You call to me
like a fog horn,
insistent,
overwhelming,
but your light house beacon is dark
and I toss on stormy seas
unable to find your sanctuary.
poem- lost January 21, 2014
I lost a poem today
It came to me, a shy friend
and whispered in my ear
such beautiful words.
I savoured them
and rolled them on my tongue
but before I could make a
penned permanence
of friendship
it flitted away,
leaving loss
and longing
in its place.
poem-writing is like baking a birthday cake January 18, 2014
Writing a novel is like baking a birthday cake.
First, you figure out what kind it is
chocolate, vanilla, spice, angel?
historical? horror? teen? romance?
What is your audience?
Three toddlers? Fifty seniors?
Then you add the ingredients in some order
flour, eggs, milk, sugar
protagonist, conflict, plot, setting
Then you mix them all together and add some heat
from an oven
an editor or first readers
It cooks, changing from ingredients into cake.
It’s edited from a manuscript to a book.
When it tests as being done,
it has to sit a bit to cool
Then it is shared with a small group, or a huge crowd
People celebrate with candles, smiles and songs
A cake lasts a moment, but the memory can linger.
A book lasts longer, but the memory of the first moment lingers.
poem- silence January 12, 2014
In response to a poetheme prompt on Twitter, a micropoem:
.
My silence is my power
A weapon of contemplation
& distillation
The weapon of a sage,
enraged.
poem- the other side January 10, 2014
The world is white on the outside
but she is black.
The core of her is burnt and raw,
bubbling flesh like molten lava.
The yard is sugar coated and bright
but she is dark.
The soul of her is encrusted and festering
rotting organs like gangrenous limbs.
The world is playfully building snowmen
but she is deconstructing herself.
Laughing children throw snowballs from
behind fortress walls that will melt.
Her fortress is firmly constructed;
joy will not reach her
until it bleeds away like winter.
.
.
.
.
Today’s composition explores contrast. I’m trying to be a bit Plath-like here, though it’d be hard to capture the depths of her misery without living the pathos, perhaps?
poem- snowman January 9, 2014
The world is white
but my path was cleared
by a shovel wielding
snowman.
.
.
Some mornings I grumble as I’m awakened by the scraping of the snow shovel in the driveway, but then I have a moment of thankfulness, from the comfort of my warm bed, that hubby faithfully does it, so that I don’t have to on mornings like this, when there has been a heavy snowfall overnight. I just get to admire the beauty of it on my way to work, without bearing the weight of it on the end of a shovel. 😉
poem- honey January 8, 2014
You
are ancient honey,
immutable in memory.
.
Floating on your laughter
I could touch stars.
.
The world was rose pink
with my yearning.
.
A sunrise through spectacles,
song rising on dawn,
desire enfolded in dream,
I wore innocence.
.
Your sweet kisses
colour my cheeks
in memory.
poem- Okanagan sunset January 5, 2014
Inferno fills sky,
flames roil like crashing sea,
cremating the sun.
poem- red lipstick January 1, 2014
A sales lady
rhapodized over my
red and purple shoes.
“I wish I had the guts
to wear something like that,”
she said, sighing.
“I always admire
great shoes on other people.”
.
I told someone of this,
and she said,
“I know what she means.
I used to envy people
who had the courage to wear
red lipstick.”
I smiled,
gazing at her scarlet lips.
“Do you feel super-powered
in that lipstick?”
Her eyes just twinkled in response.
.
We hold ourselves back,
from what will
make our spirits soar,
reveal our natures,
demonstrate our individuality,
because of what?
Fear of censure by dullards?
or
Fear of our own unleashed potential?
.
Embrace the tokens
of your power:
wear shoes that make your feet
dance in the street,
and lipstick that makes your smile
a billboard for your joy.
Be you
in all your
power.
.
(Thanks Julia, for loaning me the lipstick image). 😉
poem- Havasu December 25, 2013
Lunar landscape
miles upon miles
of dust,
red rocks,
and sky
stretching wider than a sky has business stretching
then a surprise:
startlingly blue lake
reflects cloudless blue sky
and London Bridge.
How odd.
.
.
.
Lake Havasu City, Arizona, is set beside the lake formed by Parker Dam on the Colorado River. The city is accessed via historic Route 66.
Shawn L. Bird 