Ode to a Cat
You never ask for the spotlight,
yet the second you walk in, the room belongs to you.
You wear your quiet like a favorite sweater,
reminding me that silence can be incredibly comforting.
You only come for a cuddle when it’s your idea—
and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.
?That slow, sleepy blink says everything we need to say,
and your rumbling purr patches up the rough edges of my day.
You brush off an argument with a long, dramatic stretch,
tell me exactly how you feel with a flick of your tail,
and look at the morning as if we conquered the night together.
?You ask for so little—just a warm lap, a sunny spot, and trust.
Sitting here with you, I’ve finally figured out
that love doesn't need to shout to be real.
For all your mysterious ways, my friend,
you didn't just move into my house;
you quietly made yourself right at home in my heart.
The Train of Darkness
The train of darkness barrels down, I hear the railroad clack.
Shakes the baghouse now, standing next to the tracks.
The ground beneath my feet comes alive, with a pulsing, steady vibe.
My first intuition is to hide.
I see the train coming in, a monstrous, breathing beast.
Eating up the track, invited to a feast.
Out of the darkness he rolls, alone,
A king of iron, on a bed of stone.
Rattling in the night, pulsing through my fear,
He rumbles into view, then boldly disappears.
The ground beneath my work boots quakes, as a pulsing rhythm makes,
Leaving behind a cloud of dust, that the iron monster wakes.
Dragging the crew, to the emptiness of hell,
A story they have told before, a story they know well.
I wave goodbye, a wish for luck, aboard that tyrant, roaring fear.
Into the dark it drags its prey, upon the turning gear.
A rumbling and a shaking
The rain heavy
The thunder roaring
Lightning cuts the sky
Trees sway belligerently
Sand and dust
Break the air
The furious wind
Encourages euphoric whims
The rod is blossoming
Pride is budding
Rumour building
Mischief upon mischief
Pounds on the earth
Mischief upon mischief
Mischief has a staircase
Linear patterns
Cascading virtues in blinking imbroglio,
Masquerading piety in a clinking tunnel
Chanting sophistry in dinky dashes
The glass fell
It could not be held
They broke the serenity
With soapy fingers
They grasped the glass
The pieces litter the floor
Another tried to piece the pieces
Which were precariously shaped
And pricked the gatherer at will
What a cock-a-doodle – doo!
Now I look to the Heavens
I see a land
A faraway land
In the distant horizon
Beyond the seas
A great solace
The people a great people
A magnificent race
Beyond the clouds
Beyond the skies
This land, a lofty land
A magnified edifice
Of kaleidoscopic nature
A worthy conglomerate
Of total bliss.
One gnocchi two gnocchi three gnocchi four
fell off the plate onto the floor
five gnocchi six gnocchi seven gnocchi more
rolled from the table and out the door
yet to this day
why they all behaved this way
no one knows no one can say
and with a rumbling grumbling tum
I'm afraid I could only stand and gape
as at last my gnocchi repast
made fast their large escape
glistening, gently tumbling
washing hearts pure, humbling
resounding lights, mumbling
glitter alive, flakes fumbling
snow glowing bright, as I’m stumbling
through the wonderful, grumbling
so each flake sails, escapes – bumbling
glistening, gently tumbling…
on the edge of the winter’s rumbling
Hissing cars
Swishing trucks
Rumbling bikes
Life is a highway
Really?
Combusting cylinders
Pumping pistons
Turning crankshaft
Spinning flywheel
Engaging transmission
Motoring drive
Tranferring power
Rolling tires
Hissing
Swishing
Rumbling
Crash and burn
Life goes on
Mysterious rumbling noises, I hear them
Wherever I am, I cannot escape the sound
Somewhat like zombies singing an old hymn
Or a loaded barge about to run aground.
Occasionally they will go away for a season
Then, just as suddenly, they will reappear
There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason
A friend suggested I’ve had too much beer
I laugh and refrain from disputing them, but
That can’t be the reason, since I don’t imbibe,
It appears these noises emanate from my gut
At least, as best I can, that’s how I’d describe.
