It isn’t the big celebrations,
Enormous dinners or huge gifts.
Parties never rouse foundations,
Jamborees or festivals.
It isn’t the life-sized creations,
Who impress kings, rulers or monarchs.
It’s the little things, a gentle expression,
When hearts meet in the deserts,
When dreamers discover their profession,
When simple reaches into the heart,
Pulls out a feeling, an impression,
The beautiful that inspires the light.
It isn’t in the impressive,
When a life gets made –
It’s in the thoughts, so obsessive…
Which bring feelings we want to save!
Categories:
life sized, appreciation, confidence,
Form: Rhyme
Santa and his reindeer
Landed on my house
Invading my tranquility
Much larger than a mouse
He didn’t have a gift for me
Just was taking a short break
From all his other rituals
On Christmas Eve he did take
I gave him milk and cookies
Carrots for each deer
And boy was his belly big
As he laughed with Christmas cheer
He prepared to leave my rooftop
With his sleigh and 8 reindeer
When he handed me a small gift
And faded in the midnight air
Inside the wrapping was a treat
That made me laugh with joy
Just add water to the mix
And you will grow a life sized boy
I took a bowl and filled it with water
Placed the tiny figure within its depth
Than I retreated to my bedroom
Laid down and finally slept
In the morning I awoke
To singing in the other room
Rather raspy was the voice
It must be my inflated groom
I lay there for awhile
To scared to view the source
Who would believe this
Nonsense and utter discourse
Lo and behold the door opened
And Santa’s gift was there
Tall dark and handsome
Completely grown and bare
I laughed with such pleasure
And told him come to bed
Such is the gift from Santa
My desires he had met
Categories:
life sized, blessing,
Form: Free verse
When visiting some family
Who live several hours away,
We know we’re very close
When there’s a welcoming display.
A more-than life-sized polar bear
Is waving from his spot
On Route 290, giving all
The biggest smile he’s got.
I love to see him from the road,
His friendliness implied,
But also since I know
We’re at the tail-end of our ride.
Categories:
life sized, travel,
Form: Rhyme
Be sure and notice her life sized pink metallic gorilla lamp.
I look at my friend. Are you serious?
She nods.
I could not have missed it, I almost tripped over it.
Your grandmother has eclectic taste I told her!
There were so many things to look at I was amazed.
Next I lost my footing on an oversized purple stuffed moose.
When I landed in her grandma’s lap, she laughed.
You have such a keen place! I told her.
“The pink gorilla has a crush on me,” she said.
She had tiny lavender curly hair and the bluest eyes.
I nodded, believing it.
Categories:
life sized, home,
Form: Free verse
Weepers with hoods —
tear-stained, faceless.
Dirge monks with shields.
Knight of the golden fleece
on a slab in requiem.
The silent mouth of Cicero.
Fell in love with this funereal piece
— Tomb of Philippe Pot
with life-sized pleurants.
His hands steepled in prayer,
a lion in repose at his feet —
Grand Seneschal of Burgundy
9/28/2020
Tomb of Philippe Pot
Louvre Museum
Categories:
life sized, art, death,
Form: Ekphrasis
Get thee to the Whitney!
It’s the one thing you should do
If you’re in New York, to see
The kitchen made by Liza Lou.
It’s a life-sized recreation
Of a room each person needs,
But the fridge and stove and table
Have been topped with shiny beads.
Every detail’s been considered
In constructing what you’d find
In an average household’s kitchen
And amazingly designed.
There’s the Tide and there’s the Comet,
Cap’n Crunch and Frosted Flakes,
Cherry pie still in the oven
Muffin tin with little cakes.
On the sink that’s full of dishes
There’s the plastic yellow Joy
Plus a broom and dustpan waiting
For a housewife to employ.
It took five long years to finish
Setting every bead in place
But the final product’s something
Every person can embrace.
So if visiting the city,
Take my word and find your way
To a very cool museum
With this kitchen on display.
Categories:
life sized, appreciation, art,
Form: Rhyme
I've never known a fixed address. I love the home we've made for three years in our rental house so I'm sad that it's now up for sale. Last night, I sat in the sunroom thinking of how much I'll miss the joy I feel while in that room.
two walls are all window, one an eastern exposure
the other walls, floor and ceiling are old red, knotty wood
the brick fireplace has a beautifully carved, simple mantel
approximately twenty houseplants on antique stools thrive
on the floor among the plants is a life-sized, carved, wooden swan
many mobiles of either angels or hearts hang from the ceiling
on the mantel sits my collection of antique weather vanes
there are five, mismatched chairs in a semicircle
two spindle leg tables sit among the five chairs
on one table is an imitation antique radio tuned to light rock
in a corner, on a stand we built, is an electric keyboard
on one wall in a case we built, there is a dartboard
and everywhere in the room are memories of good, fulfilling times spent
... CayCay
August 6, 2019
Categories:
life sized, beauty, environment, fun, games,
Form: List
Awakened by cops, I am frightened and confused. My parents arrested, I was removed. From house to house, I am placed with mannequins who “love” in parentheses. “Mommy, when will you come?” Her face plastered everywhere, yet she is nowhere. I was so young, then one day I turn eighteen. Return to thick, robust roots.
