Sunday, September 28, 2014

Which Type Are You?




Clickety-clack! The sound harkens back
memories of mechanical metal keys
first machine to employ QWERTY
key striking, punching, and forget erase
manually pushing a rubber rod to that place.
Ding, Grind, Return!
(O how white paper makes ones stomach churn)
Ribbons tangled knotting little girls hair
happy letter circles post erect- sans care.
Will children tomorrow ever learn
of this odd thing called “carriage return”.

An olden device from yesteryear
( used by Lord Shakespeare-
 to the youth it would appear)
“A typewriter dinosaur?!
I think I’ve heard of that before...”

A dying art-
or relic part,
a Remington treasure
Underwood of heavy measure.
Oh-to bear the cursed weight
of a writers' heavy fate...

Ashes are just spent pages
From the notes of thin typing sages
Poets words have been lost
their precious pages tossed
aside as irrelevant tools
written by poor ancient fools…
But if the Poet is dead,
if  what may be written should no longer be read
will his secrets die too?
Although you cannot buy a typewriter brand new-
they are still used in funeral homes, like bodies stored,
and gainfully employed in the maternity ward

A picture can be repainted, but new layers don’t erase,
all that existed in the first place.
Out of ink, there was a problem loading,
use pencil or pen, technology not so foreboding.

A writers' day is done
if he can inspire no one
by tools of any kind
if a reader he cannot find

To type, text, jot and scratch-
Inspiration, words, ideas to catch,
"Thou art privy to irrelevant tones"
with these archaic words, one moans.
Stretching keys and word count is not prophetic
instead singing off tune, a non-meaning lyric.

Compose, Post, Draft, Send, Share-
How you write I don't really care...
This divine write, to right
to say, to mean, to express, and share the light
Is a beautiful mysterious thing
I can still hear the typewriter sing

Ding.


Image By Bain News Service, publisher [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.


Saturday, September 20, 2014

Virtuoso Reality

Image by Scheffer, Victor B. US Fish & Wildlife Service via Wikimedia Commons 

Virtuoso Reality

A poet is a painter
who uses only black
and white and
in-between
the lines
where
form is placed
and lost
delicately staining
the inaccuracy
of vision through the haze
wandering a minds maze
where
wonton thoughts
race mazes
blazing trails
on a quest for truth
seeking a map
of the mind
only to find
where
truths treasure
seeks shelter
waiting to be seen
a picture painted
an image waiting
for the objective observer
you
to exact, form
design and blur
where
muted meanings
twisted tones
hereditary hues
the artistic amalgamation
of a pigmented portrayal
is expressed and etched
a reflection
in windows and mirrors
upon your accessible canvas
where
a picture becomes a poem.



Composed 9/20/14

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Happily Never After

Image By GlenAFord at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

One of the hardest things to see
is when to accept that it may never be.
Both of our hearts bleed,
not able to give what each other may need.
Romance I think we have honestly tried-
and your effort cannot be denied...
But when you move to touch me anymore
my skin stings and my body feels bruised and sore.
I said I felt abandoned and neglected
And you say you always feel rejected.
How can we see eye to eye
when it feels like we are living in the safety of a lie?
Waiting for the good parts to come
meanwhile our hearts grow cold and numb.
The problem isn't whose to blame
No matter what we try it stays the same...
I am a thorn in your side,
making you feel obligated and tied
Safe and secure, tried and true
always a work in progress, relationships take two
Ten years is a long time to wait
only to find you've lost your soul mate.
When two people are in love
whatever appears difficult they're able to rise above
stronger together
unlike stormy weather
Circles of speech, a vortex of energy
even simple conversations have lost the synergy
Focused on whose right and whose wrong
I haven't been wanted, cherished, devoured in so long...
I keep waiting, searching for a sign
that you want to be just mine
"Its not important to me" was your excuse,
telling you how I feel is of no use.
Moving on, getting over it, forgive and forget, it's all okay
since nothing really matters that I say,
'I'm sorry's' galore, 'I didn't think of you'
is any of this your fault too?
Can this ever be fixed
without broken promises- left hanging or nixed?
Perhaps my heart is just to scarred
I don't think it should be this hard...
Even now when there's nothing to lose-
but after this long it's plain to see
that it's not me
you choose.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Suffering in Silence

