The winds blow bleak and torrential against my face.
I’m told it’s much to bear and my ship will be wrecked.
But, I see the wind and so strengthen my mainbrace
For me the wind has an unexpected effect.
I set my back strong to the wind and filled my sails.
Let it blow how it might, it will take me onward.
Before the brightness of the sun ev’rything pales.
In that valiant hope I set my true course dawnward.
wild winds start to sigh
dancing leaves in hurried swirl
nature's ballet grand
golden leaves descend
whispering secrets to earth
a gentle farewell
sunlight, softer now
paints the world in amber hues
nature's final blush
geese fly overhead
a journey to distant lands
their calls mount to sky
pumpkins in the field
waiting for joyful harvest
sweetness from the soil
apples ripe and sweet
juice drips down the eager chin
taste of autumn's joy
longer shadows creep
as the day begins to wane
peace rests in the soul
scent of wood smoke drifts
carried on the crisping air
old memories stirred
misty mornings rise
veils of white across the land
quiet beauty seen
crisp air fills the lungs
a cleansing breath for the soul
preludes winter`s hold.
¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Autumn winds ¦¦¦ blowing down
On a thousand ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ women
Having baths ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Steam's escaping here and there,
Morning ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ cutting
Shake ¦¦¦ Crescent and ¦¦¦ Square.
¦¦¦¦¦ nip of changeful autumn,
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ through garden doors,
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Business women ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ soak,
Seeing ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ draughty skylight
Flying clouds ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ smoke.
Rest you ¦¦¦¦¦¦ poor ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ones,
Lap ¦¦¦¦ loneliness in heat.
All too soon ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ breakfast,
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
(Blackout of Business Girls by John Betjeman)
Oh,
how
tragically
sad
it was
to look
at
the
local news
that day;
with my
coffee mug
in hand
after a
lovely night
with a
good book,
and then
I learned
that
a wooden cross
was burnt
up
at a park
before
my people
on our
shared
glorious
urban
city streets,
while uprooted
trees
and debris
fought
harshly
in the wind.
The Winds Of Conflict
The winds of Conflict blow until the raging floods come
then stop suddenly to occasionally creep up with more mischief
and trouble only to be quieted by the air of calm
The waters of peace cover the roads and yards of villages
requiring everyone to either stay home or travel in boats of
remorse and rafts of guilt
But the Divine Father sends peace and comfort to all
evaporating the waters and cooling the heat of hate as
it lingers then blowing it away
Sometimes the clouds of misfortune and false information
circle around then continue coming to only be occasionally
accepted like chocolate berries but other times rejected like
a raw steak
The passions
that divided us
when we were young
Bring us back
together
when old
The bias
the malice
the pain and the hurt
The years
in their wisdom
remold
What once
seemed important
and drove us apart
Transformed
like a westerly
wind
To finish
our days
attached at the hip
Umbilically
joined
— from within
(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)
whispering
winds
wander
while
wild
wishes
widen
worlds
within.
western winds blowing
gray storm clouds are arriving
taking cover now
The westward wind blows
soft rains to water the crops.
It also brings dust.
Winner 3rd Place: Westward Wind, Bj Legros Kelley (Sponsor) 5/26/26
Winds of yesterday blow vainly
in futile pursuit of today
What once ignited our several passions
this day swiftly drives us away
Torn asunder by a thunderclap
hearts riven never again overlap
Kansas winds are slamming trees onto the ground
sheds and tractors are whisked away by a giant hand
dogs, cats and horses are being tossed above roofs
I expect to see a wizard waving from a hot air balloon
("Eye of Storm", aka "Tibetan Blue Poppy", 2017, original encaustic mixed media)
The winds of karma are always blowing
Sometimes as a gentle breeze
Sometimes as a whirlwind
They sooth and lull us into complacency
They stir us up into frantic reactive change
But they also always settle us
Into being just dust resting here and now
Each moment a calm center of a cyclone
If you take the time to notice
If you take time out of the equation
And let it all just be
Timeless, without connection
Simply this
Simply now
Always free.
(4/27/26)
The copper dust swirls in the silent air,
a ghostly breeze that sweeps the crimson plain,
where shadows drift, untouched by human care.
The lonely rocks remember seasons’ reign,
and whisper secrets lost in ochre hue,
their shapes eroded softly by the strain.
A world of dreamers that wished they once flew,
on tendrils of a storm that seeks its course,
a sky so alien with a tinge of blue.
Within silence, dreams dissolve their source,
the dusk descends as shadows slowly thread,
no birds to sing, yet wind’s relentless force.
A dance of dust now settles just ahead.
Zephyr's on Mars are wild; full of dread.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cape wind fills the sails~
white wings skimming indigo,
tipping toward the sun.
Salt-spray arcs in laughing light
Show these stars upon my face
where dust landed from beneath my shoes
taken by the beauty of darkness
loving memory is nothing but blindness
untouched by the scars that tore my memories
unbroken under my eyelids the shapes have spoken
i will wait for you to save and rebuild this structure
time was paid by the sweat expired with my name
still stands in its own shade a thousand years old
echo frozen his jaws wide open
everything will remain if it even was
time surrendered by the dance of the winds.
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