A doctor will put a lantern down my throat
And, technically, take a good look around
So I suppose I’ll have to wait for his vote
As to the origins of this mysterious sound.
Written June 17, 2022
thunder rumbling
while firebolts light the sky
~ summer magic show
AP: 2nd place 2022
I am lost somewhere in your light blue eyes
Thoughts of you rumble, to wake up my mind
My dreams have now lifted up to the skies
I can sense where you are, seeking to find
An understanding that’s one of a kind
Thoughts of you rumble to wake up my mind
In faith you’re letting gratitude unwind
It’s your time for a new beginning now
An understanding that’s one of a kind
I hope I can give you something more now
For there is so much you have done for me
It’s your time for a new beginning now
I hope it is a smile that I see
From a thank you that’s deep within my heart
For there is so much you have done for me
It’s ok to welcome a good, new start
I am lost somewhere in your light blue eyes
My thank you is from deep within my heart
My dreams have now lifted up to the skies
Heidi Sands
2/7/21
Roller skates
Roll smooth
In circles and orbited figure eights
Gliding great with the rhythmic moves
So quick
So slow
So cool
Ice skate
Aerodynamically
On icy floors slick and wet
A ballet on a frozen slough
Beautiful blades
Upon delicate
Crystal blue
Rumbling wheels
Radioactively
Alive with pumping legs that reel
Forcing friction like a mad banshee
Athletically willed
Heart rate
Speed kills
January 15, 2020
Double Dactyl Poetry Contest
Sponsored by William Kekaula
Rumblings in the night
I was trying to write the words on the screen turned
into spatter of blood, darkness descended
A woollen mass pressing me down, I screamed
Of fear and my brother came and laid beside me.
A young woman. who had been thrown out of her?
Uncle’s house came with a tray of bacon & eggs
I grabbed a piece of bacon, but the woman said
It was not for me but my brother because
He had been dead for many years and therefore
Must be hungry.
I went into a Chinese restaurant where the owner
Shouted “table for one” I don’t want a table like
To see the men” no need he said it is all the same
With different sauces “Table for one!”
I couldn’t find my way out; there were many doors
leading into coolers where cooks had committed
Suicide in memory of Anthony Bourdon.
Finally, I found a door out the led me to freedom
Where nature was unworldly and my brother
Said: did you know if you are on a spacecraft and
Pass all the planets behind you. The emptiness
Will turn into a purple fog and before you know it
Will you be back to your living room?
Table for one, the owner of the Chinese shouted.
I can taste the rain, smell the rain,
Feel it in the air
But it isn't falling yet
Holding back, playing fair
Just the dampness,
Stirring with gray clouds
Until it's enough to storm
A sky will bellow loud
Nature yells in ways
What is it trying to say?
I can taste the rain
Before it speaks its rumbling ways
Heidi Sands
7/1/19
DARK RUMBLING WAR CLOUDS
When yellow daffodils
and Unicorns come out to play-
there shall I choose to stay !
Where Fox and Rabbit are known as kin
and the word Enemy is long forgotten-
there shall I choose to stay.
Soon as Dark Rumbling War Clouds,
shatter in a bright Spring haze-
then shall I choose to stay.
For I am Harmony,
gentle and serene-
a mortal essence, not known to stay !
Rise high you tumbling bricks!
Consider exchanging
your scared squawks
for a few more plummeting
security stocks
City beware
of stealthy schemes
while chasing virtual creatures
in your local county park
for free
You never know
in "reality"
when truth might pierce
chilly hearts
once crocked eyes clear
Seeking top credit card scores...
dreading next month's
bank notices
Why not use them
to cleanse your
glossy green
Caddy coupe?
Swallow some pills for those annual chills
Dismiss being still as you strain in vain
while attempting to claim
faux success
Common sense...
Where has it flown?
Will it soar North again?
thunder strikes between
orange and baby blue clouds
in the cloudy night
5-29-2016
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