Knock on my old door,
Greeted by stranger blankly,
“How can I help you?”
My caseworker forgot to put life skills in my suitcase. A life sized adult body with a child inside on stilts. That night was the first one sleeping on hard surfaces. Aged out, and graduated from child protective services to homeless and forgotten on somebody's lunch break. They eat a cardboard club sandwich.
Middle aged mother
Inquiring about her child
“Sorry Ma’am, that files closed”.
I wrote this poem as a haibun, trying to keep it emotionless and rather concrete, inserting haiku that I hope adds new dimension to the prose. I am trying to hit home without actually hitting anything! This is my first haibun.
Categories:
life sized, america, confusion, growing up,
Form: Haibun
The biggest toy store in the world
Is closing up its doors.
No longer will we get to shop
In this, the king of stores.
With huge toy soldiers in the front,
It welcomed all who came.
The famous piano scene from “Big”
Just added to its fame.
A life-sized ape or elephant
Was there for you to buy.
It cost nine hundred bucks
But there was always a supply.
Yet you could also buy a toy
For several smackeroos.
From all the well-stocked shelves
There was so much on hand to choose.
Both tourists and New Yorkers
Liked to stroll its tempting aisles
And children wandered bug-eyed,
Faces bursting with their smiles.
But now the heyday’s over;
There’ll be no more F.A.O.,
Just another fine example
Of the way things seem to go.
Categories:
life sized, new york,
Form: Rhyme
(Mickey D's, Winter Haven FL)
Fanciest McD's you ever saw!
Life sized statues caught in motion,
Marilyn, her skirts flying, Elvis,
thrusting out his guitar in a musical
******, both Blues Brothers in
black suits, ties awry --a real
Juke Box playing, not Tommy Dorsey,
but disco: "YMCA," "I Will survive,"
shades of my 70's sabbatical
from marriage, reprieve from
serial commitment. Huge, black
workingman sits down with
his senior coffee, singing along
that he will survive, before
heaving himself out the door
to his real life. A man, his back
to me at the napkins dispenser,
wears a Christian t-shirt, which
reads" A Blood Donor Saved
My Life. The mop lady, mopping
under tables, stops to jive
to the music, and then, there's
me, waiting in line for an
Egg McMuff, standing galvanized
under circular nightclub
fixtures, illuminating the ceiling,
brighter than the early Mid-
Florida morning sun: glittering
electric bands overhead of
black/red/black/yellow/black.
Life repeats.
Categories:
life sized, day,
Form: Blank verse
The snow slowly morphs into rain, a thousand cold cocoons that release raindrop butterflies into the frosty air. They glisten in the morning light, clinging to soft leather like tiny diamonds as he drapes his jacket across my shoulders.
The jacket smells like him: fresh soap and spicy aftershave--and that spearmint gum he always keeps on hand. It's way too big on me, but he zips it up anyway, pulling the hood over my head to shield me from the rain.
dripping icicles
bleed beads of liquid light--
fingers intertwine
He's soaked, but he doesn't seem to care as water slides down his rosy cheeks, dripping from his frozen nose. He brings my hand to his lips and whispers, "Happy New Year." Even his lips are cold, but I lend him my warmth.
As we stand there together in the soft tranquility of winter rain, I realize I'm happy. I want to stay here forever, in this life-sized snow globe of frigid weather and smooth, warm leather.
For Giorgio's "Leather Jacket" contest
Categories:
life sized, new year,
Form: Haibun
I walk into a room, invent myself again.
The old me, cast aside, wonders what was his sin.
He'll stand there for a moment, like the kid who wasn't picked.
A closely concealed quiver, on the newly freed me's lip.
But soon he'll find the others, who didn't make the grade.
All perfect life sized replicas of the changes that I've made.
They'll tell him of their plan to take my body back.
They try to get ahead of me so they can lay their trap.
They hide as I approach, as one they hold their breath.
But I reinvent myself again, and a copy's all they get.
Categories:
life sized, growing up, humorous, introspection,
Form: Verse
Maybe I should have
bought Fort Garry Personnel
for a dollar instead of letting it
die. But I thought of next month's
office rent.
I remember having a desk to
sit behind with a phone
to make appointments,
life sized, watching the
business world tense around me.
It would have been worth a dollar
to play in a lonely historic place,
continuing for another month
to cherish small hopes, not
quite well-dressed and smiling.
A bottle of sugar
in a glass of wine,
pressing a tender,
frightened heart
into the body of a soldier.
Categories:
life sized, fear, introspection, work,
Form: Free verse
Everything seems more life-sized than normal today,
and the air is perfumed with justice.
Comradery defines America, as tears of relief
roll down our cheeks.
The sky is bluer, the grass is greener and people
are smiling on the streets.
We fought, we journeyed , we won.
(by Kristen Bruni for Brian Strands As It Is Contest)
Categories:
life sized, peace
Form: Free verse