I fall into nubla cloud
my soul, its song too small for sky
my lungs gasp fog-rich air
diablo occlusions on my lips
my O slips from its mark
at cloud's cumulus
an altocumulonimbus skims my skin
my footfall spirals
a clout in updraft
sky on sky
my U falls
into all that stays aloft—
all thit wos
thut wyll as
virga drofts
=======
The infant rays of sunlight
Filtered through the small panes
Of the sleepy Hobbitons, a wake-up
Call to the start of the day.
Shire-folks smoked weed
And Argentine ciphers born of
The plumes ripples into thin air
Carrying the dream of the day.
The wild Brandywine in her stately
Updraft, washes away the suffering
Of felled logs disturbing her flow
And dips them straight into the marshland.
The pretty flora of the ancient woodlands
Stack their dreams in swirling petals of which
Are later reborn in the night.
The proud Three Shire Oak stands as
A silent guardian to Whitwell wood
As woodpeckers prick into the cavernous
Echoes of his heart to find out his longing.
Remnant of white clouds like ancient
Ruins wander lonely over the Hills of Evendim
And reflections of a century’s History float
In their accord.
Shire! Fill me with your rainbow colors
And let me dive deep into your essence
And let me stay drowned in your dreams
Forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ubergeeks huddle at cracked screens~
forefront of the gale stamps rooftops into drums.
sky bleeds indigo then bruises black
a puck of hail cracks the bus shelter glass.
wind doesn't howl~it translates.
pine tongues lash at power lines.
rain stitches the river to the road.
one lone bird rides the updraft on a dare.
then~lightening forks the clouds~
roots seeking soil.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trapdoor groans—not ghosts,
but hinges shedding rust like snake skins,
old wood sighs beneath the weight of years,
a dry cough of timber settling into itself.
Sunlight, thick as poured honey,
warms the spines of leather-bound scrapbooks
where ink bleeds into yellowed pages.
Grandad’s trunk yawns open:
Inside, a woolen uniform, stiff as frozen fish,
still guards its stripes.
A cracked leather suitcase spills sepia photos—
a bride squinting in the Missouri sun,
her lace gloves chewed by silverfish.
Under the dormer window sits
a hobbyhorse missing an eye,
its rockers having scarred the floorboards.
In the corner, discarded Easter baskets
melt into wicker tumors filled with
fossilized foil-wrapped chocolate eggs.
The beams hum with termite hymns—
tiny jaws dissolving joists
into sacred dust.
But open the window~
catch the updraft of cut grass
from the yard below.
It wrestles with the gloom,
this breath of living things,
and for a moment,
the attic remembers the world.
skimming the updraft
a hawk soars past my head
with playful ease
Winter swirls on the morning mist
Undulating clouds blowing west.
Cobwebs clear with a forceful fist
Winter swirls on the morning mist
A snatch of red wool to untwist
Caught in an updraft on the crest
Winter swirls on the morning mist
Undulating clouds blowing west
The glow of lights beckoning home
A snatch of red wool on the hook
Soggy from the day’s windy roam
The glow of lights beckoning home
Curled before the fire alone
Sweet calico purrs in the nook
The glow of lights beckoning home
A snatch of red wool on the hook
It is a daunting task they ask of me,
Brittle as I am,
A lovely mustard color,
Flitting in the autumn breeze,
Like some Marilyn Monroe of leaves.
They expect me to jump.
The one's that haven't jumped yet.
I've seen they others that have jumped.
Once they hit the ground
They just flop about at best.
Not a good look!
Okay, okay I'm going!
My destiny, they say it is.
There are theories of an updraft.
Shoot you up to higher branch-CHAS!
It happened. I'm falling. Like a leaf.
Cuz I am one.
Oof! Great now I'll flop about like the rest.
This is humiliat-oh here comes a worm
Sliding up my stem in a real
Don't mind if I do manner.
Trying to burrow through
Mmmm--now I get it.
We're all connected.
It's all connected.
I'm not just me.
I'm the whole planet.
What a funny time to learn.
