I see myself at the tender age of five.
A strange loneliness I feel, and I am shy.
I wonder sometimes why I’m even alive.
I chase fireflies and watch clouds in the sky.
I’m fifteen, more confident and doing well at school.
I read, play records and dream about guys.
I like to think I’m nobody’s fool,
and I’ve no time for watching clouds in the sky.
I’m thirty and still, there’s so much ahead.
Married, with two kids, I am having great fun.
Health concerns haven’t yet filled me with dread.
I swim often in a pool and lay out in the sun.
I’m fifty; my children have long since left the nest.
I teach and write poems; I’m a grandmother too.
Except for health issues, these years could be my best.
Life’s gotten so busy. There’s so much to do!
By 70, I still feel blessed, yet also have some woes.
I care less for possessions and the world’s triviality.
I want to be grateful no matter how life goes.
I realize now my purpose seeking spirituality.
Before me, I lay out the piano keys.
Step on them all.
My tone, my dream, my hope—
Trample them all.
Surrendering this body upon the keys,
I will make my voice heard to you!
Thongs barely covering cheeks
Brown eyes hide their red surprise
Songs on the lips we sing we speak
Watching blue waves from tides
Sea gulls swoop like military troop
Diving then dining on fresh fish fin
Young people on water ski regroup
After splashing in the water again
The sand is hot the men are topless
The women watch sizing them up
Lifeguards sunburnt job to watch this
As senior couple reaffirm their love
At the beach where cares are set free
And smiles are as plentiful as tan sand
Nice to lay out and enjoy summer peace
Ignoring that winter will return again
A Day
there is a day
one day we set apart in memory
to honor one in every heart
and on this day
the sweetest thoughts we know tenderly
bear fragrant fruit this day we set apart
there is a way
to honor that beloved one
to show appreciation of that one most dear
and so today
a day so different from another
we’ll pledge a love that grows from year to year
in bright array
we lay out tokens with no thought of duty
to honor courage love and tenderness
our tributes pay
to love whose sacrifice is beauty
may every year know greater happiness
I Got Her
motherhood is fraught with mistakes
hanging from her charm bracelet
hourglass wrist; anchor was hooked
she’s silent as I longed for her to erupt
I needed her warm ear, not judgment
one thing I did wrong; not the worst
much later she stabbed me with her kiss
those lips left a saturated wound; grab chest
I was brave; I handed her the tray of hurt
oh how quickly, blinking tears, she apologized
I hang that memory on my high school bracelet
I tuck it away to reuse when I ostracize progeny
air punches like exhales, soft hands, soft heart
must lay out my cards - she was better than the rest
some moms are rabid, some too friendly
I found my mom just right; her sayings wrong
she advises me, “There’s more fish in the boat.”
I lay down the ace, “Yes, Mom, and they’re all dead.”
she’d fall upstairs, get blood poisoning, eventually cancer,
loved her soaps, got news from the tabloids - I got her!
A planet spins with an atmosphere,
Keeping its species here.
Seasons cycle every year,
Plants die, evolve, and reappear.
Revolving around a circular sphere,
A moon circles around up there,
As we breath its air in and out.
A cycle we forget about,
Atoms and electrons just hanging out.
As molecules begin to sprout,
A blueprint to lay out.
Carrying out its plans,
Revolving around demands,
Evolving as it expands.
Australia Day 2025
I’m grateful for the things I have
And for my family too.
The friendships made along the way
Some old, some very new.
I’m glad I live just where I do
And proudly do I stand.
The freedom here that we all share
Australia is my land.
I’ll lay out in our sun so warm
I will not give a toss.
And when the stars come out tonight
Salute the Southern Cross.
So, on this Twenty Sixth of Jan
I’ll raise our flag so high.
And celebrate Australia Day
Our anthem sing, will I.
I know there’s some who’ll disagree
And they will raise their voice.
For that is our Australian way
All here can have a choice.
The only time we have is now
We cannot change our past.
Our futures never guaranteed
So, make each second last.
And when it is all said and done
I’ve one more thing to say
To every one of you out there
‘Happy Australia Day.’
Christine: 26/1/2025
Hydrogen and Nitrogen
If you give a
measuring tape a
whiff of
an of no
colour powerful-smelling gas containing hydrogen and nitrogen he’ll
lay out all the
best facts that can be useful in
arguments about the
important role ducks play in
the flora and
fauna. Note: to
increase the quantity of
oxygen in
the blood and
make strong the lungs and
heart share with
anyone anything
previously specified.
