Saturday, February 28, 2015

PA treat

Getting Things Done

I coax myself along
with little treats
like a carrot
dangling in front
of a mule’s nose.
Write a chapter,
take a walk.
Clean the bathroom,
read a novel chapter.
Do the next online task,
have a cup of tea
with cream and sugar
and a chocolate.
But sometimes,
skipping the work
and being lazy
is treat enough.




Friday, February 27, 2015

PA treat


Treat

T antalizing and enticing
R adically inviting
E xtravagance, pleasure
A nd delight.
T oday, let’s treat you right

                     -Cruise Ship

Thursday, February 26, 2015

thank you acrostic

Thank You

T hank You for Your love and care and
H ow You bless me every day.
A mazing love, none can compare
N ew songs of joy, You guide my way
K ind and caring,

Y ou’re so great
O ne and only God, we all
U nderestimate. 

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Phoenix Rising Euphony and Cacophony

Ending Well

His rejection kicked her in the stomach.
Her heart broke, leaving jagged edges.
Her soul vibrated with bitterness.
She faked a smile and packed her baggage.

He pursued her in the silvery moonlight,
whispering his remorse in soothing tones.
Romance danced rhythmically about her.
as she slipped on the shimmering ring.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Poetic Asides patchwork

Patchwork Quilt

My day is like a patchwork quilt
A patch of poetry
A square or three of yummy meals
And yes, of course, hot tea

A swatch of cleaning up the house
A piece of quiet time
Some squares of making calls to friends
Some reason and some rhyme

A patch of shopping for the deals
Piece work of reading books
Imagination here and there
And fancy bits for looks

A patch of favorite TV shows
A piece to walk and run
A bit of inspiration time
Some squares for games and fun

Some bits of smiles, laughter and hugs
A patch of giving care
All held together with gold threads
Of love, promise and prayer 

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Phoenix Rising onomatopoeia and alliteration

Sounds of Love in a Second Family

This morning’s moments mostly
consist of kitty contriving
to cuddle my computer
while my fingers tappity tappity
out a poem until she purrs
and sits perfectly still,
and hubby singing softly
while choppity chopping cheese
and sausage for our
lovely lady’s breakfast,
and our man meandering by
bustling about with a bangity boom
of his noisy toys. 

Poetic Asides disappointment

Disappointments,  
like bumps in the road,
can be large or small.
They can cause you to pause or stall.
But faith doesn’t let them
keep you from moving at all. 

Friday, February 20, 2015

Phoenix Rising Poetry Guild Sounds of Love

Sounds of Love from a Childlike Man

He can’t say, “I love you.”
But though I’m not his mother,
he says, “Mum-mum,”
gives me clicks for kisses
and serenades me, flutist-like
with the low, soothing sounds
of a vacuum cleaner hose.

Phoenix Guild Sounds of Love

Amidst  clanks of hammer on spikes,
shouts, jeers, sobs—
sounds of love,
“Father, forgive them.”

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Poetic Asides Free

Invisible Chains

I should go outside
Tip my head back in the wind
Feel the sun on my shoulders
Breathe in the fresh air
Blow the stink off,
as my aunt would say.

When I was a kid,
I didn’t have to be asked twice
to play outdoors.

They say the way they train an elephant
is to chain its leg until it gets used to being bound.
And when the elephant is free to go,
it stays put.


Sometimes I feel like that elephant.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Poetic Asides State of

State of Faith

His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web. Job 8:13

Lord, sometimes I feel
 like my faith is like a spider’s web,
 fragile and holey.
You said faith is like a mustard seed,
starting small
but growing into a large, spreading plant.
God, grow my faith, please.
 Sometimes I feel like it hasn’t even broken ground yet.
Please grant me ground-breaking,
leaf-growing,
limbs-stretching-to-the-sun faith.



Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Poetic Asides Resolutions

I Resolve

I resolve to make no New Year’s resolutions,
just to work on my projects more
and practice time wasters less. 

Monday, February 16, 2015

PA New Year's Resolution prompt

I resolve to write every day
And when I don’t write every day
I resolve not to worry too much about it
But pick up the next day
And if I don’t pick it up the next day
or the next or the next or the next
I resolve to go to counseling
Because I’ll need it.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Postcard #29

Shiprock, New Mexico

The ship with rocky sails
Drifts in the desert sea
Beneath a purplish sky
Where eagles soar high and free

Pirate ghosts of the galleon
Laugh in the whispering wind
Seeking treasure through eternity
Bound by their greed and sin

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Postcard # 28

Colorado

Ravens raucous cries call from fragrant pines.
Mineral water washes my palate.
Crisp, cool air caresses me.
Mountains rise like meringue.
I’m dwarfed by God's grandeur,
enlarged by His love.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Postcard # 27

Look Up

L et’s look up
O pen our eyes to the sky
O pen our eyes to beyond
K eep hope and joy alive

U nderstand it’s  not
P ossessions that last

            Look up!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Postcard # 26

Verdant Valley

I can imagine walking
through a Colorado valley
before houses, vehicles
and telephone wires,
feeling small but
significant in magnificence. 

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Postcard # 24

We’re a long way from Pittsburgh.
More blue, less green
Here the red mountain
sticks out of the trees
like the bare back from the fur
of a dog with mange.
We’re a long way from Pittsburgh.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Postcard # 23

In the mountains,
tranquility often turns to fear.
Better to breathe in beauty
from a distance.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Postcard #22

The male mallards’ green heads
shimmer in the morning sun.
The dull-feathered females
blend in unobtrusively.
Together they create
fluffy balls of cuteness
that inspire our “awwws.”

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Postcard #21

Mesa Verde

The ruins pay tribute
to a past civilization.
Ghosts lurk in dark recesses,
chuckling at curious tourists.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Postcard # 20

The Ancestral Puebloans
had a room for everything
in their stone houses.
When the moon shone bright
and romance was in the air,
did they have honeymoon suites? 

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Postcard # 19

The Elk

He fills his stocky body
with luscious grass.
His slender legs walks through 
rugged mountains and fertile valleys.
His many-spiked rack
shows he’s lived long.
When he’s felled quickly,
I will not feel sorry for him,
well, maybe a little bit.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Postcard # 18

Poetry

The mountains appear as clouds,
reminding me that poetry 
turns clouds to mountains.


Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Monday, February 2, 2015

Postcard # 16


Mesa Verde

The cliff opened its mouth
and its teeth
were mud houses.
Its hair and beard,
cedar and pinon. 

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Postcard #15

Columbine

How can anyone
see the purple star with white tips
and the white rounded pinafore
with touches of matching purple
accenting a contrasting yellow center,
with purple streamers
and not believe
in an Artist?