Inessential am I
ghost of a woman
burden avoidance
Imperfect am I
each flaw a step
towards deepening blue
And yet, I exist
purpose unknown
shadow dancing.
(Image: Self-portrait)
Category: culture
Write Me an Ending
Ego fiercely defends
status quo, perceives
movement as predator
Soul craves peace,
provoked by the illusion
division the public glide
How do we manage
when progress, stripped bare
displaces understanding?
Alone, I cycle through
these observations
encounter jammed passages
Dismayed by deviancy
messages aimed to exploit
the vulnerable naked and blind.
(For Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt: observation. Image my own.)
Syntax
Behind the veil
of political maelstrom
lies a modicum of humanity
Or, is it humanity is belied
behind a maelstrom of lies,
politics always falling short?
A Convertible Summer
Summer of ’67
British invasion
Canada claiming 100 –
Dad arrives home
in a powder puff
blue convertible.
Back seat sisters
long hair flapping
bellowing along
with 8-track tunes:
Loving Spoonful
“Do you believe in magic?”
I, barely nine
idolizing a sister
sixteen – a model
with go-go boots
and hippie style
Cottaged at Sauble
muscle cars prowling
oiled bodies lounging
and all eyes lit
on sister, and I
wondering at the draw
made castles in the sand.
Surfing the waves
avoiding the baby
whose brash cries
and quick, chubby legs
keep Mom distracted,
I am observer of the life
Neil Diamond is promising:
“Girl, you’ll be a woman soon.”
Ah, to be 9, in summertime
few the cares, and ideas
like popcorn, burst and pop,
forgotten in each watery plunge
still content to be a child.
(A Convertible Summer first appeared here in June of 2018. I submit this edited version for Eugi’s Causerie Weekly challenge: summer. Image my own.)
Reset, Please
We define our lives in acrostics
while nature audits the damage
We bemoan isolation
while Mother exhales
A sigh of hope –
all praying for reset.
(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter, @Vjknutson. Image my own.
Keep Compassion Alive
Hope’s a robot
marching along
endlessly sourced
Compassion is flame
ignited by love
kept burning by care
Fear annihilates
dampens the flame
darkens the path
Hope persists
follow her lead
keep compassion alive.
Quarantined Thoughts
Oh, the plans I make –
swept up in sudden quietude –
art, writing, books to read –
creativity leaps with excitement
And yet, there is a somber tone
ringing in my head – an anxious
whirring – reframing solitude
as social aberration…
And in this dance of light and dark
how shall I weave the threads
braid together a semblance of order
find a balance I can live with?
(Inspired by the prompting of Reena’s Exploration Challenge: quarantined thoughts. Image my own.)
On Common Sense
Can common sense be taught –
friendly snapshots coercing shifts?
Novices proclaim innocence,
blame their peers, but remember
When humanity is a foreign concept,
and sensibility a second tongue
The underdog suffers, and
who knows what is to follow?
(For Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt: underdog. Image my own.)
Soulmates
Don’t believe in soulmates
just soul power – the ability
of human yearning to actuate
love’s potential –
Of course, I’m far from a rookie
bear the scars of infatuation’s
fallout, prefer kindness
and respect to romantic fluff.
(Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)
Coming of Age
Green eyes captivate,
he whispers, warm hand
resting on youthful thigh
Stomach somersaults
reviled by whiskey breath
yellowed fingers clutching
Not these eyes! I stand
tossing my drink in his face;
coming of age moment.