In the nighttime hours
As the world deftly creeps by
I summon my powers
Spread my wings and fly
Past cotton clouds,
Snow-capped mountains, white
I am lost and I am found
I am beauty and blight
Past the midnight chimes
A soul searching for home
Tangling myself in rhymes
So as to not feel alone
Catch the updraft of hope
Friendship sun on my face
My place in this world in scope
Loathing, with love replace
hanging motionless
scanning the buffet table
…a feathered silence
John G. Lawless
©3/6/2023
A cotton ball cloud drifting overhead
Suddenly becomes a miniature poodle,
Then dancing slowly, like a newlywed
Becomes a pompom for Yankee Doodle.
Disappearing like an aloof desert mirage
In an updraft completely unexpecting
Silently pours upward in a sudden barrage
Invisible danger in nature unsuspecting.
Vanishing, as we say, into cold thin air.
No longer discernible to our naked eyes
Who goes where high-flying clouds dare
When they choose to blithely vaporize.
From whence they come, what shape
They show us for our imaginary games
We who marvel at them, mouths agape
We seldom even know their real names.
Written May 31, 2021
Water rises in damp clouds above the falls
Red from the old grist mill reflecting through
The backlighting sunshine causing ethereal
Rainbow-like patterns in the mistiness, while
I watch the gigantic wheel fling cold water
Downstream where it plunges into the murk,
Creating a deep hole not suitable for diving
And too dangerous for children to swim in, so,
I slip my bare feet over the moss-covered ledge
Dangling them above the stream’s updraft,
Watching them come soaking wet and clean
At the end of my sopping brand new jeans.
written November 5, 2021
Boisterous clouds are churning, roiling air-mass in warm updraft
Declaring on callous inhabitants of earth, a dark ferocious war
Manifesting malevolent force, imposing anger on spatial norms,
Conspiring with anguished winds to invigorate violent storms.
Colossal is their expanse that threatens the rise of new dawn
Offering a preview of what face of death would encompass
When enraged nature punishes humans for irresponsible acts:
Burning dirty fossil fuels, and decapitating vast forest lands.
Atmospheric inferno defies galactic harmony of equilibrium
Suppressing sun’s orange glow striving to uplift amber horizon,
Shrouding advent of nascent day to teach humanity a lesson
Collaborating with mighty oceans, stirring hurricanes and cyclones.
Overshadowed by the reckless commotion of ghastly gray,
Emerging marigold expression of ascendant tangerine daybreak
Grieves for the lost vegetation and deserted parched terrains,
Thundering a warning to foretell why the birds have already left.
March 28, 2020
Placed 1st: Gif #2 contest by William Kekaula
*Image of Shattered Time by dreamstime
Broken Time
Its hands went frozen a warm summer June,
Bought it new when cool though it waned since then,
Days were young and fresh loved e'er so oft loom,
Vivid hues displayed stills toured page again.
Surged wave tickles feet, residual foams,
A swept updraft breaths as white floats thither,
A thoughtless lapse inside watery zones,
Checked, still ticking, stoppage, not a whisper.
An off-Broadway show, we took the backstreet,
Save being noted, the maddening crowd,
Numbers by one less the proper count sheet,
I look, it is time, lifts the curtained shroud.
Crumpled real, keepsake be, not a myth,
My minuteman whose Father Time, kept with.
2019 September 23
*2nd Place*
In the backstreets of my mind
~~Silent One: Judged 2019 September 26
Feathers gather on the wing
Sore with precision in their flight
An updraft lifts the beady eyed visitor
A hunt begins on hunger pangs of black
Grows from the dawn of times survival
Launched into action with the talent of God
Towers over the enormity of sky
Preys on darkness unencumbered
Leads the falcon on to his devices down
Stretched out on yellow talons sharp
In sight, laser vision pinpoints a target
Stars scream out in covered night
Something glistens on the shadowed ground
A woodland creature squeaks out in pain
All goes quiet at the strike in silence
A victim falls dismembered as a meal
When distracted on the moment of the kill
Ash, sparks drifting up,
On the fire's updraft borne,
Like souls go skyward
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