When God Winks Haiku
When God winks on love
You can feel His eyelashes
Fluttering your heart
Godwinks
Other Sunrises
Other Sunrises
if we have
glorious sunrises
here on earth
are there billions
of
galaxies
with other sunrises?
and how breathtaking
are they?
*********
p.s. It’s May 1. Have you said, “rabbit, rabbit?” yet on the first? Here’s to a great month, plus a picture of my backyard rabbit named Rabbit Rabbit.
Day 29 of #VerseLove with Fran Haley of North Carolina
Fran Haley of North Carolina is our host for Day 29 of #VerseLove, inspiring us to write Heart Map poems. You can read her full prompt here.
Fran explains that author Georgia Heard created Heart Maps to help younger students find their own meaningful stories. She encourages us to brainstorm “first times” in our own lives – or last times.
The Last Time
The last time I came home
before you died you
stood feebly
in the door
cold rushing in
against your
flannel pajamas
swallowing you
life leaving your body
escaping you
your voice
deep and low
sunk to the bottom
of your being
a soul cry of despair
saying my name
Kim
proving you knew me
there at the bitter end
unlike the times before
your trembling arms
reaching for me
I reeled at
the change in you
in only a few days
and held you up
while we cried
both knowing
this would be
our last
standing hug
our last
cry together
our final
goodbye
before you
slipped away
I watched you die
Day 24 of #VerseLove with Kevin Hodgson
Kevin Hodgson of Massachussetts is our host for Day 24 of #VerseLove. You can read his full prompt here.
Kevin says, “Ada Limon’s amazing poem for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission – In Praise of Mystery: A Poem For Europa – often lingers in my mind, particularly as its launch into space is on the horizon in October. The sky is full of inspiration as is the mission of discovery. Her poem has me thinking of constellations, in particular, and how people across time, in different geographic places, have so often gazed up at the night sky and sought connections between the pinpoints of light, and told stories and created poems, and shared experiences.”
Kevin urges us to “consider a constellation as a starting point for a poem. Here is a list of the 88 “official” constellations.”
Connecting the Dots (Lepus the Hare)
on the screen
a couple hops
off a train
in Vienna for
an evening together
strangers taking
a chance on love
~before sunrise~
a palm reader
ambles over in
her flowing dress
and head wrap to
read their destinies
when the stars exploded
billions of years ago
they formed everything
that is this world
everything we know
is stardust, so
don’t forget:
you are stardust…..
you are both stars
then she walks off
into the night
where they go, too,
to do more-than-
stranger-things
before he recites
an Auden poem
the years shall
run like rabbits...
and so I
connect the
dots….{Lepus!}
because
As I Walked Out
One Evening
I saw them
yes, I saw
those rabbits
running like years
through the
meadows of heaven
through this
grassland galaxy
through this
Royal Fortress Meadow
Day 23 of #VerseLove with Anna Roseboro
Anna Roseboro of Michigan is our host for Day 23 of #VerseLove. You can read her full prompt here. She inspires us to write April Showers Bring May Flowers poems about the idea that good things come from the not-so-good.
Her challenge: Think metaphorically, about a teary time or not so nice incident that preceded or evolved into a cheery time in your life, and then in sixteen lines or fewer, describe the time or incident that could be an affirmation that “Yes, April showers do bring May flowers” or the opposite.
What Makes them Rescues
their misfortune makes
them rescues ~
the kind
with serious baggage
where cell phone dings
and the
smell of heat
bring flattened-ear,
tucked-tail trembling,
the kind that
gaze into your
eyes, wishing
they could pour out
their story but
certain you
already know
Day 22 of #VerseLove with Donnetta Norris: Earth Day Poems
Donnetta Norris of Texas is our host today for the 22nd day of #VerseLove. She inspires us to write Mother Earth poems. You can read her full prompt here. She encourages us to make a list of all the gifts we have received from Mother Earth and to write a poem in the form of our choice to say thank you. She also provides these links for inspiration:
Today, I chose a pantoum and rooted it in Ecclesiastes 1:9
Nothing New Pantoum
there is nothing new under the sun
mind-blowing truth of Ecclesiastes
since the dawn of time, nothing new
everything we see was here all along
mind-blowing truth of Ecclesiastes
God hid gifts in Mother Earth’s belly
everything we see was here all along
discovered, spun, re-mixed anew
God hid gifts in Mother Earth’s belly
riches to bestow, wonders to behold
discovered, spun, re-mixed anew
sacred scriptures ~ this is true
riches to bestow, wonders to behold
since the dawn of time, nothing new
sacred scripture ~ this is true
there is nothing new under the sun
Day 21 of #VerseLove with Stacey Joy: Mama’s Kitchen Poems
Stacey Joy is our host today for the 21st day of #VerseLove. You can read her full prompt here. She inspires us to write Mama’s Kitchen Poems.
