often discounted
underutilized
seen as a burden
tossed into a home
left alone to die
uninvited
disrespected
misunderstood
invisible
transparent
unwanted
overlooked
unseen
oldster
age
In daughter a river seen I had,
Wee bit homeward tried to wean I had.
It’s so hard to say goodbye to her,
With clenched fist, home lush green seen I had.
Her life sea-bound imagined I had,
A live stream beneath sun seen I had.
The banks looking bare, she coursing far,
Home, not so love-less lean, seen I had.
Eyes homeward, life marine seen I had,
Her journey riverine seen I had.
Heart anchored to the birth-bound old shore,
The rest turning saline seen I had.
____________________________
Musings | 27.09.2026| daughter, goodbye, home, river, Quatrain
Based on a Muktak (as under) in Gujarati by Darshak Aacharya: Along with two stanzas added in anapaest meter.
Dikree mañ meiñ nadee bhali hatee,
Aitle to ghar taraf vali hatee.
Dekree ne kem karavuñ avajo?
Dost, muthee aitale vali hatee.
There is no autumn here as you know it
no leaves that blush and fall and die.
Mango does not drop because September tells it to,
the island does not shiver, the sun does not go shy.
But Rasta knows autumn all the same,
not by the calendar, but by the ground.
When the rains have spoken and the earth is soft,
when the yam swells heavy, deep and brown.
Autumn is not orange, it is gold and green,
it is Ital from the garden, reaping what was sown.
It is callaloo and pumpkin from Zion's hand,
breadfruit roasting over fire, Jah's love made known.
It is the time of reasoning, of balancing the soul,
when Babylon says hurry, but I and I sit slow.
When the harvest comes, you count not what you lost,
but what you kept in spirit, what you let go.
No sweaters, no bonfires just incense in the dusk,
drums low like thunder, children husking corn.
Autumn in Jamaica is not an ending, seen
It is a keeping. A gathering. A returning home.
opportunity
slips in like dawn on tiptoe
waiting to be seen
Autumn's many colorful moons seen through the lens of a camera,
I see beauty and color everywhere.
As a child,
I did not know there was a harvest moon.
I loved watching the full autumn moon,
as it seemed to change colors.
Autumn's many colorful moons seen through the lens of a camera,
have changed over the years.
What has made this change?
The huge night clear sky is not as clear as it once was,
the full bright moon is not as bright.
Do we see the change year after year?
Do we even care?
I weep for the beauty of olden Autumn days,
a more peaceful time.
A bright full moon and clear night's sky,
that was once seen through the lens of a camera.
You have nice breasts, just from working out.
I know
Hes complimenting me
Flirting
As I wiggle into the dress.
I flirt back
Whats the harm
As I ponder
Does he think I want bigger breasts?
Do i?
I try to explain the difference between what I am doing and drag.
He doesn’t hear
He doesn’t care
Skin and pretty flesh
Read the same when you don't
Really look
These things
That matter so much inside me
That cause me to vibrate and cry and shake
They don't exist to him.
I am so new to this
And already tired.
Im at my favorite cafe
And a woman comes up
And tells me she loves my style
That I look comfortable and elegant
And she loves the way my necklace goes with my shawl.
Is she flirting?
Trying to make me feel safe?
Did I come here for that?
I spent my first summer in Portland
Finding my look
Im still hoping
To be found.
Floating between states
Looking for myself in the words
Of others.
I opened the door and a tree stood in front of me
And energy of unknown source came over me
Then all of a sudden, a radiant light appears in the tree
And the dragon emerges from the sea
The light I have never seen before, lit up the trees
And the heavens spread its glory all over me.
Go to the shores and unravel the mystery of the sea
For nature is speaking to thee.
Dissolves presently
That fleshy gross
In what burns, purely
Spellbound, soul-deep.
Bloomed fairness, yet blown
Mortally hung
As soon thought up shown
By God to him.
As its pseudonym
Hawkmoth. Hovers!
Myself - this evening!
Whose buzz does keep!
