The pain of remembering
Sunlight filtered through the high oak leaves, where summer stretched out long and bright, we scrambled up the mossy bark and reached until we touched the light. Hand over hand, my sister led, no branch too tall, no sky too wide, with scraped-up knees and breathless laughs, and all the universe inside.
Down in the yard, the cool blue pool waited to catch our cannonballs, a splash that sent the morning free beyond the wooden garden walls. We raced across the surface tension, underwater, eyes open wide, a pod of dolphins bound together by the pull of the shifting tide.
When shadows grew across the grass, the yard became a battleground, for hide-and-seek and Tag you're it, and every secret spot we found. We ran until our lungs were fire, until the porch light flickered on, collecting moments in our hands before the golden day was gone.
Now time moves fast and miles stretch out, but locked inside the heart remains the echo of those summer shouts, the quiet after summer rains. A tangled web of laughing voices, a fortress built of grass and sun— the gentle weight of growing up together, bound as more than one.
We are not that young anymore.
I don’t dare to dream beyond what I can do
It is foolish, craving to capture everything within view.
The world around is wondrously wide, a canvas vast
The more we try to grab, the more into agitation we’re cast.
Keep away from herculean schemes for tomorrow
Instead give today your best for a brighter morrow.
Focus on feasible things, let go, what’s beyond.
Take every step with caution, to simple needs respond.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A single ant, black as charred bark,
parts the silver skin of the puddle~
its legs dimple the water,
each step a tremble of tiny ripples.
The leaf, wide as two ants side by side,
rides its back like a ship’s wrecked sail,
tipping with the weight
of a world too large to name.
Legs piston through water,
dark and wide, a sea to him,
with this leaf, his bride.
Each step is a tremor in the tiny world.
A current whispers, but the ant
does not listen.
Shadows of giants loom above~
a boot, a wheel, the indifferent sky.
The ant pauses, antennae tasting fear,
then presses on. The far shore
is a myth worth drowning for.
Halfway, it pauses again~
not to rest, but to recalibrate,
rearranging the world
one stubborn millimeter at a time.
The wind’s rough tongue licks at the load,
yet still he drags his emerald barge
to the far shore,
to dry earth.
The far shore is everything.
The serpent's hiss, a venomous dart,
Is honest hate, a tear right to the heart.
But you, you whisper honeyed lies so sweet,
A camouflage, a cunning, cruel deceit.
You smile so wide, a painted mask of care,
While in your eyes, a chilling, vacant stare.
You pat my back, you offer words of praise,
And plant the seeds of doubt in countless ways.
The open foe, I know where they will strike,
Their hatred burns, a flickering, harsh light. I brace myself,
I steel against the blow, at least their malice, I can surely know.
But you, dear friend, are a viper in disguise,
Your poison spreads beneath my very skies.
You bleed me slowly, with a gentle touch,
A double-faced betrayer that's what you are.
You're the worst kind of hater, who likes to stay hidden behind closed walls,
You whisper made stories that should never be told.
I rather have an honest hater, though bitter, they are still truer, than hollow love, projected false by you.
the world is wide, a whispered dream
where rivers dance and starfields gleam
each raindrop holds a tale untold
each fallen leaf is spun from gold
clouds are castles in skies so high
dragons weave between birds that fly
shadows aren’t dark, they simply play
hiding secrets at end of day
hands reach out with endless trust
feet find magic in swirling dust
the smallest things hold grand delight
fireflies glow like captured light
but time moves fast, it pulls, it sways
it dims the spark in grown-up days
oh, to borrow a child’s bright view
and see the world in colors new
In whispers soft, the winter's dream,?A world wrapped in a silver seam,?Where icy breath and starlit skies,?Create a tapestry of sighs.
The trees stand bare, like sentinels,?Adorned with crystals, frosty spells,?Each branch a brushstroke, pure and white,?Painting the canvas of the night.
The air is sharp, yet calm and still,?With echoes of the distant chill,?Snowflakes dance on a gentle breeze,?Spiraling down through the sleeping trees.
In cozy nooks, the fire's glow,?Crackles softly, warm and slow,?While shadows flicker, tales unfold,?Of winter nights, both brave and bold.
The moon, a lantern high and bright,?Watches over the peaceful night,?And dreams of spring, with blooms in tow,?Yet treasures now the softest snow.
For in this hush, the heart can hear,?The whispers of a year gone near,?In winter's dream, both deep and wide,?A quiet grace where dreams abide.
In the silence of the night, there comes a slam,
A door swings wide, a sudden splash of rain,
The thunder echoes with a mighty bam,
While rivers babble tales of joy and pain.
