24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
The stars shines on you
Soft touches reveals of dancing stars
Songs to sing waves of sounds over the bay
Hummingbirds sings a love song sounds amazing
Doing the electric slide on white sand
Time don’t wait on no one hold onto your seats
Sooner you will re’lized, we have song all night long
Until the sun comes up with a smile upon its face my, my sweet Jesus
A hardback book I hold
it is tattered and old
a wine glass on the cover
amid strewn sunflowers.
A heroine, she’s knitting
eating a block of cheddar cheese
dreams of going into space
but cannot part pavement’s home base.
Steel nails pin her dress, you see
uncomfortably to an old oak tree
and by the wine, a satchel
with astronaut apparel
which shall not ever travel.
– Sandra Johnson, June 25, 2022
Abandoned Piano
Overgrown and off the path
sits an abandoned piano.
My fingers trace
its splintered wood,
lacquer long since vanished
by time and the elements.
I brush off the leaves
and a few layers of dirt.
The mouth of music smiles at me,
pine needles stuck between
its ivory teeth.
I press a key, expecting silence,
but the timbre bellows through the air,
scattering birds from their branches.
I feel the reverberation
bounce through my chest.
I wonder how long it’s been
since this piano has felt
the warmth of fingers.
Even in its abandonment,
it remembers how to play,
how to create beauty in solitude.
And my heart can’t help
but take note.
Text Prompt
Write a letter to yourself from the perspective of someone who is no longer in your life. It could be a former teacher you admired but you lost touch with, someone you knew from childhood, someone who passed on, etc. The specifics are very much up to you.
Image Prompt
Photo by Melissa Keizer on Unsplash
A hardback copy
of the book we wrote
stares at me from the oak bookshelf
I salvaged from the dumpster fire.
the sunflower next to it taunts me
with its false cheer
that belies a secret darkness.
Still I approach,
wineglass in one hand,
the other with busy fingers knitting
anticipation for the next chapter.
I sat on my bed
just me and my thoughts
wasn’t sure what I’d do
after my shot.
hit play to watch a sitcom
then out of nowhere,
you came along.
I sat and cried
when I reminisced that
you died. I watched your
friends talk sweet memories
of you.
you also spoke, from beyond the
heavens, it was surreal to me
to share that moment with you.
you inspired my voice. You gave me back my
empathy! I’ll always cherish that Saturday
evening, sitting in London, once again
able to feel emotions and cry.
it was as though you said all will be fine!
the world will be mine.
but a piece will always be missing
because you are gone.
what can fill that void?
the pain still cuts deep.
but I’ll be strong
and carry on! Because you came down from
heaven.
My voice echoes a hollow drum
incessant, beating a tune that I
really doubt anyone could hear
real voices,amplified, they roar
on rooftops to applause or boo
rue me if I do speak or whisper
so mine just echoes no sounds
Sat by the pavement
at a chic Champs-Elysees Cafe,
reading a hardback,
emptying my wine glass
while munching some cheddar cheese.
I’m knitting a plot
for a romance novel
set in war-torn Ukraine.
To nail down that plot,
I’ll now get out my laptop
from my old satchel.
DogSpeak #5 Kisses, Always Kisses
You know how much
I love you
adore you, want you
need you
can’t imagine my life
without you
I love you.
Kisses, always kisses
no nips, no bites
no fights
no grudges held over
heads and shoulders
released before night falls
with kisses
always kisses.
We don’t always agree
like bath time
or vet time
or time to trim my nails
but we always get along
you say you know best
and I trust you
to let me have my way
now and then
always with kisses, kisses
always.
You toss and turn
crumbs leftover from the day
clogging dream canals
and I cuddle close
closer, hugs, hugger
you smile
I offer kisses
and always
always
you accept all the kisses
I’ve got
and that’s a lot.
Kisses
always kisses.
~ J R Turek