I try to scrape history from stone
reassemble words on vellum –
bravado pretending release
Pick my mentors from amongst
the enlightened, willing osmosis –
ego avoiding blood: grit of change
(Art my own)
I try to scrape history from stone
reassemble words on vellum –
bravado pretending release
Pick my mentors from amongst
the enlightened, willing osmosis –
ego avoiding blood: grit of change
(Art my own)
Rain has returned
Winter’s fickle nature
overturning hope
I cower beneath
bedsheets, body
on fire – await
an impulse greater
than this pain –
creativity the antidote.
(Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.
Rebellion rages in my veins, Dreamcatcher,
so tightly wound I have blocked hope
I want to be good – a good girl –
like that man of God says
but his preaching ways violate
prophecies a cover for sin
and I am so sullied that I fear
love will distain me.
How did I get here, Dreamcatcher
childhood a lost notion –
I try to minister to the past,
but Father’s sermonizing possesses
even in death, his will a barricade
I need guidance to help me emerge
I’m an unreliable navigator, Dreamcatcher,
oppression’s familiar, no high able to release me
suspicion of promises nauseates
I’m tired of facades – good girl facades –
locked in this nightmare
won’t you please help me out?
(For Eugi’s Weekly prompt: dreamcatcher. Art my own)
Life’s mountain
a rough climb
body fails to adjust
focused as we are
on destination
Sights a sepia blur
here approaching summit
scree presents new danger
I vote we pause awhile
appreciate our labour
breathe in colour for once.
(Art mine)
Spirit disregards containment
should I appear disconnected –
focus lacking substance –
it is just essence flowing
I am whisper on wind’s lips
veil of clouds on tropical shores
sun’s aureole fleeting
I’ll return soon enough…
(Written for Reena’s Xploration challenge: flow
and inspired by the artwork featured on …Bilocalalia… blog.
My image is displayed here)
That was me
the 9-year-old girl
sitting on the 3 o’clock bus
staring at the woman
with the scarf around her neck
standing across the street
in front of an oddly shaped building
I’d never noticed before, and
having a profound feeling
of déjà vu.
That was me
the scarf-wearing woman
standing on the sidewalk
in front of the odd shaped building
waiting for the 3 o’clock bus
to move, so that I might cross
suddenly overcome by a sense
of premonition as my eyes
locked with a girl on the bus
who looked uncannily
like a younger version
of me.
(Written for Reena’s Xploration challenge: Components of Time. Art my own)
Ingredients for despair –
illness, COVID, loss –
all meted…
Never did follow recipes
I see only openings
potential for enrichment
how the lens has power
to ruminate or celebrate
(Art my own)
Wolf moon finds me
hungering – no
I am not a wolf
but I am starved
in this month of storms
snow blocking doors
temperatures dropping
Temperatures rising
flames of creativity
steaming panes
the season is wrought
belly-aching crave
I am wolf, howling
hoping the moon finds me.
(A bit of word play for Eugi’s Weekly prompt: Wolf moon. Image my own.)
“What in your life is calling you, when all the noise is silenced,
the meetings adjourned…the lists laid aside,
and the wild iris blooms by itself in the dark forest…
what still pulls on your soul? “
– Rumi
I dwell in silence
meetings adjourned
list groceries
Former self faded
sorrowful shadow
definition slipped
I am the wild iris
pushing forward
in darkness, unseen
In contemplation
future doors heavy
snowy the path
If I follow light
I find promise
a verdant valley
I am guided
no destination
only presence
Physical constraints
merely distraction
I am the message
Light, shepherd
dreamer, woman
warrior, goddess
My soul pulls
invites passage
I am ready.
(Written in response to my weekly challenge – opening quotation. After meditating on Rumi’s words the image emerged and later this poem.)
inkblots mutate to form pictures, alphabets, stories I did not create
***

decorated trees sway to songs emanating from masked lips imagining smiles that reach twinkling toes and luminous tips (Words are from Reena's Exploration challenge. Art my own.)