Tag: poem

Down Is Right

Been riding the down elevator too long
a slight detour, I once, long ago, thought

Ambitions set on Penthouses
and upper echelons of success

First, there is a trip I must make
a downward pull insisting –

See, it isn’t true what they say
that we can be whatever we want

It’s time to stop running,
stop chasing empty promises

I’m getting down to roots
causes and influences

history revealing a legacy
here in the depths of self

a final reckoning that bears light
seems I’ve miscalculated directions

I’ve been riding the down elevator
about to alight on revelation.

(For Reena’s Exploration Challenge #160. Image my own. Hayes is my maiden name.)

Secret Keepers

(Disclaimer: I am submitting this poem for Reena’s Exploration challenge: horror. The poem arose from a nightmare, and my be triggering for some readers.)

They always take the back roads,
virginal snow-covered lanes
lined with trees: pastoral views

Unmarked routes, out of sight,
use the innocence of landscape
to blot out their dark intentions

Pristine picture perfect scenes
lull the unsuspecting; breath-
taking vistas: secret keepers

The roads still exist in my dreams
the trees like soldiers, stiff and stark
stripped of their magical allure, now

guard the memories, painted red
with loss of purity; I had not
guessed the danger of woods

child mind incapable of conceiving
what wolves roamed in nature
the blood of their victims crimson

stains forever etched in silhouette
the shrillness of their screams
now silent echoes in the night.

(Secret Keepers first appeared here September of 2016. Art my own.)

A Dog’s Heart

I am a dog, or so
horoscope tells me…
certainly been referred to
as the mother of…

Private lives fascinate me
tenderness tossed away
in the courtship process

Some prefer on screen
interaction – erecting
false intimacy

I am tired of it all
bark the right of refusal
no encores for me…

…except I’m a damn dog..
man’s best friend, so they say
loyal companion… shoot!
Lend me that crystal ball…

(A bit of light humour for this first day of October. Inspired by Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt: crystal ball. Image my own.)

Moving

The rumble of men’s voices
grunting shifts beneath
heavy wooden furnishings

The transition is underway
Broom and cloth at hand
I hover out of sight

Will erase each vestige of us
bless this passage, prepare
to welcome the new.

(Moving day! Prewritten for Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt: transition. Image mine.
We will not have access to the internet for a few days. I hope to be back on the weekend.)

Not Meant To Be

He was night dark,
ruminated over death
and loss and injustice
Don McLean on repeat

I was sunshine yellow
joy of living
optimism on steroids
Dancing Queen

If opposites attract
then we were magnets
lured by the mystery
One Way or Another

When night meets day
colours explode
light breaks black
Shame, Shame, Shame

(For Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt: when night meets day.  Image mine)

 

Parental Passages

Carefully we construct
security for offspring –
add luxuries to entertain
accommodate growth
play host to revolving-
door friends and dates.

And yet, we are graded
on performance – met
or unmet expectations –
held up against a stack
of other super parents,
silhouettes of perfection.

Still, we celebrate goals,
sprouting family, ignore
the slanders, and ease
into age with a tad of kook,
or wild inappropriateness –
all expressions of our love.

(First edition of this poem appeared Feb/’18.  Image from personal collection.  Submitted for Reena’s Exploration challenge, choosing the prompt: silhouette.)