By Antonio da Fabriano II (Italian, active 1451-1489) (Walters Art Museum:  Home page  Info about artwork) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Shhh! I'm straining to hear
(I must admit, to you
this is my greatest fear)
thundering, rolling silence
boulders unwedged
cracking from a dry spell
not able to find the words to tell
nor a drop in the hollow inkwell
a writers ramblings
that chokingly clutter
floods of thoughts, ideas,
those clever lines I mutter
all taken for granted!
Perhaps there's just nothing
more needing to be said,
(it never before
felt like such a chore)
It used to come
like a heartbeats drum
Absent, broken, chaotic ideas
now dam
and make me look dumb!
A river of words flows by,
a waterfall of passion spills out,
taken by the current inspiration
that usually carries me
Dry and jammed
lodged with self-immolated Styx,
a busy beavers idle work,
where idleness eddies may lurk
I am told not to worry
it will be back and come in torrent
Can you hear the watery voice?
Comprehend its murky messages?
Now, I should confess
I am responsible for this lazy mess
(it's not as though I haven't tried
"I wrote a little today," I lied.)
Instead sterile white paper mirroring thoughts
Letters, symbols, pixels,
words that don’t go anywhere
stuck in virtuous silence
waiting for the stream to come...

Composed 8/22/14.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Fruits of Labor

White noise whir of the circular saw,
sputtering gears of mower blades churning,
taunting the helpless pungent grass
still dotted in hopeful dew.

A mockingbird stretches his lungs,
flying through the scales.
Beaming golden rays,
warmth rapping on panes.
Asking to come out and play
on a steamy summer suburbia day.
Waves and smiles, neighborly beeps,
off to work with kisses on the cheeks.

Dishwasher soapy claws churn away,
and the dynamic laundry duo readily toil through the day.
Lemon zested home sparkles with a happy clean,
primped and buffed, for no one it is seen.
Busy body chores, errands and more,
barely ever done by four.
Futile with growth, grime and clutter,
the gas tank starts to sputter,
The daily grind,
brews another hot cup of day.

A sweet moment in the citrus glow of evening,
freedoms breezy greeting,
stops all-
butterflies, hummingbirds, dragonflies,
even the birds held their note-
to inhale the nectar's
still blooming sweat.

lingering in the orange summers eve.

Feature image by Jon Sullivan, via Wikimedia,Public Domain"Bees really like pollinating my Meyer Lemon tree"



Friday, July 11, 2014

The Woe I Know



Brain is dead
heart is bled
heavy chest
interrupted breaths
grave moments
crashing sobs
temples throb
bodily torture
wax-paper wipes
comfortless needs
paintbrush umbrella
wrestling pillows
writhing limbs
screams inside
loud as red
hands tick and tremor
long and never
pitiful depths
of mire.

Gasping breaths
morose prose
muffled in suffocation
lingers in lobes
furious white flashes
deep in green monster caverns
incinerating ideas chanting
noxious notes swim
in flooded leaden sorrow
                                                             evaporated into tomorrow.

Painting Oil on canvas by Belmiro de Almeida 1858-1935[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The Grapes In My Path

Photo by Famished Writer @ Madd Potter, in California

The Grapes In My Path

There are grapes in my path
on this abundant trail 
now invisible as if we never were
here, to pick and press, salvage and reap
for pleasure in pain
passion fruits of desire
I picked you some flowers,
I baked you a pie,
sacrificial labors of love
done by your own hands
connected to home and earth.
Breaking backs, clinging sweat
under wool, denim, straw, in cotton
keeping more out than simply the sun
depleted soil
exhausted soul
bursting with strangled juice
bountiful, delectable
selected and hand chosen
always searching for more
scantily ripe for the picking
and You
likely in a hurry,
just drive by
clouds of dust in the lane
settling on skins of
clay and mud
day after day-
a boulder rolls
among the rows
hunched in fields
punched with toil
blistering leather gloves
servitude by season
migrants moving
with the benevolent harvest of
plump bursting strawberries
dipped by chocolate covered hands
the wrath of happenstance
gratefully destined from birth
to be eternally closer to earth.



Half-dozen Mud cakes

Back to wood decks, quarter-size spiders, webs, moss  and creatures stirring in the hollow nights Back to no side-walks and skirting into th...