The pages of this life
bound by aging leather
gilded letters cracked
intended meaning
long forgotten
No images adorn
the weathered face
the colour faded
shade of auburn
like my hair
once upon a time
Spine still sturdy
threads fraying
corners curling –
indicators of
a life well read.
(Written for Reena’s Xploration challenge #176. Image my own.)
Extraordinary
how efficiently
I wield the knife
Slay the very hopes
that keep me afloat
Slash potential
disembowel a future
Opportunity presents –
so many ports and
I unprepared, freeze
None of it meant for me
surely…I am sentenced
to an institutional life
Murderess that I am.
(Submitted for Eugi’s Weekly Challenge: extraordinary. Image 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.
This outer toughness
just conditioning
a baby alligator
that’s me
Raised in a swamp
Eat or be eaten!
family mantra, and
Deal with it!
I know it’s a lot
to take in
see the disbelief
in civilized eyes
Resistance to oppression
begets deeper wounds
Fear taught me well
Survival, they say, of the fittest.
(For Reena’s Xploration challenge: featured image is prompt.)
Child
delightful youth
my heart’s jewel
light-bearer
hope
antics haphazard
laughter contagious
spreading joy
sparking imagination
I pray that your spirit
remains vibrant, and
that reality dawns gently
(This poem first appeared in November 2018, as A Child Glows. I submit an edited and re-titled version here for Eugi’s Weekly prompt: jewels. Image my own.)
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)
Disclosure:
While I strive
for wholeness
I am given
to negative
Thoughts –
while fractional
nonetheless
count individually –
Add it all up
and I am
at times
zero
An integer
swaying backwards
and forwards
begging patience.
(Image mine)
For Reena’s Exploration challenge: click here to see prompt and join in.
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.)
One Woman's Quest 