Invisibility is undesirable
I am flesh craving
in a touchless world
A voice yearning
to be heard, a heart
to listen – compassion
growing cold. This side
of the table intolerable
how long will we continue
Till the rage in me ignites
sets your paper walls aflame
and will you even notice?
(For Reena’s Exploration Challenge: feature image is prompt.)
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.)
One (me) plus one (you)
equals two (a couple)
So why is it that division
makes me feel less than whole
And subtraction (we minus you)
renders me an integer
And how, in this state of sub zero
do I solve for y?
(For Reena’s Exploration challenge: prompt here. Image my own.)
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.)
I have ventured
into your atmosphere
slipped my skin
your skin
and discovered
a universe
thoughts
emotions
beliefs
blending
into a physical dance
of light and shadow
nuances of colour
delineating life
At our core
we are light
leaning into mystery
cellular interpretations
of a symphony
we cannot hear
Compassion extended
mind altered
we meld.
(A free flow poem in response to Reena’s Exploration challenge: As Above . Click on link to view video. Image my own.)
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.)
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.)
It was birdsong
stopped me in my tracks
distracted as I was
by pandemics
and ceaseless worry
I looked up
I looked up
and there was glory
white blossoms
triangulated
against endless
blue sky
Blue sky
like a messenger from afar
lifting my spirits
stirring longing
It was birdsong
stopped me in my tracks
I looked up and understood.
(This poem, inspired by the photo I took on a recent walk, was written for Reena’s Exploration Challenge. I borrowed the line “messenger from afar”. Image mine)
She amassed children while
he pursued accolades
Family photos display
northern shorelines
tanned faces, white-toothed grins
parents not represented
Lost her childhood
at the bottom of a ravine
laid beaten and shattered
no one came to rescue her.
Guess that’s what drew her
the his light; money, she hoped
would not abandon her.
But muck tracks the same
and children need feeding
and absent a co-parent
she sleeps most days.
Offspring learn independence
a product of adults’ disarray
outlasting the fickleness of fame.
(For Reena’s Exploration Challenge: prompt is the last line of the poem. Image my own.)
Skies draw me –
the allure of wings
the inference of escape
Not afraid to dream –
imagination fully engaged
willingness set on go
Till darkness encroaches –
a black line blotting
periphery
Imperfection an ugly
critique – self flails
doubt becomes certainty
Wrench my perspective
away from the gloom
need to crop the image.
(Inspired by the promptings of Reena’s Exploration challenge:Â addiction or depression; and Bushboys: Last on card April 3.)
One Woman's Quest 