As pure consciousness, pulsating with bliss,
attribute innate to heart of our soul,
one with oneness, we exclaim, ‘I Am This’,
being living light all scriptures extol,
breath by breath thus fulfilling our life role
but though we wish to share, no one can pair,
even though we lay out this truth threadbare.
There is clamoring
In the courtyard
For the feast to come
Guests in their rooms
Trying on garments
To display all they've done
Singing and shouting
Dancing a muck
Thanking the gods
For good fortune and luck
All is perfect
Timing is right
To lay out the final plan
Bodies floating in rivers
Fires burning land
Last moments of vile man
Both sides present
Good and evil in balance
Minds subdued to accept
The inspired valance
Did a pin just drop
As the earth split open
To reveal a falling star
No denying TRUTH
Naked and dark
Revealed, just as you are
Both sides played
Like a long awaited sequel
Easily loved and honored
If not for the clue in the prequel
Wasted matter is forgotten
Like chaff in the wind
Waiting to be devoured
But never you, picking a worthy cause
To see blinded humans
Miss the mark
As you arise, Man of the Hour
Our eyes have seen
Our hearts know TRUTH
You ate Atlantians
And made everything new
Written by Trudy Schrader on 10-052024
Stillness
Suggests motion
Which suggests
Mapping of
Space and time..
In the map
Thoughts seem
To rise to
Lay out stories
Of past and future..
These seem as
Features of
Words
Oppositions
Language...
I promise you the most pure red
The red lips I bare
The reddest blood I see
I promise you my heart
I rip it from my chest
You make me heartless
That's fine
I love you
My arms bleed
So do my legs
My wrist
I'm half dead
I'm your dead man
I kill myself for you
I let you kill me
Try yourself
I'm ready
I've done it myself
The first when I was 9
I lay out my wrist
A smile I bare
My eyes blank
My lips dried with blood
My hair I rip out
I'm ugly
I'm weak
I'm love
Ages come and go
Worlds fill and empty
Times and seasons
Bless with lack and plenty
All deception is revealed
Truth has had her say
Nothing left to do
She can no longer stay
...present
Dawn is arising
Without sun or light
The fullness of man's fear
Has brought out THE FIGHT
This or that, these or those
No more debate among men
Fire rages in their souls
For VENGEANCE over what has been
...hidden
How dare the CREATOR
Do one thing without consent
How dare He lay out the liviing
In a spiral descent
Known...oh, He is always KNOWN
Denial is not possible
Everything IS
Eternity, never a plausible
...outcome
Let LIGHT shine in the darkness
Let it break forth His glory
When the dust settles
The rainbow will yield it's story
The Earth must come to balance
Between empty and full
Children must sleep, play and eat
Without authenticity bending to rule
...others
Written by Trudy Schrader on 02-07-2024
Baby, born, small loved.
Toddler, learning, growing,, loved
Taller, talking, not the same for all
Growing each day, happy just trust.
Bigger each year, pressure will start
Unsure amd lost, atleast for most parts
Just a child in a world, possibillities galore
Wanting to be big and be a child no more.
The day comes, adulthood has arrived
My enthusiam soon diminishes as i get pushed aside.
Fast, and gross, is alot in this world
My innocemce is lost at what all ive been told
Judgment, judgment everywhere
Were is the help, trust, love and care
I wish i was small without a care in the world
Growing up seemed more fun as i grew old
Now here i am, were i always wanted to be.
Her is my judgment i lay out for thee
Stay young and inocent for as long as you can for this world has become a judgment of lust and scam
True love and compassion are rare to find
So when you do come across one, who has that kinda mind
Hold tight with love and never you mind
Your days will be happy and life will be good
No judgment on others and you will be understood.
i am unsure of what is worse,
the trauma of what happened or the ache that what never will.
i sit here with this feeling of shattered pieces trying to regroup themselves.
rearranging, reorganizing, looping together.
i feel each bump as they strike against each other on the inside of my chest.
as you open the box to your favorite puzzle you lay out all the pieces.
you organize them by the edges and maybe colors too.
you place down your last piece but as you do you realize that there is one piece missing.
you are my missing piece.
you are my missing future, my beginning, my end.
no other piece will fit as i try to find another piece to fill the gaping hole staring back at me.
someday i will find that missing piece.
it may not be you.
but it will fit.
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