12 Snoopy scultures scattered around the city centre
to find in the sun
someone on facebook has spilled the beans
and revealed the location of 3 of them -
she has received an absolute backlash
some bloke wants to take part and drive up from kent
but we can't find the one and ask the young, bearded man in the hi-vis
he sends us over to the young, cologned-up man in the blue suit
he sends us down the escalator to the Paddington Bear bench
and we get there and leave a copy of Robert Burton's
The Anatomy of Melancholy next to Paddington,
eating his marmalade sandwich.
i whisper in his ear, 'good luck to you.'
the security guard and the blue-suited man begin to approach
we leave immediately.
Seen on my walk – a delivery truck
Was being unloaded. One box
Was plunked on the ground; some may be out of luck
For its eggs might have suffered some shocks.
Another block on, there was parked on the street,
With a fender that suffered a wham!
A new pick-up truck named, just to make it complete,
In big letters, you guessed it – a RAM!
Saw three pickleball games and a guy with green hair –
Just a typical 6 a.m. sight.
In the city, no matter the time, you’ll be where
Something’s sure to surprise or delight.
In the heart and in the head, a beating secret never dead. A beauty, seen in red and black, never breathes or steps back. Her smile may seem alive, but something differs in her eyes. never at a single glance, but more than that puts you in a trance.
May you experience your perfect blessings. Go forth and be seen.
Fire and Ice
(Go forth and be seen)
By Michelle Morris
27/06/2026
Fire and Ice
And all things nice
Fire and Ice
Brings dreams to life
Fire and Ice
Invincible soul
Fire and Ice
Embrace your boldness
Fire and Ice
Let Fire burn it down
Ice and mastery
Coolly wear your crown
Fire and Ice
The season has come
Fire and Ice
Bad luck all undone
Fire and Ice
Unstoppable you
Fire and Ice
It's your fated truth
Fire and Ice
Your hermit mode done
Fire and Ice
You're a glorious sun
Fire and Ice
Embrace your gifts
Fire and Ice
It's your time to shift
Fire and Ice
And all things gold
Fire and Ice
Your dreams unfold
Fire and Ice
You're a blessed being
Fire and Ice
Go forth and be seen
© Michelle Morris, 2026
Midnight draped darkness around like a shroud
The silence though was like stone on air
'Twas paused by ambulance's weighted cloud
Our vows once spoken, now beyond despair
Now night seems to press in upon my hand
Shadows fill corners of my old worn mind
Then a spark springs forth that needs to be fanned
That tiny light spark knows hope I'll soon find
Once buried seed dreams of spring's sun warm glow
Deep within, silent faith endures long, strong
My hope and faith are not fragile, but flow
Whisper, come forth let your love go in song
Dark that enshrouded me release today
My heart has some hope and will find a way
I've never seen a firefly.
No, I've never looked one in the eye.
I don't know why.
Could it be
because of the place I live, maybe,
that I'll never see
a lightning bug?
So, I look down and shrug.
I think I need a hug.
Where ere befell a guiding light
Shining eyes beheld a glory
Holp toward a muted purpose—
A distant feigning glimmer,
Beyond the pale of words.
An aching need to be remade,
A sculptor's hand; a brutal vision
A child; a blank canvas,
A naivety, a submissive nature,
An eagerness to please.
Lead them to a dimming light,
There amidst our dying shadows;
There betwixt the Sun and Night,
Where line the winding gallows.
Where shame forsakes the birth-right
That a darker voice be heard.
And offer up their souls of light
Like the flourishing of birds.
The blinding faith sees not the wraith
Whose night has coiled a cold embrace.
The sun shall nevermore break
Where the twilight, some sayeth,
Precedes its visage upon the lake.
Darkness shall have usurp'd the day
And those who needed believe
Shall have naught to say,
Atop the boroughs as they grieve,
Bearing the known regrets
And we—
The freedom used to deceive,
To let embolden depravity,
To watch the flames spread despair and misery.
The freedom to preach hate and heresy,
To wrongfully endure—
For which we all shall sorely pay.
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