Tuesday, July 28, 2015

PRPG Ellis Island

Priorities

I don’t remember much about Ellis Island
or even the Statue of Liberty.
I remember being on the ferry
and my little niece looking into the bay
saying, “Goodbye, water,
we have to pick up Lori Peters at the airport.”
My thirteen-year-old daughter
had been in Jordan all summer
and I wasn’t thinking much about history,
just the immediate future
when I’d see her get off that plane
with a duffle bag
about as big as she was. 

Monday, July 27, 2015

Saturday, July 25, 2015

PRPG Hall of Fame

Cowboy Hall of Fame

Medora, North Dakota
Faces chiseled by age and sun
Gift shop
Painting of cowboys on the prairie
with Native American ghosts on horses
galloping across the bluffs.
Though it was expensive,
I regret not buying it. 

Friday, July 24, 2015

PRPG Disney World

Epcot Center at Christmas

The giant golf ball
Gathering of around-the-world buildings
Sculpted Disney Character hedges
A tall scantily decorated Christmas tree
Nineteenth century Christmas carolers
A thin Father Christmas
dressed in red velvet with white fur trim
saying a bunch of forgettable words.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

PRPG Notre Dame Cathedral

What If?

I’ve been alone
in large church buildings
at night
and I know
how creepy it can be.
What would it be like
to be locked up
in Notre Dame Cathedral
on a quiet
moonlit night?
The creaks, the statues,
the stained-glass shadows.
Would one
start believing
in ghosts? 

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

PRPG Auschwitz

Auschwitz

A ll my heart can do is grieve when I think of Auschwitz. It’s hard to
U nderstand how people can do such horrible things to other people.
S ometimes, I wonder about the things that are going on today.
C hildren beheaded, bodies torn in two between vehicles, mass shootings.
H eaven help us humans become more humane and stand against the horror.
W hen we have a chance to do anything to make things better, urge us on.
I ntervene, Lord. Rise up against the evil that’s taking place in this world.
T urn this around, Lord, and let Your name be glorified. Give us
Z eal for loving You and loving others. Even so, come Lord Jesus, come.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

PRPG San Francisco

Rice-A-Roni

The sixties Rice-A-Roni commercial
Emblazoned on my mind
The hills
The bell
The cable car
The cheery jingle
Rice-A-Roni a San Francisco Treat!
Better than potatoes!
I’ve never been to San Francisco.
I’ve never tasted Rice-A-Roni.
How did such a memorable commercial
not entice me to buy Rice-A-Roni?

Monday, July 20, 2015

PRPG Greece

Aristophanes the original Don Rickles
A poet proving insult tickles
His poems and plays he did pander
Loved and hated for slander

Sunday, July 19, 2015

PRPG paintings in RIJKS Museum

The Little Girl in a Blue Dress

Her face looks old
Her eyes stained by the things she’d seen
Her hair thin and receding.
Her dress, once grand,
but handed down several times.
Her essence wishing for another century.

7 18 PRPG The Great Wall of China

Walls

Keeping people in
Keeping people out
Imposing, strong
Longing for a time
When there’s no need for
walls. 

Thursday, July 16, 2015

PRPG Africa

Elephants lumber
Hyenas slumber
Lions slink in search of prey
Chimpanzees hang out
Meerkats look about
Giraffes amble with a sway 

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

Like a family of whales
poking their heads
out of the water,
but the singing’s beyond
the song of whales. 

Monday, July 13, 2015

PRPG Colosseum

Within the crumbling walls
of the Roman Colosseum,
voices of emperors,
spectators and blood
of gladiators, Christians,
and Jews cry out. 

Sunday, July 12, 2015

PRPG The Great Pyramid

If it wasn’t for the pyramids
and Sphinx with its flat nose,
the dry and arid land would be
a place where no one goes.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

PRPG The Grand Canyon

Something More Grand than the Canyon

The sun
lit up the canyon walls
in rich browns and sepia.

I had been to the Grand Canyon before
with my husband and kids.
We just walked along the paths,

looking, not hiking or exploring
that I would have preferred.
This time wasn’t much different.

Except, we had Vanessa with us.
She can’t walk or talk,
but she can communicate.

What she communicated,
when we wheeled her up
to the lookout spot,

with her wide eyes,
huge smile, her oohs and ahs,
I’ll never forget.

For the honor
of taking her to the canyon,
I felt privileged.






PRPG Niagara Falls

Slowly I Turned

S ilvery waters roar
T umbling down in
E normous amouts
P ounding out its presence

B old and energetic
Y elling out loud, “I am here!”

S lowly I
T urned gazing at all
E ncompassing beauty
P erfected in Niagara Falls!



Based on Slowly I Turned, an Abbott and Costello skit.

PRPG Taj Mahal

Remember

Did the emperor
who commissioned
the building of the Taj Mahal
to entomb and memorialize
 his wife Mumtaz Mahal
give her nice things
while she was alive?

Why do we wait
until one’s dead
to say nice things
and send flowers?
I ask the Lord this favor,
May I attend
my own funeral?


PRPG The Louvre

If one had painted
the Mona Lisa today,
would people like her?

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Phoenix Rising Arc De Triomphe


Arc De Triomphe

An archway
Stands in Paris France
For soldiers
Remember
I can see them marching through
Here to There

July 6 Phoenix Rising Rodeo

Rodeo

Noisy crowd
Smell of dusty air
Gallant horse
Scrambling hooves
Showing what it is made of
Proud rider

Sunday, July 5, 2015

PRPG Times Square

Instincts 

My daughter
didn’t catch a show,
do much shopping,
or even get her picture taken
with her group
at Times Square.
She was too busy
standing in front of the webcam
waving at me
at my kitchen table
in Colorado.
Reminds me of that nursery rhyme
when the cat visited the queen
only to frighten the little mouse
under the chair. 

Saturday, July 4, 2015

PRPG PAD Washington Zoo

Smithsonian’s National Zoo

That day, we held hands watching pandas play
You who were just a blip on my life’s screen
We walked and talked and kissed at each display  
That day, we held hands watching pandas play
We knew that soon we’d each go our own way
In my life’s play, just one romantic scene
That day, we held hands watching pandas play
You who were just a blip on my life’s screen 

Thursday, July 2, 2015

PRPG PAD Tower of London

Ghosts

For the Motherland,
he parachuted down.
They sat him in a chair,
aimed and fired.
The chair remains.
Perhaps he sits in it today
and chats with the ghosts of
Henry VI, Lady Catherine,
Dame Sybil and the grizzly bear.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

PRPG PAD Hiking

Hiking up to Bear Falls

Start in Telluride, Colorado,
vacation spot of rich and famous.
As you pick your way up the dirt road,
maybe stars pass you by in the daylight.
Take photo of city of cairns,
or stop and build one yourself.
Spot elk, deer, rabbits, squirrel.
Stand on the embankment looking down,
way down to the river.
Murmur polite greetings on narrow path.
Gaze in wonder at the falls,
though they’re not that big.
The wonder is more about
if you’ll make it all the way back down.