No More!

pretend play

flying shoes

scarlet stench

silence

empty verses

holding inscriptions

scars demanding

NO MORE!

Sunday's Whirligig

Only two extra words!

My Epitaph

Mindlovemisery's Menagerie
B&P Shadorma and Beyond – The Epitaph 
The challenge is to write our own epitaph.

Here's lies Gail
end of trail swinging
on the gates
heavenward
she's giving the angels hell
no surprise...it's Gail

Also sharing with Poets United:  Poetry Pantry

Things I'll Never Outgrow and Reading The Past

For Fireblossom Friday Lists

Things I'll Never Outgrow

dying Easter eggs
blowing bubbles
playing in mud puddles
coloring books
puppies
and toads

For Mama Zen Words Count  Power Image

Twenty-five words exactly.

Reading The Past

hundreds of years

or maybe centuries

passed

before the ground

gave up its secrets

we read their history

in stone

and bones

they left behind

Both for the prompt today at 

Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads 

i am seth

from the first
and the second
i am third

with sheep and clay
i work
the ones i protect
live forever
with my hands                                                                    sheep. (Image by Flickr user Atli Harðarson, CC)

i copy life but
it can only be
a copy
i can not create
nor breathe life
into my images
i mold and shape
but hold not
the power
of
The Creator

i am seth
from the first
and the second
i am third

For dVerse~Poets Pub

We Can Dream

dVerse~Poets Pub

Time Travel prompt

I tried.

I thought I was a cowboy
as Dad had been
i rode fattening calves
and milk cows
a forbidden adventure

Friends with horses
gave me the worst to ride
horses that laid in water
jumped logs
and dragged you off on tree limbs

My dream turned reality
equine satiated
the smell, touch was enough
i never was a cowboy
but the love of horses remains

Continuance

Bark to ashes

Fire doesn't end all

This is truth

Black, gray

Feeds the worm

To give to Mother Earth

Ye old mother

To hear her needs

Thou will be blessed

Man, woman and beast

We strain to hear

Awake!

Our bounty is not to spit on

But to reverently hold

In our hands and our heart

For what?

Continuance  

Words Count With Mama Zen At Imaginary Garden With Real Toads.

Sixty words exactly from the list Mama Zen provided.

Whew!  It was fun.

Wisdom

in dappled shade the damsels play

avoiding the spear of the midday sun

dogs cool in rolling steams

knowing staying cool is number one

humans toil in hammering sun

thinking it's important 

to get things done

we should mimic the creatures

that have more sense  

work at dawn and dusk

in between 

take care of us

For Poets United

Gossip Is A Weapon...

Sunday's Whirligig

Gossip is a weapon

an alarming secret storm

with bronze razors

instead think and

speak with unsoured truth

drink when thirsty

bathe in a love poem

The Stray

Imaginary Garden With Real Toads

and

Poets United: Poetry Pantry

The stray would not be caught
Though I softly called to him
A fearful look was all I got
As the light quickly grew dim
In this special place of shade
Further ahead the dog goes
Splashing through the glade
Where the crystal water flows
Where soft spring moss lies
Growing loosely on the stone
With Winter's coming green dies
And turns to a winter tone
Helpless returning to home's lawn
Sadly he did not follow but was gone

humming

humming to myself
needle in and out
mending with love
the only way i can

trained in women's ways
needlework is tiresome
alone there's no laughter
dreaming a fool's dream

to leave this bleached land
for a green country
with stepping stones
through clear waters

concentrating
remembering the method
of the matriarch
diving into forced chores

humming to myself
i day dream of sheep
instead of days and olive men
falling like dominoes

For Sunday's Whirligig   With my funny writing or poor eyesight:  I thought "olive" was "dive" and "men" was "mend" so "olive men" was added as an afterthought when I read the words again...dreaming a fool's dream.

All

Still Life, 1907 by John Frederick Peto 

still hanging

umbrella, hat, bag

all that's left

Magpie Tales

Mary Was An Astronaunt

The world was full of pestilence

Only a donkey to be found

But that's no consolation

Must keep southward bound

Hollow breaths soil depleted

Onward they did go

Twenty steps a minute

The going was very slow

Leaning into night

Against a purple sky

Feeble were the hopes

They would get by

Mother Mary was a astronaut*

Father Joseph a working man

They traveled on for glory

Found not in a promised Inn

The mystics watched the journey

And knew from whence they came

Betting on the odds

If good or bad would win this game 

Oh, the glory of a stable

The cradle of a King 

Christ was born

Oh, how the angels did sing!

