This woman you think you see
face hidden behind lens
she is but an illusion
Flesh camouflaging spirit –
her soul, winged
soars beside you.
(For Reena’s Exploration challenge: illusion; and Bird Weekly challenge: seagulls.)
Month: August 2020
Moving
The rumble of men’s voices
grunting shifts beneath
heavy wooden furnishings
The transition is underway
Broom and cloth at hand
I hover out of sight
Will erase each vestige of us
bless this passage, prepare
to welcome the new.
(Moving day! Prewritten for Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt: transition. Image mine.
We will not have access to the internet for a few days. I hope to be back on the weekend.)
Looking For Silver Linings
Shoulder to shoulder
we contemplate clouds, hunt for
silver, my brother
lost, then found, ponders what ifs –
clouds become threads, unite us.
(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Photo mine)
Is Optimism Enough?
Are you happy?
The question hits
my gut,
slingshots
down the hall
deadends
at optimism
Of course, I respond.
What else can I say…
Sure life needs tweaking…
I am learning to be better…
I can make this work…
Why? What do see?
Thoughts unspoken
but the bell has been rung…
(For Reena’s Exploration challenge: How far can optimism go? Image my own.)
Lockdown Tanka
A grackle shimmers
sun highlighting blue – my mood
queer melancholy –
absent knocks, talks, minutiae
remains discomforting din.
(Photo mine)
Not Meant To Be
He was night dark,
ruminated over death
and loss and injustice
Don McLean on repeat
I was sunshine yellow
joy of living
optimism on steroids
Dancing Queen
If opposites attract
then we were magnets
lured by the mystery
One Way or Another
When night meets day
colours explode
light breaks black
Shame, Shame, Shame
(For Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt: when night meets day. Image mine)
Out of Body
Kingfisher, my horse
transports me to unseen realms
a fleshless dreamer
seeking oneness, Orenda,
a noetic salvation.
(Tuesday, I borrow from my Twitter account @Vjknutson. Image my own)
Parental Passages
Carefully we construct
security for offspring –
add luxuries to entertain
accommodate growth
play host to revolving-
door friends and dates.
And yet, we are graded
on performance – met
or unmet expectations –
held up against a stack
of other super parents,
silhouettes of perfection.
Still, we celebrate goals,
sprouting family, ignore
the slanders, and ease
into age with a tad of kook,
or wild inappropriateness –
all expressions of our love.
(First edition of this poem appeared Feb/’18. Image from personal collection. Submitted for Reena’s Exploration challenge, choosing the prompt: silhouette.)
Still Digging
Father, as immoveable
as a mountain
taught us to orchestrate
submontane routes
Circumnavigating
his rocky moods
bestowed upon us
a fear of masculinity
Resilience instilled
the necessity of mining
gold from darkness:
still digging.
(Sketch mine)
Right of Passage
Teeth they are a-dropping
grins prideful
palms itching
Hope the Tooth Fairy
is on her game
purse full of toonies.
(for Eugi’s Causerie Weekly prompt: fairy . Photo from personal collection. Note: a toonie is a $2 coin in Canada.)
One Woman's Quest 