Long Chagrined Poems

Note to Readers of Previous Versions:
There are so many new vignettes scattered throughout the poem that I hope you will reread the whole thing! There are many new GEMS, improvements to previous verses and improved...

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The flames of the furnace (well-travelled by wind
slowly glazing the rags of gray women chagrined
at the sight of a hair fleeing tresses now thinned) 
sometimes billow like waves flooding naves through the night,
when the lightning...

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The delegation arrives in a procession of handsome, barbaric lineage
rugged in animal accoutrements and subdued in the presence of the future's skin,
the women, fine in wild beauty are bejeweled in beads, white and blues
that accent...

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Not Taller At All

There were birds in the garden. There were birds in the air. 
There were birds on the rooftops. There were birds everywhere. 
But one certain blackbird thought he could be best. 
He...

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My friend sent her friends a message the other day…the message said, “Pray for me!”
because she needed prayers, because prayers can be given wholeheartedly and because all prayers are free

“And while you’re praying for me,”...

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Catholic

Stern but saintly Father Meissen 
scolded the parents for not having 
their baby boy baptized sooner. 
It was April, 1952,
inside the stained-glassed catholic church,
ensconced on sun-split Newlin street, 
avenue of pink oleanders and cracking sidewalks.
According...

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Open like a door before me
Be it sun or rain or stormy
          Each new year gapes like yawning chasms, dark
     And for...

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I got a curse
A witch appeared
And made me small

When I was wandering
A big ant hauled me
to an ant's colony

A pile of rice, chunks of meats
Tons of sugar pieces and shelves of sweets,
 I discerned there

Hoarding...

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When fairy tales were in fashion, before true love was rare,
A prince wooed a maid who was flaxen and fair.
He came every day and patiently knelt
Before the dark tower wherein his love dwelt.
He'd call out,...

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Damn it!
Crouching low on the ridge with Joseph and Rubin we see
that twenty horses or more are grazing with a group of Indians in the valley,
through the telescope two things are clear
the Indians are young...

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Gods of mythology from long ago,
commanded humans act within their law
or else there might be punishment, and so
man worshiped, followed, never to withdraw.

These gods ruled over sun, moon, rain, and wind;
and humans prayed to them...

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SONNET(S) ON WISDOM and AGE
When I was young my folly knew no bounds.
Though some may say the perimeter’s been extended.
I now confess my ignorance, giving me grounds
To think that some false knowledge has been amended
Full...

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Here we meet, a company
plucked randomly
from every shore to dine,
to gather from the mind's full store,
enriched, aware of all the particles, 
of spatial plain within, beyond— 
we meet as if to pull together  
this...

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My sisters were coming for a visit for the very first time,
Heading to New Hampshire, leaving the Georgia heat behind.
Our friend Charlie was a house guest before they arrived.
My husband, Charlie, and I all hatched...

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Sitting on the porch, a chill breeze caresses my face
as storm birds fly, seeking the shelter of a dry place.
Along the lake shore, trees sway to Nature's tune
the music she arranged for Ra, the sun...

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It’s not that I am languid, more that I am chagrined.
So disappointed to be met by this dreadful north wind.
I am on my way to see him, and I will look so disheveled.
I am convinced...

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I wish I could be like Linda-Marie,
  Whose words are always filled with generosity.

  
  To say that she is a poet of repute,
  Is something none of us can ever...

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These sparks that the flames
Toss up in the sky
To dance with the stars
Aflame in our eyes
Burning and searing
Aloft on their own
Burning and soaring
As never before
Have little resistance
Once up in the air
They fly on the currents
That...

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Alleged anthrax-laden alligator arrives in afternoon
Beyond bright baboon baby bestows brilliance 
Chaste chimpanzees charge chagrined cheetahs 
Doped donkeys deliberate director’s dictate
Elongated eel exasperate enormous elephants
Fruit flies flit and flutter among fruity flowers
Gravely gross gibbons gripe...

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Goldie, my peculiar but beloved cat,
has certain affectations --
she prefers, most times, her own society
and shuns her housemates.
But, sometimes, she cuddles
or will join the others
to laze around -- in the living room,
the dining room, a...

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The gate to Monet’s Japanese garden’s open,
beckoning, and green as Giverny’s winter wheat,
but there’s no time to glimpse the pond’s lilies within.
 
Monet’s Rose Cottage-locked to all but the wrens-
though curved trellises invite, and a...

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She was innate with a light that not one could deny,
unending grin on her face and a twinkle in her eye.
A picturesque spirit, full of laughter and joy,
beloved, endearing - her shine could not be...

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Embarrassing  Moment


Mid-Sixties, I went to the shore
A hot summer day, so I wore
My handmade swimsuit
It was very cute
Expecting I was, and I swore,

It looked just as nice as can be
My tummy was covered, you...

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I'm standing still
But at least I'm still standing

Some have their souls spill-
Their souls of reprimanding

Like dead leaves
Blowing in the wind
They wander
But do not go

They are a blanket
Chagrined
Of their souls
As cold as snow

They're ground, cracking at...

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If we wake up contented each day of our lives
fulfilled, successful and satisfied;
With all of our triumphs, laurels and wreathes
from races we’ve won turning bitter to sweet.
If ease of existence is the goal ‘round the...

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