Because I Sat
____________________________________
Because I sat for a moment
On a stone bench
Feet on pebbled concrete
I noticed more bird song
With each breath
In
Then
Out
I saw a crow fly above me
With long bits of the garden
In beak
Back
And
Forth
Creating home in a tall white pine
Life was happening
Around me
Not
To
Me
Because I rested
Breathing
In
Then
Out
____________________________________
A Free Verse Poem
Contumelious
_____________________________________
An archaic term
Old-fashioned, antiquated
Yet we witness living examples daily
On television, on radio
In big white houses and small suburban homes
Perhaps not obsolete but modern
Perhaps not irrelevant but relevant
Perhaps not anachronistic but timely
We need a new way to describe daily horror
Why not use an outmoded term
Describing modern behavior perfectly?
_____________________________________
(A Free Verse Poem)
Connotation
(Inspired by Pensive or Thoughtful Mood a 1939 sculpture by Stella Elkins Tyler)
_____________________________________
Rubenesque a negative
Willowy a positive
Zaftig to avoid
Slender to attain
Chubby a dislike
Skinny a desire
Stout to loathe
Svelte to long
Why do these words dictate decisions and self-worth
When they say nothing about inner beauty and character?
_____________________________________
(A Decastitch Poem)
Urban Education
_____________________________________
Black and white standing on the corner
I’m waiting for the traffic to stop
He rushes in way against the light
I’m still waiting for the traffic to stop.
Street-smart, city-wise he is on his way
I’m still waiting for the traffic to stop.
_____________________________________
(A Throwback Poem)
(A Free verse poem)
For the second night in a row
I can’t sleep thinking about you.
This has happened before since
We’ve spoken, these butterflies keeping
Me up all night.
*
But the past two evenings
Are quite different
Causing nervousness in a different way
Tonight you told me your deepest darkest
Secret, family doesn’t know only
Former spouse, who became former because of it, this secret, this past.
*
This heartache you experienced this
Loss of innocence has changed you
I will never know the person you
May have been had this never
Happened to you, but I know you’re
A pretty great person now.
*
Insomnia comes with the weight
Of being told something of such
Gravity in confidence but it
Must not compare to the
struggles you have endured
As you walked your path
dealing with this.
*
I hardly know you – do you
have a middle name? Were
you named for a family
member? Do you have a
Favorite color? Yet, now
I know this about you.
*
My heart is heavy
My brain is spinning
My soul is sad for you
*
But because I am me
Because I have never experienced
Anything like this
Because no one else has ever told
Me anything of such gravity and I
Don’t know what’s possible
Or impossible
*
I have hope. I am full
Of optimism. I see happy days.
I see healthy days. You
already seem so well-adjusted
It’s just this one thing, one
Enormous thing.
*
I don’t know how to help
I can only listen, without judgement
And hope you know I am
Here for you, to help you
sleep if you need, to help you
Find words if they’re lost. To help
You quiet your mind. To help
You lighten your heart.
*
I am here. You are
Wonderful, amazing
Strong, caring, kind, loving.
January 12
Life is Sweet
——————————————————–
Why do you let your dreams
Settle at the bottom of your life
Under the weight of the day to day
Like an unstirred blob of honey
At the bottom of a warm mug of tea
Not sweetening the drink
Not making a difference
Resulting in something less enjoyable
Than it could be?
——————————————————–
(A free verse poem)
Interlaced
Our lives now entwined like our hands
Different but similar, Forever connected
Showing signs of lives lived and years past
Entangled in creating the future
Natural, strong, gentle and tough
Able to accomplish anything separately
Able to accomplish magic together.
(A free verse poem)
A Picture and a Poem 