I am a kernel
dancing on the hot pavement.
I’m ready to pop!
poem-shy June 13, 2015
The idea
like a shy child
peeks from around a corner
hoping you will notice it.
If you’re too busy to pay attention
it fades away and you are left
trying to find the picture you can’t
quite bring to mind.
.
.
.
Twice this morning, while busy with something else, an idea fluttered up. Twice I thought, “Oh! That’s good. I must remember that!” and twice it disappeared into the ether. Darn. Darn.
poem- tanks a lot June 7, 2015
Airborne tanks strafe the window,
humming engines,
peppering thunks as they run their
Kamikaze missions:
June bugs crazed by light.
.
.
.
(It can be kind of scary late a night while I’m working at the computer!)
poem-glow June 2, 2015
Moon glow through our window
illuminates you, bestowing silver
ribbons upon your hills and valleys,
inviting me to stroll their glassy paths.
The moon insists on marking you
with her lunar kisses, and I will humour her,
for she is envious I share your pillow,
while she can only hold you from afar.
poem-shatter May 25, 2015
You are bound tightly by mirrors
Gazing at yourself through refracted light
Every flaw magnified infinitely
Every hurt reflected back
slashing
slashing
slashing
you into fragile glass: you
naked Royal Doulton figurine
bare
broken
morose multiplicity in a million pieces of silver.
.
.
.
I want this to have a hopeful spin, but perhaps that will be part two tomorrow? It feels complete in thought, so I’ll stop.
poem-bellydancer day May 23, 2015
This day
is tie-dyed velvet:
Sequined blue blinks below,
milk swirled turquoise above,
Bald Eagle arcs over
undulating sunburnt pink hills,
Red-tailed Hawk swoops above
evergreen shadows that
shimmy under shining sun.
poem-rapid write May 21, 2015
Your pens are scratching
Timer ticking
Ten minutes of writing
frantic
fervent
instant effort
fired up
The buzzer sounds
and you have created
something that did not exist
ten minutes before.
.
.
In my classes students do daily timed writes to get the brains used to engaging quickly and just writing loosely. I give them prompts to use or not: lines from songs, Rory Story Cubes, a photo. It’s amazing to see how they develop writing muscles. I check these as complete, but don’t grade them. They’re about process because you learn to write by writing. 🙂
poem-lonely May 20, 2015
I do not know what to do
about your screams.
It seems you plunge
to unplumbable depths
and I do not know
how to swim.
The mists of melancholy
shroud the waters,
coat you in agony,
fog reason, and
I fear I am not lighthouse
enough to guide you home.
poem- so May 15, 2015
and so she searches in silence,
on tips of toes wanders
wakeful through the dark
thoughts
troubled determination
dragging her toward the
treasure
she will never find.
poem- in the dung heap May 8, 2015
Your displeasure wafts off you like
the shimmering waves of a manure pile in July.
You reject optimism and trust.
You will let no sunshine disturb your dung beetles.
Shawn L. Bird 