He was on the path, walking toward me at dusk
at first, I thought it was a man, but my senses began twitching
danger, danger, danger, danger, whispered my internal save machines
It was a sasquatch, and he smelled horrible.
I was too close to him to hide, so I slid off the path
Letting him have the whole path, expecting the worst.
He had not slowed down, his stride was amazingly long.
I watched him get closer and closer.
Would he eat me? Bite my arms? Wring my neck?
He grunted something and kept going.
It sounded a lot like good day.
Who are you?
Where were you?
What’s the connection?
Why now?
My mind ponders,
In figment of imagination, it wanders.
Seeking truths in riddles better left untold.
As I walked in alone,
What was the calling, unknown?
Masked in a cloak, perhaps a riddle to see,
Waiting for you to appear, to help untangle me.
What is pure joy?
What is elation?
An infant cradled in mothers’ arm,
The embrace, the warmth.
The laughter of a child,
All innocence, free from guile.
The maiden glance, the nascent word.
Phew…Effervescent beats surged within,
A fountain of joy bubbling unseen.
Your aura, brushed in hues of rainbow’s gleam.
Your vibes, as pleasant as the memory of a childhood dream.
And I stood smitten, shaken & stirred,
Awoken from the slumber, my vision blurred.
Sometimes, a lifetime is never enough,
Sometimes, a moment is magic in puff.
Sometimes, words vanish, unable to explain,
Sometimes, silence sings what the heart can’t contain.
Walking in, I didn’t know my calling,
Saying goodbye, my thoughts and feelings were sprawling.
Blessed I am to have experienced you,
Pending tale, yet untold, will follow.
Quick wave of a wand
our future laid out and fate sealed
~ it was in the cards
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
A Meeting With Amitabha
On my way to meet with Amitabha
The Buddha of infinite light,
I ponder my life, my place in the world
Its trajectory, and my mortality.
Who is it that dies? What is it that goes on?
And where is this infinite light not found?
We all die, but how we do it
Makes all the difference.
They say how we live is how we die,
And so if this gives any solace
As we live our life, directly knowing what that is,
We get a glimpse what our death will be like.
The beauty though of being alive
While we are alive
Is we can always change its trajectory.
And so I head out to meet the Buddha Amitabha
As he sits resting, ever peaceful,
In his infinite light.
(9/13/25)
face to face worlds apart
words go quiet when sad eyes meet
it's hearts' turn to speak
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Where would she be? We asked her dad.
Wait. It’s her husband; his name is Chad.
He’s much older than she, fifty at least.
Where is our neighbor, young Charise?
She came to the door wearing curlers galore.
Oh look, she said, it’s the new neighbors next door.
She was holding a puppy, swinging silver hoops too.
Let’s see, you are Jane, and you are Little Lou?
She had on polka dotted glasses, they were perky and red.
She was married to this old guy? We were horrified, Ted.
She is cute and young, and he is old and overweight.
The puppy let us hold him; his name was Poundtate.
Nothing made sense before you
even the wind forgot how to whisper
and the stars blinked without purpose
as if waiting for your light to show them how.
Then you appeared
like rain in a dry season
and my heart, once cracked and tired
blossomed at the sound of your voice.
Ever since I met you
every hour feels like poetry.
Even silence speaks your name
and time slows just to watch you smile.
You are my morning sun
the calm in my restless night
and even if the world forgets me
I’ll remember I was loved by you.
her presence at first sight
an illumination
something I didn’t understand
she stirred imagination
a current ran through my body
and whatever stirred
was beyond comprehension
an angel, perhaps
I watched
as she checked into my life
and disappeared without a word
but she lingered in my mind
a constant stirring
until the next time
when I said hello
When you meet with old friends
After months, even years,
There is comfort in having
No need to switch gears.
For the groundwork’s been set
And the basics are known,
So there’s just catching up –
How the grandkids have grown!
But most likely you’ll talk
About health or its lack
And the surgeries done
On the hips, knees or back.
There’ll be notes to compare
About travel and shows
And each exercise class
And acquaintances’ woes.
Still, it’s lovely to spend
Time together again.
There should be a repeat,
But who knows where or when.
That heavy, dark presence
Sitting on your throne
Grabbing at my laurel
To claim as your own
It presses on my door
Pushing up on my space
Where TRUTH lives in peace
Eating Manna at her own pace
There's a fire rising on my table
Licking the saints all around
With contentment in LOVE
And no whisper of fear can be found
I return your silver fork
Without a rib to spare
My tree remains, untouched
Because my LOVE has attended to my care.
Written by Trudy Schrader on 06-27-2025
You have a new message
'oh did you forget about me'
no but your picture suggested
we couldn't inhabit the same universe
There was a lunchtime meetup
I tell myself I am not that sort of person
but maybe you were for one wild week
five dates in three days
'I always say I didn't chose acting
acting chose me'
We had a coffee, saw some art, she
invited me to accompany her to an
appointment
'I'm no good at this, I never was'
that's what she said
but I always thought it was my line
(“Before the Door”, 2023, original encaustic)
Chance Meeting
Where were you when we met just now
In something of a hub,
Airport terminal or hotel lobby,
As you walked right by
And our eyes met
Yours growing in shocked amazement
As you exclaimed,
“What are you doing here!?”
And we hugged in warm embrace.
You now long gone
And yet still we meet in transit
Each of us on our tangential ways
The years between us now stripping away
All the layers those years built
As we are left
More ourselves than ever
Revealing what was always
At the core.
(6/17/25)
Every pirate west of the Caribbean had heard of Captain Gary Bee.
He was reputed to be way younger than the next captain at twenty-three.
We were anxious to meet him, so we invited him to tea.
He strutted in with short pants, that barely covered up a knee.
It is rude to ask pirate captains their age, so we did not.
But he could not have been a decade older than a tot.
He spoke with polish and finesse', was unassuming and not brassy.
After a lunch of bean curd and bean salad, he was a bit gassy.
Excuse me! He said after each burp, belch and break of wind.
We thought he was delightful; he became an instant friend.
Captain Gary Bee, the notorious pirate king of the seven Seas
I was glad he decided to stop in often for our cakes and teas.
Captain Bee of the Ship McKee had a reputation all over the Seventh Seas
A pirate narcissist, who made people grovel down to their knees
He had cold steely blue eyes, and he was fearsome to the point of absurd.
I was fearful of this pirate, until I realized that Captain Bee is a canary bird.
When I meet you.
I found you odd.
You sparked my interest.
With your cute nods.
I tried to leave, but you pulled me back.
Making me feel such a spark.
The spark grows bigger with each passing day.
Sometimes the wind tried to blow it away.
Yet it grew to be as big as it is today.
Meeting you was as lovely as a summer day.
May heaven and earth bless us every day.
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