One Woman's Quest

Sky Language

To the west, a patch of electric blue
while Eastern clouds tumble grey

With each glance, sky language
alters, as if heaven re-examines

mood – intermittently snows
then explodes in flash of vermillion.

(Image my own)

Icy Omen

Beneath icy stalactites
youth catches the first whiffs
of love…merges with a kiss

An icicle drops
startles the pair
their euphoria
broken – an omen?

Prelude to love’s
fickle nature…
How coldly lust
looks away…?

(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own)

Bubbled

Deception holds these walls in place
denial renders them invisible

I am a dreamer floating
in a bubbled realm…safe

Breathe softly, still
the midnight air,
calm the inner
children,
sing tender
lullabies
of forever…
pretend

Solitude lends
perfection
to daily noise

I am invisible
motionless
free….

deluded.

(For Reena’s Xploration challenge: writing from inside the bubble.
Image my own)

Sufficiency

Disability corners me
twixt two directions –
the hurried rush
of ambition’s call
and the gentle nudge
of wisdom settling

Confined to four rooms
I am distanced from –
invisible to –
the weekend warriors
whose self-satisfied grimaces
race by my window

I remember that push –
not enough hours to the day
not enough money to succeed
never thin enough, fit enough
always grasping for more…

Legless and exhausted,
I am disqualified
from competing,
immersed in retrospection,
luxuriating in perspective –

I’ve always had, indeed,
continue to have
everything I need:
a home I can navigate,
the endless beauty of nature
and the care of loved ones.

Abundance, I’ve discovered, is attitude:
recognition and acceptance
that life is sufficiency

(I’ve derived this poem from a post by the same name, dated October 2014.
At the time, I was five months into the losses that were Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
Image my own)

Soldiers Tanka

Sacrifice belies
original plan – the young
overlook fine print
sign up for adventure -war
renders them heroes – souls torn

(Today, we remember those who have fallen – heroes of war.
Photo mine)

The Wink

Father’s scrutiny
inspired terror,
but that night,
catching the whiff
of alcohol on
underage breath,
I spied a hint
of a sparkle –
dared say so

“Chip off the ol’ block, eh?”

“Don’t you know it,”
he winked back.

(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson.
Image my own)

Lighting Call

Winter defines this stage,
this page, night descending
too early for my taste

If I catch a falling star,
can I shed the excess
layers of this confinement

Follow animal impulses
to a sunnier clime, restore
exuberance of noble youth?

Passion persists, intelligence
intact, just need a brighter
angle from which to reveal it.

(Lighting Call first appeared here January, 2019.
Linking up with Reena’s Xploration challenge: light. I
mage my own.)

I Dance

Forgive the dance –
it’s what I do –
step forward,
slide back,
shuffle, then
lose the rhythm
and start again.

Reaching forward
heart securely tucked,
something embedded –
cellular perhaps –
invites the struggle

and so, I dance –
yesterday, a warrior
today the fool
tomorrow only knows

multi-faceted,
roughly cut,
a gem
of an undefined hue
I will always try again.

(Poem first appeared on One Woman’s Quest II, entitled “Forgive The Dance”, October, 2019. Image my own.)

To Be a Flower

Cornflower submits
to Time’s deadlines
so, why am I always
gasping to catch up?

Is it strength, or failure
to amplify pressure –
expectations set on high?
Oh, to be a simple flower.

(Photo my own).

My Body Poetic

Objectify my body –
I am anti-poetic –
this shore untameable

I am fertile, yes
a producer of life,
subject to tides
and winds, shamed
by man’s propensity
to overpower.

Let me not suffer
the consequences
of inhumane laws.

(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson.
Image my own)