blossom of baby's breath
soft white
gorse crusted yellow
weeping willow
rush patterned lace
pasture in pastel green
buttercup daisy
comely cowslip mingle
&mix in fellowship
swaying pelts of grass
with purple vetch
& ribwort plantain clover
scabious burnets
butterflies & bees
scent the woodruff
briar brambles
in hawthorn sprawl
dogrose so tall
seabank of scattered seaweed
Alexander’s leaves so green
& feathery fennel aniseed
fat hen so vibrant
shoots of vimen
in Lamb’s lettuce
wild radish cress&chive
majoram &sweet cicely thrive
seabeet chard survive
wild parsnip
& tansy to savour
stinging nettles so green
Categories:
woodruff, nature, word play,
Form: Tristich
I was walking through Woodruff Park
again today, although it felt a little
bit more like swimming; I had to backstroke
my way through viscous Summer air.
As I stopped to catch my breath
and towel off, I saw him.
Lying at the bottom of this swimming pool of a park
among the 2 o’clock trees and rugged,
rebellious weeds was a middle-aged man,
face creased and folded like fresh-pressed
dry cleaning before your first big interview
He was on his back, still as statuary,
in unlaced jet-black dress shoes,
polished so each one winked in the sunlight.
Arms buffeted at the elbows by quickly cuffed
sleeves as they lay heavy on the ground like unsuspecting
roadkill on that new on-ramp off of Boulevard.
The spotlight was on him: golden rays upon
fragile eyelids. Cruel beams focused like a bored
eight-year-old with a magnifying glass.
He looked dead.
Just when I began to dive back in and play
lifeguard, he pulled that naked forearm
up over his eyes and took a deep, wet breath.
Categories:
woodruff, environment, life,
Form: Free verse
Poetry is a busy crosswalk downtown,
when everyone moves together with elbows
held a little wider than normal.
Poetry is a middle-aged man, creased
and folded, sprawled out on the neglected
weeds in Woodruff park, eyes wide shut.
Poetry is the free fruit for children
podium in between the produce
and clearance aisles, oranges
and apples withered to marbles.
Poetry is a crying baby
at the 3 o’clock movie theater.
Poetry is a young boy in the park,
battered by curiosity, in a fight to the death
with furry flowers, their guts filling the air
with each oaken swing.
Poetry is giving a nod to the mailman.
Poetry is the unintentional eavesdropping
of the worst idea for a screenplay
ever fielded.
Poetry is the gait of a man recently
in love, thinking of hands
suddenly adored.
Poetry is the enigmatic ether that fills
the summer air so thick you have
so do the breaststroke just to
get back home.
And how can you ever think to write it
if you are stuck inside behind
grating blue screens or
painfully white paper?
Categories:
woodruff, poetry, writing,
Form: Free verse
Sliding another coffin nail out of sky-blue cardboard,
lending yet another piece of myself to a stranger.
If giving a gift is giving part of yourself
you can find me in the lungs of street
performers in Rome who rise with electric light
and sing until the sun sends them to bed again.
You can find me in the deep breathing lungs
and steadfast hearts of all the friends who
take me with them as they dance into the night.
You can find me in the local economy of Woodruff
Park where the homeless trade cigarettes
for apples or shoes or rusted quarters
If you were to cut me open I wonder how many
pieces of how many people would spill out?
Momentary kindness builds the foundations
of my soul and everyday I add another brick to the wall
Categories:
woodruff, life,
Form: Free verse
buttercup daisy
&
cowslip
swaying pelts
of grasses
bask in Spring
purple vetch
ribwort plaintain
lush clover
in English rain
scalious burnets
protude
hawthorn
dense and tough
sweet scented woodruff
hearts tongue
divided frond
circle &stop
spined point
rambled briar
sprawl
prickly &
wandering tall.
Categories:
woodruff, nature, places,
Form: Pastoral
Blossom of baby's breath,soft white gorse,crusted yellow, weeping willow rush patterned lace pastures a pastel green.Buttercup,daisy&comely cowslip mingle
&mix in fellowship swaying pelts of grass with purple vetch & ribwortplantain, clover in English rain.Scabious,burnets buttefliesand bees hawthorn and scented woodruff.Briar brambles sprawl,in dogrose so tall above harts-tongue The thinking eye,the abstract made visible a spatial convergence ,now liberated.
Imaginary ,incomplete feelings,beacons of vivacity,profound and positive.Intense inner sounds,a polyphony,the poet's soul,unfazed&free.Seabank with scattered seaweed & feathery fennel in aniseed;Alexander’s leaves so green this tender cusine.Welcome wholesome fat hen,vibrant shoots the vimen in Lamb’s lettuce in Jack-in-the-hedge in wild radish,cress&chive,where majoram &sweet cicely thrive.Seabeet,and chard also survive.Wild parsnip the confectioner,tansy to savour.Stinging nettles so green,peppermint oil pick-me-up, in coltsfoot syrup cup.
Categories:
woodruff, nature, word play,
Form: Prose Poetry
Hawthorn dense and tough
Amidst sweet scented woodruff;
In rambled briar sprawl
Prickly and wandering tall.
Categories:
woodruff, nature,
Form: Quatrain
FLIGHTS OF FANCY PHRASIS 3
Blossom of baby's breath,soft white
gorse,crusted yellow, weeping willow
rush patterned lace pastures a pastel green.
Buttercup,daisy&comely cowslip mingle
&mix in fellowship swaying pelts of grass
with purple vetch & ribwort plantain,clover
in English rain.Scabious,burnets butteflies
and bees hawthorn and scented woodruff.
Briar brambles sprawl,in dogrose so tall
above harts-tongue.
Seabank with scattered seaweed &
feathery fennel in aniseed;Alexander’s
leaves so green this tender cusine.
Welcome wholesome fat hen,vibrant
shoots the vimen in Lamb’s lettuce
in Jack-in-the-hedge in wild radish,
cress&chive,where majoram &sweet
cicely thrive.Seabeet,and chard also survive.
Wild parsnip the confectioner,tansy to savour.
Stinging nettles so green,peppermint oil
pick-me-up, in coltsfoot syrup cup.
From Flights of Fancy 2003
Listen to me recite this part phrasis on youtube under my pen name ichthys chiro
Categories:
woodruff, fantasy,
Form: Verse
Follow the track with the scenic view,
into the wood with a carpet blue.
Between clumps of gorse in yellow garb,
along a path baked summer hard.
Around shadu ponds that teem with life,
rush and sedge amidst tall loose strife.
Into the meadow,a country stile,
contemplating I sit awhile.
2020 version
Blossom of baby's breath
soft white gorse
crusted yellow
weeping willow
rush patterned lace
pastures
a pastel green
Buttercup, daisy&comely cowslip
mingle&mix
in fellowship
swaying pelts of grass
with purple vetch &
ribwort plantain
Hawthorn &
scented woodruff
briar brambles sprawl
in dogrose so tall
above
harts-tongue
in
English rain
Categories:
woodruff, nature, seasons,
Form: Crystalline
Buttercup,daisy and cowslip
Together mix in fellowship;
Swaying pelts of grasses fine
Bask in Spring sunshine.
Purple vetch,ribwort plaintain
Jostle lush clover in English rain;
Scalious,burnets protude,
Butterflies gorge their pollen food.
Hawthorn dense and tough
Amidst sweet scented woodruff;
In rambled briar sprawl
Prickly and wandering tall.
Categories:
woodruff, nature, seasons,
Form: Pastoral