Tag: Reena’s Exploration

We Will Rest Not, George Floyd

Brazen with whiteness
four toads
exerted presence
cuffed and killed a man

“I can’t breathe.”

On the front lawn
of America
stripped of empathy
the leader knelt

Not in prayer –
reverence burns his lips –
he knelt with authority
or his version, venomous

Three looked on
ignored pleas
gloated in the horror
of life’s final gasp

Humanity’s blood
now cold
unleashing a scream
a primal, reptilian rage

The offspring
of oppression
and hate
uncoiling

Like snakes
nest disturbed
rising against injustice
burning down the walls

As The Man weaves
his tale of dissonance
casting lines of division
few listen..

Black Lives Matter
drowns the rhetoric
the breakthrough is complete
we can no longer look away.

(For George Floyd and all the others murdered senselessly at the hands of those commissioned to protect.  Submitted to Reena’s Exploration challenge: breakthrough.  Image my own.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genie Unleashed

Artistic sensibility
hungered by the exquisite
craves expression

The critic guffaws
decries creativity
starves the impulse

Who unleashed
such nonsense,
such magical thinking!

To think beauty
once espied
can be replicated

and by such an amateur
the unskilled hand
an unworthy representative.

But the artist, unleashed
knows only magic –
this genie will not be rebottled.
(Thank you to Reena’s Explorationchallenge, whose prompt line is: The genie is not getting back in the bottle.  Art work my own – self-critiqued and found lacking, thank you.)

Melding

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.)

 

Quarantined Thoughts

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.)

Thanks for Reading

This platform is shaky,
I must confess,
built of co-dependent aims
carnival life expectations.

Still a steady hand
and a weeping heart
good writing companions make
or, so I tell myself

You see, despite clever musings
I’m as guilty of denial as the next
and as far as clarity goes
I’ve been myopic forever

Guess, I’m trying to say
that without an audience
I’d be nothing – and so to you
this blogging community – gratitude.

(For Reena’s Exploration challenge:  Writer’s platform/ reality; and Eugi’s Causerie Weekly Prompt: gratitude.  Image my own.)

Blue Sky Moment

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)