Long Ward Poems
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Out at sea for so long I fear my sanity's failing
Like pirates of old, trust in my vision curtailing
Are mermaids waving there or tails of whales flailing
Perhaps a mirage is where I seem to be sailing
Yet my great love for the sea is still prevailing
I close my eyes and lean forward over the railing
Breathe misty ocean air in, inhaling, exhaling
The unknown lies ahead with regrets behind trailing
My sailboat silhouette in the horizon impaling
Rocking to and fro over waves that I'm scaling
Through sun and storms, through raining and hailing
Smiling to stay afloat, with a bucket, keep bailing
When water came in I'm still singing, not wailing
Whatever happens now, this sure cured what was ailing
July 25, 2022
Sailing poetry contest
Sponsored by: Julia Ward
At the far end
of the ward sat Dan
his legs gone.
Ulcerated, so much pain,
and waiting
for many weeks,
he'd said, “Yes”
to the surgeon.
Legless now
he sat waiting for what
to hope.
I joined him
and sat
with his despair
to share.
Beyond me
through the window
he saw on the grass a bird
green with a red cap,
he'd never seen before.
“What is it?”
So full of life
attacking the ground.
“A green woodpecker.”
Alive with it
Dan's eyes for that moment alight.
An event to remember
in that long day
in those many weeks that Dan
waited,
diminished yet alive
to see, to share.
My husband had a great idea.
Let’s build a lake in the middle of my woods.
No, I screamed, I begged, I yelled.
For I did not want any of my oaks or maples felled.
I was talked into a lake, with the promise of cool
Water to swim, and maybe a natural spring or two.
It happened in the month of June,
A Grand Canyon hole in the middle of my woods.
I could not believe how cavernous and
Intensely clay-like that crater was.
I had never seen anything so gigantic
A Pentagon spaceship would have left more trees.
I figured it would take sixteen years to fill
In order to grow up and become a real live lake.
It took four weeks of constant rain. Less than a month.
I was swimming in it and it had two natural springs.
I think of it fondly, and my paddle boat and my bass boat too.
A wonderful couple of years I had on that lake,
Swimming with dogs, getting bitten gently by fish,
My own nirvana, when the cool water hit my flesh in the morning.
Written 3-23-2019
Contest: Intensity
Sponsor: Julia Ward
Seahorses...Why?
Dear Mother Nature woke one day,
and looked around with a sly smile,
surveyed her Earth, both land, and sea,
then paused to think for quite a while.
She beamed with joy with her new plan,
to think outside the box, create
a wonder for her earthly seas...
a creature that would not equate.
Strange, tiny fish that swim upright,
sway like a plant that swirls and flails;
propel themselves by mini fins,
and anchor with prehensile tails.
With equine heads, extended snouts
to suck in plankton and shrimp brine;
and so unlike most normal fish,
no mouths or stomachs to define.
Must constantly eat food to keep
up energy, or they will die.
A gift that helps them spot their prey...
can steer their vision from each eye.
Romantic will their courtship be;
eight-hour dances, pairs will spin
close, side by side and joining tails;
then breeding offspring will begin.
Monogamous, some mate for life,*
and rarer too, the males bear young
from eggs embedded in their pouch
from which in time, babies are flung.
Dear Mother Nature laughs with joy!
Her new creation will defy
the rules for creatures of the sea...
for humans to...then question...why...
...come up with reasons for her plan...
not knowing, just...because she can.
Sandra M. Haight
~10th Place~
Premiere Contest: Seahorses
Sponsor: Julia Ward
Judged: 05/08/2018
*There are mixed commentaries on whether Seahorses really mate for life.
Some say yes, others say only some species do, others report that they
do not.
I spent my day shopping for rubies,
but my list was definitely not very tall,
for the bank balance was at rock bottom,
I wanted to buy a small ruby, that was all.
I went out to get a fiery red ruby
for my wife to be set on a new ring,
I’d present her on marriage anniversary,
I didn’t do for a long time, this little thing.
I hopped the whole day from shop to shop
to buy the ruby of my choice within budget.
I was tired, and when almost lost all hope,
got at last the one I wanted at sunset.
On the anniversary night the surprise gift
I slid gently in her finger, nothing she said,
I saw glints on unshed teardrops in her eyes,
it was then I knew my day she had made.
July 14, 2020
Contest : First Line Prompt-3
Sponsor : Julia Ward
You have raided my night again,
as the burst of a sudden storm,
sneaking into my loneliness,
at the most unexpected hour,
plunging me into swirls of pain
too deep for expression,
leaving me in utter disorientation.
