life – Page 10 – One Woman's Quest

Silent, Age

Youth flaunts her truth
serious in convictions –
that eternity exists
that words carry worth

Folly naturally succeeds
break down – inevitable
the opportunity to learn –
silent, age considers action.

(Image mine)

Could vs Would

What if we could proofread
our life – edit it in the moment –

patch over the rough spots –
change the dragon lady
into a polished princess?

Don’t know about you,
but I prefer fire to ice…

(Image mine.)

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.

The Show Must Go On

Waiting in the wings
absent an audience
what play will unfold
when the next curtain rises –
and who will hold centre stage?

(A tanka for Reena’s Exploration challenge in which she references Shakespeare’s: “All the world’s a stage….”. 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.

Stuck in a Rut

In every moment
my life is a palindrome –
same backwards as forwards,
from cellar to attic and back –
searching for a centre point
so I can reset the track.

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

I’ll Sit This One Out

Death invites me to dance
extends crooked hand
for crooked hand
takes the gentlemen’s lead

I know his moves –
have watched a time or two
even partnered a few
long, slow waltzes

But I prefer to tango
like the spice and thrill
of life’s lively step
bid him, politely, to move on.

(For Reena’s Exploration challenge: Antidotes to Fear of Death. Also linking up to Eugi’s Causerie Weekly prompt: dancing. Image my own)

Life Warp

Perusing the hardware store
(shops are limited these days)
nothing to tantalize the imagination
still, I browse, searching for normalcy.

Death loiters in aisle 9
taunts me with visions of life
once vibrant, now stolen
leers at me and I bolt

Grocery store holds more allure
ingredients to stir the appetite
the phantom stalks here too
leaves fingerprints on tin cans

The coffee shop has drinks to go
but the spectre follows, leers
schoolboy smug – I’m not sure
whether to laugh or cry

Unamused by the implications
and yet somehow reassured –
the humour doesn’t escape me –
warped this new norm.

Fear vs Faith

All is movement
all is change

Why then am I stuck
a rock holding its ground?

Each moment flows
into the next
then is gone

Calm unsettles me
I stand upon the bank
and search for rapids

Let go of worry
trust process
Life is a river

Take me to that river
bathe me in faith
for now, I fear the flow.

I Grow Roses

I grow roses to remember
a beloved grandmother
the dreams of innocence
the blush of summer love

I grow roses to believe
that life has purpose
and time has no end
and love defies boundaries.

I grow roses to understand
that beauty and pain coexist
and life is about cycles
and simple things have great value.

(Linking up with Eugi’s Causerie, prompt: blush. Image from personal collection.)