering spark,
God rains down blessings floating slow,
Kisses from heaven sent below;
Moonlike little stars in the air,
Frosted fluffs flying everywhere,
Covered in icy crystal glow,
Kisses from heaven sent below;
Melt-on-the-tongue magic stardust,
Diamond dots on the winter gust,
This lacy quilt coats the meadow,
Kisses from heaven sent below;
Frozen tidbits settle on me,
I feel fantastic, feel so free,
Caught in a snow globe, I'm aglow,
Kisses from heaven sent below;
Who else can make this unique thing?
None, but my God, who is The King,
His love in winter, He does show,
Kisses from heaven sent below.
New years old wishes are
the dandelion fluffs of my life’s springtime.
I blew wistfully on a pappus; its many feathered seeds
wafted – weightless as whispers – in the wind.
To where they flew, I do not know.
Very few of them found their way
into any of my own new years yet to come.
Did they scatter out into a Dreamland,
to manifest themselves in the lives of others
of whom I sometimes felt a bit envious?
I imagine the tiny dandelion parachutes
of others’ longings as having lifted and then
drifted unexpectedly into some of my better new years.
They had not been my specific wishes; nevertheless,
they were gracious seedlings of yearnings
that planted themselves and grew to bless my life.
I stopped blowing on candles or dandelion fluff
many many years ago. Hardly any wants -new or old -
do I wish for any more. Life is what it is.
In any new year, I will take what floats my way.
Soft kisses from the sky,
Sparkly ice fluffs floating,
Silent whispers that fly,
Silver blanket coating,
Sovereign's cool symphony,
Shining white euphony,..
Stardust frozen divine.
sterile white snowflakes
coldness covers the still night ~
snow wolf fluffs its tail
(January Full Moon – Algonquin)
Does the wolf still prowl
within our sheepish dreams,
or is it now a cuckoo nesting comfortably
deep and sly behind our eyes?
Give me the wolf any day,
for that secretive bird has grown fat,
it nestles, it fluffs out a sick complacency,
it has become too large for its small nest.
The wolf hides
it gnaws at its old teeth,
wanes thin with fear.
Soon the cuckoo will coo & cook, cluck
like a brooding hen birthing
yet another changeling.
Soon the wolf will leave you helpless
and that which was never you
will become the triumphant image
of your broken soul.
Cottony vapour fluffs,
Caravan shape-shifting,
Can be stratus, nimbus,
cumulus or cirrus,
Cover the blue with white,
Cranky storms turn them black;
Chariot of the Lord.
How strange this year has been. You see,
in my front yard’s a special tree.
By April seventh or about
the 10th, at least, its blooms poke out!
My prettiest of trees by far -
like fluffs of cotton its blooms are.
This April has gone very fast.
No blooms appeared as days flew past!
But on this 28th, with glee,
I saw the blossoms on my tree!
Written April 28, 2023 when I saw the blossoms.
For A Brian Strand Premiere No 1216 Poetry Contest
The woodland babies are meeting at the pond today
The willows are blowing in the most luxurious way
Brown cattails are standing tall, as only they know how to do
There is such a feeling in the air, it is fresh like the dew.
Animals are nesting in crooks of gnarled roots and vines.
A fawn is hidden underneath a bunch of evergreen pines.
A squirrel chases a nut, and his tail fluffs out beautifully.
Animals are easing out of the forest, staring at me.
I do not make myself known, for I want to spook no one.
The animal babies are delighted with each other, sharing some fun.
Wouldn’t it be terrific if humans could get along at least twice as well?
I see what is happening, and I believe it is swell.
When night’s ebony is vanquished,
the pre-dawn turns slowly into peach.
Peach becomes persimmon and pink
as scarlet starts to streak the sky..
As I breathe the snowy whiteness of the clouds,
the sun shyly peeks out from behind them.
Suddenly the deliciousness of saffron
shines forth with the hope of a new day.
I’m gazing up at a Monet.
Day progresses, and at times
I view new birds that wing their way
through a heaven gone azure.
Gradually the azure changes to periwinkle blue
tinged with violet hues.
Evening is upon us.
Apricot slashes through the sky
and then it turns a passionate pink.
The clouds coalesce into larger white fluffs
which trim the twilight
like whipped cream on a raspberry pie.
Later the clouds become wisps of silver threads
as the yellow sun submerges itself into the sea.
The pale pearl moon and diamond stars appear -
the brightest of them shimmering ice blue
from far far away.
Sky has become a sapphire sheet
blanketing the part of the world that has gone to sleep.
Whether night be black or cobalt blue,
eventually dawn arrives
to vanquish night again.
Dec. 19, 2022
For A Brian Strand Premiere Choice No 55 Poetry Contest
an icy wind fluffs
a white blanket in darkness
…..the black bear slumbers
John G. Lawless
©11/30/2022
Those innocent days!
Fistful of eons ago,
The good times did roll.
Fun at neighborhood playground...
Blowing dandelion fluffs.
Submitted for...
Childhood Nostalgia Poetry Contest
Sponsored by JCB Brul
Date written: 08/29/2022
Some droplets of ash
in a white cottony fluffs
Total eye candy!
Sweet like sugar and honey
Sporadically cloudy.
03/13/22
Tanka
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