Shawl Poems

Raindrops hit the metal roof in a dancing melody
The night a dark aura of deepest ebony
Softly comes the wind to whisper to the clouds
As sleep beckons through the quiet shrouds
I wrap myself in the softest down of security

Trees release the...Read More

As the sun slip slides down blue skies and sets,
streaks of pink, mauve, and gray clouds pave its way.
And the night is wrapped in a black silk shawl,
whose dark threads snuff out the last light of day.

While a pocked moon's...Read More

I feel the effervescent waterfall,
as sharp stinging drops drape me like a shawl.
The winsome white water seems so serene
as if an artist's brush painted the scene,

I hear the gurgling laugh of tickled rocks,
playing with time in a land without clocks.
The...Read More

Sitting now in shawl and flannel drape
huddled ‘gainst cold truth of wafting breeze
soft touch of sun, through clouds, a welcome tease
rekindling old dreams as they re-cape

those heroes and heroines of yore
who bled the tartan plaid of battle’s field
though in defeat...Read More

Its not the eyes i notice first
but the way disappointment
seems to hang on her frame
like a curdled shawl
The weakest of smiles she forces
As embers of her love for me
disintegrate into silenced air
Then those jewelled emerald pools
were turmoil bathes
Were once a...Read More

Translated by Przemyslaw Musialowski 8/30/2019

When the day has entered into the shadow, laying down on the slope
And was weaving a shawl of mist at the feet, like tulle,
Suddenly... neither squeak, nor bass... a fear that fell
- When the day has...Read More

	I
The night air is wet, flaccid like 
a listless sail. Nearby the first male cicádas 
announce their arrival in locust trees,

drilling the torpid air with the shrill
of sexual songs: urgent, incessant, eager to 
release the fluid that will impregnate 

waiting...Read More

A cricket’s trill welcomes nightfall
as dusk drains color, all looks stark.
And nature dons a misty shawl
while fireflies flicker in the dark.
The sun bleeds red,
soon to be dead.

A curious owl's haunting call
implies it needs a question mark.
And shifting shadows merge and...Read More

calamity jane
she creeps and she crawls
wearing a funeral shawl
she lures you in with her love so tall
is it a front?
is it a game?
either way, you're in her web
either way, you're prey
she hunts you by day
haunts you by night
but to be...Read More

She cooks fish and rice,
her unfolded hips
pushing all into place.
Oils, and aromas,
train buds to lap at shadows.
The marl of her hands
turns bowls of smoke
into lemon and butter. 

I won’t get to eat the spiced Mackerel,
but I imagine my scaly head...Read More

So winter yields to springtime,
But what is that to me?
A birdbath with a blushing bird,
Or perhaps a honeybee?

Another turn; another trip,
Three hundred days, or more—
See the hummingbird’s uncertain sip;
Hear the dandelion’s roar.

Still, maybe I would like the view,
To see a...Read More

La Isla del Encanto
			   (El Poema del Linda)

There was no Elizabethan
Changing of eyes
On the Isle of Enchantment;
No sudden moment of charm or bewilderment.
Rather, came a delicate awakening
Like soft dawn rising over groves
Redolent of plantain and nectar.

The Linden tree...Read More

The moon a shawl over her shoulders
almost replacing his arms'embrace,
In her wine-glass pools of light floating
reflect the glow upon his face.
His deep-set eyes like summer ripples
carry her thought to tulip fields
Recalling sunsets when she first saw him
far from the city's...Read More

May my poems be a downy shawl
That guards against the cold;
As peaceful as the flurries fall
That about the woodlands fold.

And May my words sustain you,
Even as a coat of fur—
Warm the soul and hope renew,
As the images occur.

And should you...Read More

Translated by Przemyslaw Musialowski 5/30/2019

Dear uncle, regardless of how things are, 
wherever you are, in what remote place, 
do you remember that exile from Kamieniec? 

Do you hear?! - I ask questions without sense
for you, for all those who abandoned
the...Read More

Once Sariputra has paid a visit to the UN meeting.

- Social justice remains an elusive dream for poor people around the world, - the first speaker said.

- Besides economic efficiency, side effects, funding mechanisms and political feasibility that can be...Read More

Somebody said i am better than this
but the truth is i am not
laughter turns to misery with hints of agony
sleep with chance to never wake
the voice inside no longer answers my pleas
words are embroidered into a papyrus shawl
that hides me...Read More

First song of the lark; how dulcet the sound.
How lovely are the green limbs of the trees
wherein small birds in nests might soon be found!
How fragrant is blooms’ scent upon the breeze
when winter has surrendered to spring’s charm.
How glorious is...Read More

Glorious sunny days of late 
such warmth and so inviting
buds bursting into flower 
every minute of every hour
say goodbye to winter gloom 
cold and dismal winter days
for spring is here the sun is out
and I am off to catch some...Read More

Too delighted to watch the swirling snowflakes fall,
so wide is this window with open shades to dim sunlight
and be thrilled by the lovely snow in February;
so sad to have discovered a frozen robin beneath the hickory...
it must have been an...Read More

HOW I LOVE CROCHETING....HOW IT RELAX ME SO....
EVERY TIME I USE MY CROCHET HOOK....
I'M SOMEWHERE ELSE...FAR AWAY I LOOK...
WHETHER I'M DOWN IN WONDERLAND....
WHETHER I'M IN A SILK RED GOWN,LIKE IN OUT LANDER...IN SCOTLAND....
WHETHER I'M DAY DREAMING OF A MUCH BETTER...Read More

Autumn leaves,
Yellow rain,
Winter's blossom, 
Once again.

Fall is falling,
Twilight reigns,
Earth's shawl,
In beauty gains.

Cool breeze,
Drifting mist,
Fresh freeze,
Autumn kissed....Read More

A poem called "Warning" penned in '61; loved by all, a favourite of mine 
Performed by Bella, my sweetest grandchild, when at the tender age of nine 
Draped head to toe in a purple shawl, with a purple hat plonked...Read More

A life is a life no matter how small.
Today I cry for the unborn child
A baby who didn't make it at all
Still attached in the womb was a recall
That left the mother with out a child.
A life is a life...Read More

When the roads open their eyes, all the blue fish come to my sea. The road is a smile exits its pink  ear from that window which sleeps on my mother hand. Without any delay, I am disappearing in...Read More