24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
Do you know me friend?
I no not myself,
As hard as I try,
I can’t find myself.
Where is it I hide?
Can you direct me?
I could use the help.
To find my insight.
To understand me.
That is what I seek.
After I find me.
You should all do that.
Life full of colour
Like the sea blue
With no signs of blue
Like a spectral of light
Life full of colour
Every moment bright
Life full of flavor
With laughter and favor
Life full of colour
The day had been beautiful
The sun remained high in the sky as we took our hike.
The incline, manageable, though the miles just kept coming, or so it felt.
There had been periodic breaks while we took a leisurely pace.
Beautiful sites abound on this trip,
God’s exquisite paintings at every turn.
But this one. This one took the cake.
Entering under the falls,
Sweat trickling over our faces,
Relief in our sites as the sun began to set.
Our ride would be coming soon to take us back to our cars,
Thankfully, there was time to indulge in a dip.
In a joyous refreshing dip.
The water running over our faces,
Cooling our tired bodies as we float among the fish.
The perfect way to end the day.
I’m afraid of how deep
The deep blue ocean
Can take me
I still,
Settle my feet
At the hem of its billowy skirt
The ripples tease
My toes,
The wind nips,
At the tip,
Of my nose
I take a dip,
Ever so lightly
Into the water,
Cold, and snug between
The mountains
Cerulean and teal
I look down
My eyes drown
Into the sea.
This used to be a street with a bakery.
He had a vaudeville memory, it embarassed him to keep hunting
when he knew he’d only have to turn around and
wait for transport, defeated again.
What progress was this? What ribbon cutting?
For whose benefit were these gleaming facades
that no one was ever seen entering?
The more things cost, the fewer people actually had right to enjoy them,
or so it seemed.
He was alone now.
He used to work in an office. Not one of these metal and steel monoliths,
but some things never changed. All offices have the usual temptations,
and he’d been caught indulging in his. First his wife left him, then his bosses
found fault with him.
That corner office was to blame for everything that followed.
He lived in a closet-sized apartment over what used to be a music store.
The store had been vacant for a year. Earlier that week, two younger men showed up –
the new owners – making notes and measurements, introduced themselves.
Shook his hand. He grimaced as he shut his door. It was written
all over their faces their intention was to turn him out
as soon as they began work in earnest on whatever they planned
for the building.
He knew what he had saved. He wouldn’t be sleeping in the park with Soapy.
If you were frugal, you buy the paper and a coffee on Sunday.
His kids didn’t call, but, if he had to ask for a room, he’d frame it as temporary.
Which it would be. The suburbs were a slow death. Faster for him.
He shrugged. He didn’t make plans past mid-year, anyway.
Blaze your light
To darkened orbs
A vanguard of hope to hopeless tramps
Ear to the deaf
Eyes to the blind
Feet to the lame
Arm to the armless
A haven to the homeless…
Lighting up every darkness
Father to the fatherless
Mother to the motherless
A shinning ray to hapless dusk
Easing the pain of the pained…
A defence to the defenceless…The beauty of personified succour to the needyFor your reward shall be multiplied to you, to your generation…
Make life for others count
Yours shall surely count boundlessly
Quilliging skilk brillig overflow
Mazilcutaneous zilch braggadocio
Kill julcreptitular mildenexed septacle
Finkerton yerf bickled undertow
The point is:
Destrinex yulps voltenareous hozmeric waqualitarian
Brumbling octolegarian ceseretticulate
Zusulich necrocontrarian
The message remains the same:
Fertecotron derceviled ultashed drain
Rezewicked ghad yuleterior derriere bevemere toysenet whame
Jabberwock shame…
A nest of chicks,mouths open,ready to be fed a philosophy for life
Hidden in worms dug up in the schoolyard
Chirping ‘the journey of life may be easy may be hard’
On bright summer morns
An out of tune piano cheering them on
Towards blind optimism
If not baptism –
First steps towards riding with the king of kings
Looking for golden tunnels
In dark openings
A seeker of light
In answer to wonderings –
A higher purpose in the lowly son of God
A built-in resilience, ready to fight
Leading down golden tunnels –
Blind optimism
Prepared to die.
Its Mamo’s birthday
Sidewalks are fry an egg hot
Her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are all in the spot
Lighter fluid squirts over charcoals like a super soaker
Flames dance around the bars of the grill
Lemons from the tree in the back yard have been cut, squeezed, and mixed with water and sugar
Large aluminum trays are filled with beans and potato salad
Shirley Ceasar in the background singing a gospel ballad
The smell of roasting links, burgers, ribs and chicken become the back drop for children playing games
Homemade icecream is the back of the mind of all the kids old enough to know the ritual
The German shepherd/Greyhound mix Annie sits near her house proudly enjoying her bounty of bones and scraps.
As dusk falls the next location calls
Caravans of our clan drive to our cousins farm
My pops struts with his arms full of fireworks
Grow snakes begin to dance in the dirt and young hands hold sparklers
Now it’s time for the big show
BANG
White Plume
Who knows from where
The white plume flew
Making the green undergrowth its home
Perhaps a little egret
Pampered, lost and lonely
Left a trail for its mischievous lover
Hour 22
@varenyas