I now drift aimless with muddled thoughts,
through the dingy avenues of the past,
never once able to sever the chord,
that binds me so tight to those memoirs,
exposing me to torrid heat
with my soul, burning down….
like a piece of smouldering coal.
Sleepless are my nights.
Dreamless are my days.
Like the sundown shadows growing bigger,
with every stride I take,
the farther I move, the closer you follow.
Can I convince you ever again,
I never meant any harm to you.
How wearily have I watched the flies,
lured by the dazzling light,
char into diminutive specks of black,
by the scorching tongues of flame.
Still, why did I let you burn,
in the flame of my accursed passion?
You were like a flower admired from afar,
afraid of even the gentle breeze coming near,
lest it might jolt the delicate frame,
and shake the petals down, sooner than due.
Yet vulnerable turned the moment,
when all of a sudden, it started to rain.
Like a child, eager to play in the puddles,
you ran out into the pouring rain.
All soaked through and through,
You came in…. awhile my gaze,
rested on the filmy fabric,
seductively clinging to your curves.
Then, that wild surge…. beat me down.
And Alas! Under a magnetic pull,
surrendered your fragile self with ease.
At that moment of self-abandonment
looted off all that you held chaste.
Never surmised, you were crying,
when I felt your cheeks, so wet.
Now I know, it was agony,
not ecstasy that I, then, beheld on your sentient face!
You refused to respond to my calls.
Unanswered went all my anxious queries.
Like a hibernating toad,
to some dark underground cave, you slid.
Abruptly, alerted on call,
by an alien sound, far from familiar
I hastened to the casualty ward,
and saw you lying limp,
with drops of blood, still dripping down
from your slashed wrist,
staring at me with an open mouth!
As I watched you lying still
with your eyes refusing to flutter,
I knew my world tottering below,
and my heart, set ablaze,
into a funeral pyre.
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Of all the conventions, this is the one,
WhatEVER you love, on the sky ... or your plate!
Written and submitted on September 22, 2018
For the "Symposia" Poetry Contest
Julia Ward, Judge & Sponsor
Every day I wake up to the cacophony
Of a murder of crows cawing on tree tops
As the sun emerges from behind the hills
They take to the skies in one and two,
Sometimes together in unison they fly
Cruise out in air like small boats
Though dark, they are the emissaries of light!
Never in the sky for long,
They land down and glide up shrieking
Flying from hedge to fence
Hopping from mound to plane
These noisy folks remind me
Of the haggling fisher women never silent
Cocking their heads to and fro,
They keep a watchful eye
Everything falls in their eyeshot
Picking up scraps and crumbs
And tit bits from garbage piles
They thrive in gregarious company
With dusk fall, they come back homes
Full of gossip and tales of travel
These ubiquitous birds of all seasons
Are the unpaid scavengers of the Earth!
Sept. 25.2022
A Flock of Birds Poetry Contest
Sponsor- Julia Ward
When I was just a young girl, long ago,
for me, the grand debut of spring became
my special mission in the month of March-
to see a robin redbreast was my game.
A Robin redbreast meant a sign of spring-
oft spotted hunting worms- intent on sounds.
Day after day, I longed to see my prize;
from one window onto the next- made rounds.
And then one day, my luck would surely come.
I'd see one hop and then stand still- and knew
that spring began and nature was in bloom-
as baby robins soon will come to view.
High in one eave of our carport each year,
there was a robin nest with eggs of blue,
where mother robins kept them dry and warm;
their faithful mates would come and visit too.
What fun it was, at last, to see them hatch-
and mama making trips to find their food.
So many hours I spent on our front porch;
to watch from birth to flight was quite a treat!
So soon it came- the time to leave their home;
from nest to ground- to fly, they all were led.
One day I stood too close to one of them-
and mother robin pecked me on my head!
Year after year, our robin's nest was filled-
new birds reworked the roost to their delight.
My memories from those days- I hold dear-
with robins- spring gave birth within my sight.
February 19, 2021
Contest: A Visitor
Sponsor: Julia Ward
Sometime around the first of October,
the windswept canyons I go to see.
They will be as an ocean
of blazing trees.
Yes, a multitude of trees.
Russet, red, orange and gold,
they will surge to their highest tide -
the tops of the mountains!
These bright trees seem
like a giant gilded wave
rushing on and on and on
in tranquil splendor
against a backdrop of persimmon sky
in which seagulls glide.
Flocks of geese too might be seen
vanishing southward
in the waning light of sun.
On viewing this sea of canyon trees,
I feel my soul engulfed
by autumn nostalgia
as wistfully I gaze
out onto the horizon at eventide.
However, night falls quickly.
I realize I must hasten
back to my valley home.
For Your Favourite Poem from the first half of 2022' Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Julia Ward