It was a week ago that I was out last, because my daughter and I went out to
run errands and eat lunch together. How the trees and other scenery have changed in just
one week. The Bradford blooming pear trees are in full array, some reblooming Irises were
gorgeous in their purple dresses reminding me of Easter. My husband would have been de-
lighted to be planting early things like potatoes, onions, cabbages, and turnips in the garden.
My daughter and I enjoyed the warmth and a nice meal. Then we returned home. Upon seeing
my front yard, I immediately know that my husband would have already got the lawn mower
running and would have cut the yard where now a....
profusion
lavender beauty....
henbit blooms
Whispy breeze giggles with ease
cool is rippled river clear
willows weep not as we lovingly tease
rainbow trout jumping, a catch
will be dear
Our porcelain legs, arms encircle loose
larks, butterflies flutter around scented spruce
eyes holding sacred stars from Venus and Mars
we left picnic basket in homing stars
Family wondering whether catch will be salmon
then no need for ordinary dinner gammon
my arms so strong, I’m the provider
always beside her, sister the flowery
insider !
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
[ Painting: Original Title: La pêche à la ligne
ARTIST : FRANCOIS BOUCHER
Date: 1752
Style: Rococo
Genre: pastorale
Media: oil, canvas
Location: Grand Trianon, Paris, France
Dimensions: 150 x 188 cm ]
____________________________________
2nd Placement: Premier Contest
Sponsor: Brian Strand : March 26
Silver Digital Trophy : All Poetry Ekphrasis
Contest : March 26
A delicate dance, a subtle sway,
Expectations woven, in a societal way.
A woman waits, with passive gaze,
For a man to lead, with financial ways.
He pays the bill, the ring, the wedding fee,
The provider role, a lifelong decree.
She expects support, for herself and her kin,
A one-way street, where love may give in.
But some women defy, these norms so grand,
Contributing equally, hand in hand.
A true test of love, a gesture so fine,
When she invests, with a loving design.
Yet, in the courts, a different tale unfolds,
Assets divided, with a legal hold.
A woman shaped, by societal might,
To contribute little, in the dark of night.
A partner, not a burden, we must seek,
Emotionally and financially, a bond unique.
Let's break the mold, and redefine love's role,
A mutual journey, with a balanced soul.
My family joined a summer outing
So excited for swimming and rafting
Mom got our swim vests with suits
Dad just brought his parachutes
And kept eyes on us, flying and shouting.
seagulls squawk above
waves licking vanilla sands
a day at the beach
Retirement home museum trip to see relics under public care.
Upon a winter’s outing I
a lovely cottage did espy;
of lovely blues with snow atop.
How I would love to have stopped,
just for a chat with merry folk,
whose home of happiness bespoke.
Within my car, I sat and sketched,
this lovely winter blissfulness.
On tree branch, sat a bird, a’twitter;
he was cold but, clearly not bitter.
Blue spruces dotted white landscape,
red maples reveal buds, new-birthed.
Some cattails waved behind a hedge,
the half-scraped sidewalk invited guests,
as an old red fox, behind house lurked.
but I thought better of my artwork.
So I sketched all that I could,
finishing as twilight lowered its hood.
As moon peeped up from among the clouds,
I perused my sketch, head bowed;
A tap upon the window I heard.
Imagine the surprise that occurred
when owner of that lovely place,
invited me in for hot tea and cakes!
You Select Poetry Contest
Brian Strand
1-20-2023
out in the deep freeze
calls from cheerful winter wren ~
trudging through soft snow
Winter Nature Themed Haiku Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Tania Kitchin
Date written: 12/03/2022
When Jesus burst on the fish scene,
Peter saw his net skills were quite keen.
"I don’t mean to be kvetching,
but as long as you’re catching,
can you make them both headless and clean?"
----------
Of course on his first encounter with Jesus, Peter had this to say:
“Go Away from Me, Lord, for I Am A Sinful Man!” (Luke 5:8)
It's a glorious, beautiful noon
I wish were dressed in green;
spring is around the corner.
Hosanna! Lavenders will soon be
in bloom and smell so sweet!
I'm sitting here
on a weather-beaten bench
watching birds hopping about,
tap dancing with their beaks.
Strangers walk past me, left and right
Yonder, the afternoon sun
hovers above a tamarack tree
being gently stirred by the zephyr.
I just spotted an eagle
commanding the sky solo
Hope floats happily
in clusters of alabaster clouds
It's powdered in faces, too
It makes my soul sing a song
with the cheerful birds
How beautiful is today?
*written outdoors in real time*
03/07/2021
Yes! Bright sunflowers outline the corn maze.
Amazing! Grand winding trail —
The cornlet’s born leader.
10/18/2020
THE SCHOOL OUTING
We all went down to the sea today
In a rickety yellow school bus.
Michelle and me, Danny and Sue,
Jason, Matilda and Gus.
As soon as we reached a sandy bay
We ran down the beach to the water.
Matilda slipped over and got her shoes wet,
The new ones her mother just bought her.
We saw lots of shells, urchins and crabs,
And fishes all swimming about.
Gus put sand down Michelle’s back.
You should have heard her shout!
Jason and Danny said that they saw a whale,
A humpback, or maybe a blue.
I saw a sea lion quite near the shore,
As well as a small shark or two.
We found lots of seaweed and slippery kelp,
Pebbles and fossils and rocks.
Got sand in our hair, sand in our shoes,
Wet trousers, wet skirts and wet socks.
We sang all the way while on our way home
In our rickety yellow school bus.
Michelle and me, Danny and Sue,
Jason, Matilda and Gus.
Logs stacked by a decaying shed;
scent of burning embers from chimney’s
wafting past my face;
I breathe in the crisp evening chill.
The woodlands, a palette of color
waiting to be laid out on a canvas
by my bristles;
VanDyke orange, red, brown and yellow;
I watch the yellow passing by the sunset
and it blinks to deeper orange hues.
Oils blending, scent of linseed
and turpentine mingle with
the log fires and overhead
flocks darken the skies
winging southwards.
The setting sun lends it’s
hues to the naked trees as
leaves float endlessly downwards
to rest upon an emerald bed.
I glance up from my palette to see
a doe standing there,
right beside a Douglas fir;
her eyes trust mine
and in that simple moment I know,
there is a God.
10-6-19
Enter the 'Best free verse July-December 2019' Poetry Contest
John Hamilton
Zipping along toward the zoo that day
Zealot Zebra started to play.
He should have been watching the right-of-way.
Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. We began to pray.
A zealous cop made us pull over and stay.
Not a great start to our outing that day.
Way back in the day
I wouldn't get out my door
Unless I was looking great
Now I think at my age
It's great when I can just
Get out my door
AP: 3rd place 2020
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