Kitchens are oftentimes the heartbeat of a home. They are gathering places and hold memories like no other room in a house. Stacey mentions a recent podcast episode featuring legendary author Judy Blume, finding herself mesmerized by Blume’s memories and stories of her mother’s kitchen. If you are interested in listening to that episode, here is the link.
Next, Stacey shares the process: Let’s share our memories from our mothers’ kitchens, our own kitchens, or any kitchen that holds memories for you.
A Lock of Hair
there, hidden in the cakes and pies section
of Mom’s Gold Medal recipe box
with all the family secrets
an unsealed blue envelope
holds tender gold tendrils
~ cherished childhood hair ~
ethereal
long blond strands
of me
steeped
in
love, one
remaining
wisp of a child
blended, kneaded, shaped,
her own recipe for
disaster ~ aproned kitchen
ancestors gather still to check
on this bun baked through all their ovens:
did she fall? did she rise? did she turn out?
Day 20 of #VerseLove with Susan Ahlbrand
Susan Ahlbrand of Indiana is our host today for the 20th day of #VerseLove. She inspires us to write Noteworthy poems. You can read her full prompt here.
She shares the process for writing these poems: reflect on communications you’ve had in the past . . . notes like mine, phone calls, letters, texts, Facetimes, and then work them into a poem. Feel free to tinker with an inventive form.
Getting the Picture
there was this picture
this picture of a watermelon
A WATERMELON!
a watermelon sliced
sliced like cries
cries of a mother
a mother with cancer
cancer that consumed
consumed her, piece by piece
piece by piece, like a watermelon
like a watermelon, there was
there was this picture
picture a mother
a mother crying for mercy
for mercy denied
denied until the end
the end, after the pain
the pain of loss
loss of a body, loss of a family
a family broken, a shattered picture
picture a mother
a mother who mattered
mattered to her sons
her sons who loved her
loved her and listened
listened and heard
heard her pleas
her pleas for mercy
for mercy denied
denied by others
others who refused
refused to believe
believe she felt pain
pain that consumed, piece by piece
piece by piece consumed their mother
a mother who mattered
Day 18 of #VerseLove with Shaun: Motivational Speech
Shaun of Las Vegas, Nevada is our host today for the 18th day of #VerseLove2024. He inspires us to read this poem by Charles Bukowski that you can find here, along with the full prompt. [Bukowski, Charles. Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way. New York: Ecco (An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), 2003.]
Then, he urges, Think about your life. Do you feel like there is something holding you back? Do you feel stuck or helpless in your circumstances? Do you remember a time when you persevered and overcame the challenges thrown at you? Perhaps you can tap into your inner-coach and deliver that life-changing halftime motivational speech!
I found inspiration in these lines of Bukowski’s
just watch them.
Listen to them.
I also added ending lines from Old Woman of the Roads by Padraic Colum
out of the wind’s and the rain’s way
The Neighborhood
there they are
building nexts
in the garage
again
three already
we can’t even
put the door
down because
there’s one on top
and on the toolbox
and in the corner
in a box
three wrens
friends?
just watch them.
Listen to them.
building houses
chirping dreams
in this
regular
bird-friendly
neighborhood
out of the wind’s
and the rain’s way
Day 16 of #VerseLove with Dave Wooley: Sevens Up
Dave Wooley is our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for the 16th day of #VerseLove, inspiring us to write seven- line poems called Kwansabas. You can read his full prompt here, along with the poems and comments of others.
Dave describes this process:
The Kwansaba is an African-American poetic form that was created by Eugene Redmond in 1995. It is inspired by the seven days of Kwanzaa and it is a praise poem.
The rules of the form are:
-it is a seven line poem,
-each line is seven words in length,
-each word is seven letters or less,
-and the poem should be a praise poem
He’s Back
today I praise this dim quiet spot
this sweet spot, still, fan breeze blowing
air on my face: my current view
is the ceiling and flutter eyelid blinks
because Vertigo demands all of my being
ghost thief of time, work, family dinners,
but mark my words: still, I’ll rise
Common Threads 