Old Codgers

Idleness fills his hours
as if time knows no limits

I devour moments, afraid
tomorrow will forget me

we see-saw between
treacherous righteousness
and fusty avoidance

ignoring balance –
a sensible response.

(Inspired by the perils of an aging marriage, and submitted for Ragtag Community’s prompt:  fusty.)  Image from personal collection.

Love-In

Dreams big
this budding leader,
astral charts
painted on her walls,
thoughts always adventuring.

Eight summers
we’ve camped together
grown our minds
and spirit –
an inter-generational
love-in.

(It’s summer camp time at Grandma’s again.  Written for Ragtag Community’s prompt, astral, and Fandango’s, camp.)

Feathered Presence

Fierce and majestic,
the bald eagles scour
the river, while I,
in awe stand witness.

Last year,
it was a mated pair
whose white crowns
commanded audience

Now, the offspring,
perches princely
claims this tract
and my allegiance

Feathered grandeur
and piercing eyes
a royal presence
somehow coherent.

(Inspired by the promptings of Ragtag Community: prince, and Fandango’s: coherent.  Also linking up with Granny Shot It’s: BOTD.  The image is from personal collection and available through Society6.)

Utterly Redonculous

Looking for a rock at present,
preferably a boulder,
might dig myself a cave
and await resurrection

sacrilegious, I know,
but the tasks are overwhelming
and the words – just too much!

I mean, eleutheromania?
The mere utterance enough
to make me run for cover

and now I am to believe
that pulchritrudinous
equates with utter beauty –

oh my raspy voice
stumbles over the words
as brain loudly protests.

Too much, I say –
will have to save creativity
for another day

Meantime,
I’ll be under
that rock.

(Prompts today elicited irreverence:  Reena’s Exploration challenge – see for yourself; and Ragtag Community’s unusual word; slightly tamed by Fandango’s “raspy“. )

Firewall

Fear builds wall
deflects possibility;
I pray for purpose
block revelation

afraid truth,
unkind, will
shatter equilibrium

Once faith-filled
meaning flowed
like blissful
divine guidance

but life changes,
challenges –
virus suppressing
vitality

I set my walls
ineffectively,
it seems

need to adjust
these filters.

(For Reena’s Exploration challenge: meaning and truth, and Ragtag Community’s: flow; and Fandango’s: firewall.)

 

A Lacking Response

Confronted with the confines
of your hate-centered speech,
I choke on disbelief,
mind sputters, stalls,
conversation moves on
and all I can manage
is an impotent withdrawal.

(Submitted for Ragtag Community’s prompt: sputter, and Fandango’s: manage.  Inspired by the hate rhetoric passed about on social media, often initiated by those I otherwise respect. How do you respond?)

Looking Back

Years when children,
perpetually in motion,
required a referee –
Mom’s energy replete

so ephemeral now –
time having vanished,
weariness lingering,
savouring memory blurs.

(Inspired by my grandchildren, and the prompts of Ragtag Community: ephemeral, and Fandango: referee. Image from personal collection.)