Saturday, December 31, 2011
New Format Beginning 2012 - "Poem of the Month"
(Since the inception of this blog, up until now, a "Poem of the Week" was posted. Years after this post, a variety of edits and deletions have occured. These actions were a result of creative growth. Therefore, when viewing the Blog Archive, you will see many gaps from one week to another.)
Friday, September 9, 2011
Nothing to Write - POEM of the WEEK!
I see blood and false-testimony …
And if you were President
In a world when no one repents
To the God they say does not exist
On the forgotten list
Will you have nothing to write?
For a dieing child, escaping in a dream
To the village called the earth
Her flesh is traded without worth
While my eyes remain chained to the flat panel
Another channel
With nothing to write.
Shared with a view exceedingly fast
I saw an image, but in reverse
Dictating my pending verse
On a page blank and crumpled and torn
Forlorn
With nothing to write.
Humbled himself before anger
And revealed a vision from the past
One which was meant to last
But he was met with fight and flight
When he had nothing left to write.
But if you are President
As if you are the one sent
And if, you indeed, repair ev’ry shattered heart and broken window
With a peace below
Will you have nothing left to write?
Friday, January 21, 2011
The Other Side of Doubt - POEM of the WEEK!
"Retro," which uses a
cinquain - a 5-line poem.
The Other Side Of Doubt
I slept on the other side of doubt
Last night and the night before;
Oh, how I relish a sleep devout,
Discovering what dreams turn out –
From surreal paintings to heroic lore.
But not all nights are such an oasis –
Cajoling scoundrels of the day,
Anxiety monsters invading my palace,
And razor tongues haunt me sleepless
As childhood stomping grounds disobey.
The clock ticks by in counter rhythm
And echoes against the window
With pervasive thoughts so phantom;
I struggle to discover the right serum
As this battle rages on my pillow.
Yet, I will not be deprived tonight –
I locate green pastures throughout,
Ask for calming waters of respite,
Filling my soul even into daylight
To sleep on the other side of doubt.
Psalm 23: 1-3;
Philippians 4: 6
Artist: Dave Douglas
Friday, May 28, 2010
Imaginarium - POEM of the WEEK! 05/28
Imaginarium
My school had a lengthy class
But they were all as such.
One teacher took us places;
She did not need to say much.
Along the white line to nowhere
I stood quietly as was trained,
But black ink shot out of my pen
And my classmates complained.
In the quiet of my bedroom
I covered pages with imagination
Until I was warm with thoughts
And traveled every nation –
To mountains new to my eyes,
To ocean depths I had never been,
To temples and public houses
And faces I had never seen.
“I felt the senseless rage drain
From every pour in my body
Until the plunder of my soul
Could no longer rescue me!” …
My adrenaline soared off a cliff,
I murdered for a woman’s hand,
My ears rang from the applause,
And none of it actually happened.
“The thoughts of rest slowed,
Slowed long enough for the wind
To move from the golden hills
Until the walls of my heart thinned.” …
And, I had boxes and boxes of stories
Stacked for any willing editor.
But the flow of the process stopped,
Like a dam destroying a river.
Springs and summers passed,
Until every season felt like winter.
While I had balanced out each day,
The library was my single adventure.
Until one day, a sunrise surprised me!
I peeked over the mailbox with delight,
An acceptance shined on a story of old –
Imaginarium! And, I continue to write.
“According to [Jack] London’s biographer Alex Kershaw,
the library was the boy’s ‘preferred classroom,’…” – Aleta George
[Also publish in Synchronized Chaos
Magazine, September, 2015.]
Saturday, March 14, 2009
The Climb - POEM of the WEEK! 03/14
The climb, with its many bends and rises,
bends and rises once more – past the cattle guard,
there is always more.
To say “almost there”,
then see another bend and rise
sends a switchback of betraying thoughts –
turn around and go back, never!
But, the climb bends
and rises once more –
there is always more.
More pain, more sweat, more love
for this climb overlooking the eagle perched
atop a tree examining the green grass and rock
and life scurrying and hiding under the rock, in the tree.
And, the climb bends and rises,
rises my heart beyond a rate
the beauty this road
will take me when I reach the top.
Until then, I will say there is always more.
~
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which
God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:14
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The Road Map - POEM of the WEEK!
The Road Map
(a pantoum)
If the road map is in the car
Why are we so off course?
Most have differing views of where we are,
Others may say, “consider the source.”
Why are we so off course?
Some lay blame to those in the backseat,
Others may say, “consider the source.”
While others ignore the signs on the street.
Some lay blame to those in the backseat;
The new technology shuts off our mind
While others ignore the signs on the street,
So much riding with the blind.
The new technology shuts off our mind;
Some of us choose to turn around,
So much riding with the blind,
It’s about time the lost are found.
Some of us choose to turn around;
Most have differing views of where we are,
It’s about time the lost are found
If, the road map is in the car.
~
Also published, in slightly different form, in the 2009 Ina Coolbrith Circle Anthology.
[Artist: David A. Douglas. Taken on a road trip
through central Nevada with my brother Paul.]
Friday, December 26, 2008
Shackled to Veins - POEM of the WEEK! 12/27
Of each situation I pass
From the fall of an hourglass
Met in restrained antiquity
Which limits creativity
By the links in my chains
As I am shackled to veins.
Also published (in moderately different form),
in the 2007 Ina Coolbrith Circle Anthology.