The birds awake and start to warble tunes,
As streams begin to gurgle in their flow,
The wind begins to softly mumble runes,
And trees release a gentle, leafy belch below.
A distant clang rings out, the night alive,
As branches crackle underfoot, they thrive.
We have a wide, extended and expanding family
that seems to grow a little larger every day.
Family members who share our DNA.
and other members who through shared love
have become family along the way.
Because when it come to family…
at least the family we like to think of…
we love the family members who we’ve given the gift of life
as well as those who’ve given us the gift of love.
If this is the way we all thought about everyone…
not just our children…our relatives…our friends
imagine how far across the world
our family would extend.
Yes, imagine how wide a circle our family would encompass
If our family included along the way…
with all the members who do
all those who do not share our DNA.
Light 1-29-24 Syllables checked with www.howmanysyllables
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Light
Nightfall’s hand laid heavy on fleeing twilight
While the darkness, born early, swallowed the light.
Driving rain clouded the eyes of pale daylight,
Sheer curtains of rain blurred tears in the lamplight.
A world set spinning on bleak winter’s wrathful wings,
A battlefield of ruined souls shunned the light.
Howling waves, without sweet dawn’s consolation,
Drove raving storm surges, diluting the light.
Tangles of downpours assaulted waning day,
Jagged dirges shred blinded lyrics of light.
Torrent’s heavy footsteps drenched the dying dusk
When cracks appeared in sealed shelters, leaking light.
Atmospheric flotsam clogged free flowing dawn,
Driving dams of old debris to block new light.
In this rain painting, where darkness battled bliss,
There stepped a warrior, rain angel of light.
The storm wrath silenced. Darkness shamed. Light in whorls
Opened wide a redeemed chrysalis of light.
It creaks,
drifts have rubbed the air raw
it crunches
as if some large beast were walking
over the packed snow.
All night listening had to
it could have been a robber
an ice-cold housebreaker
I can't sleep
when the night walks like this.
They say
there are lots of frozen people
dying somewhere,
I imagine the wind carrying their last words
across the empty fields,
they are going somewhere
and I don't think it's anywhere good.
Get up
stare out into the black,
outback
the bare-boned trees
rattle leafless twigs like dentures
all buried now
in the heaped and falling.
Morning slides in stiffly
dragging light
over the dark stained ice.
Then a late sun opens wide a white sky
pretty now.....yes it’s all lovely
of a sudden.
I look for foot or paw prints
listen for the creaking's
there are none
the recently dead
also
are soundless.
AN ODE TO SLEEP.
Bereft asleep,baby born lights dim
The skies in space;twinkling bright a beam
Firmaments afar settling wide a gleam
Take care to sleep heav'nly realms as mile
Take guard thee guardians. Till the dawn arise
For I'll wake and shine in morn inclined.
amazing
how quick joy spreads
it casts
so wide a net
much like a virus.
starting with
a host,
it spreads out;
wildfire
engulfing...
all that it
captures here and there.
a wondrous contagion!
joy...
makes the world go round!
(Yalto)
"Yalto" is a form invented by yours truly
Line 1- 15: 3,4,2,4,5,3,2,3,2,3,3,5,6,1,5 syllables
I'm glad to be an onion
To have such wide 'a-peel'
I shed my layers sensually
Olfactory workers reel
I do it in the kitchen
One day I'll be on stage
Juicy slices circling that pole
My striptease all the rage
June 28, 2020
You are a star Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Nina Parmenter
You are the one who leads them astray
Healthy and fine death the next day
Dark Angel a ghost from the past
Symbolic to many ignored by the mass
I have seen this creature of blackness
Angel of Death preying on sickness
Hiding in shadows by day flying by night
I have felt his presence hair standing upright
I prayed for the weak to protect their souls
Take me instead Dark Angel of Woes
But many a’ time he ignored my demands
Took them away chained legs and hands
And I cried for the weak and the lost at heart
I could not save them from the Angel of Dark
Pray as I might desperately tears flowing down
Nothing worked to release the souls trodden down
I begged for the Heavens to send someone strong
A Hero of power and strength who could do no wrong
To save these merciful souls with me from terror and pain
I bowed my head I praised my Lord Pleas I said Again
The skies erupted they opened wide a bright light
Spread across the sky and Angels spread in flight
The skies were utter delight the souls elated cajoled delight
The sunrise spread the sky and the birds songs opened morning light .
come
sleep
it’s late
where are you
my brain thinks it’s day
the world lies under its duvet
and the sky has dimmed its lights yet my eyes are owl-like
waiting for you to arrive and spread wide a hush of dreams over the sheep-laden night
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