In swaddling clothes a mother held

The King of all man kind

"Happy Mother's Day" Joseph said

As the Northern Star did shine

 *I apologize.  There was no sacrilegious intent with this poem.  I was prompted.  I wrote.

For Magpie Tales who supplied the picture and for Sunday's Whirligig who provided the words and for Poets United who is celebrating Mother's Day.

To all mothers and all people who "mother" I wish you a Happy Mother's Day!

The Year The Mississippi Ran Backwards

the sandy clay dropped
folding the river bed
with such force
pieces rose and fell
leaving empty spots
water withdrawing reversed
gnawed boats, trees,
Reel Foot Fault bucked
New Madrid Fault thrust
land rose cutting like a knife
trees fell and sand spouts birthed
when the quiet returned
fragments of what was
lay in blood-less houses
people counted their blessings
and tried to believe in living again
                                             
                                                 The Imaginary Garden With Read Toads

Hell On The Border

Judge Isaac C. Parker was the famous hanging judge of Arkansas from 1875 to 1896.  Of the 160 (156 men and four women) he sentenced to death by hanging, seventy-six were actually hanged during his time on the bench. These are the gallows and how they look today.

The Hanging Judge

The gallows called to outlaws

as they walked before the judge

He took no quarter

did what he did and judged.

With quicksilver

judgement

 his wooden gavel banged

It was quite irregular

to not be hanged.

If you didn't meet the gallows

to wear the hanged man's tie

You might become invisible

If you really tried.

Not bad for twenty-seven years

Three hundred forty-four capitol cases

Only seventy-six were hanged

creeping tears weren't uncommon 

on the bad guys' faces

For Delores's Wednesday's Words

Under The Porch Light

Words for Whirligig

For Sunday's Whirligig

STOP!

Fight not with tooth and nail

Vent your rage softly

Brush it out set it free

Sink  not into madness

The weight of the world

Is not yours to bear alone

Take a page from life's book

When the sun's light

Reflects in mirror or spoon

Ravish the sweet orange

Cement

Your dreams

Packing

Sunday Whirligig 

Carefully packing...

Dispute, crack and war

In a strong suitcase

Pounding to escape

Couldn't fathom

The noise the trio could make

Enough!

Eating fruit

Writing parables

Listening to birdsong

Trying to save the world

Carefully packing.,.

Tenword

for dVerse~Poets Pub

The prompt is to limit your piece to only ten words, if I read it correctly, with any theme.  I am too verbose to say anything in just ten words but I gave it a shot.  I could not stop with one! Surprised?

1.

Catching snowflakes

on the tongue is

a winter sporting event

2.

Each moment with you

enhances the truth

     you are my life

3.

In my dream

home glass is 

warm

thick

always clean

Giving it a shot. That's what life's all about...trying.  (And that's another ten!)  Happy Weekend.

In The Seventh Layer

a thorny tree deformed
bears poison fruit
caught between bloody rivers
and flaming sand
eternal impalement
of my own making
awaits

Choosing the seventh layer, second circle of Dante's Inferno, his epic poem describing nine layers of hell.  I also used seven lines for Poets Untied prompt of Seventh anything.

A Saturday Afternoon

We are invited by Brian at d'Verse Poets to challenge ourselves by using senses other than sight.

I HEAR
Strains of Stevie Ray Vaughn
Andrew learning
From one of the best

The strings sing and cry
Music enters my feet
The same moment
My ears welcome the rhythm.

Self taught fingers
Slide and imitate
Fender frets
Heavy strings

Music ends
Tractor motor
Reminds me I am
At The Farm

Two Shoes Tuesday For Mary

I've written many words through the years.  I've met many wise, funny, wonderful people.  I'm still amazed that I can visit someone from around the world.  We are the same.  We are different.  It works.

Meet Lilly At Saucykodz Blog.  This is one super lady.  She has brought me smiles, laughter, hope and encouragement.  I have a confession...the name of her blog drew me in...I had to find out who would use such a brave title.  I have not been disappointed.

Recently I asked Lilly how her friend Mary has been doing.  I discovered Lilly has been reading my blog to her.  She told me how much Mary enjoyed all sides of me:  the dark side, the poetry side, the animal lover side and the crazy side.

Hello dear Mary through SaucyKodz Blog.  I am honored to know my words are enjoyed.

I know we are not the first nor will we be the last to connect in a world that has grown very small indeed.

Nice to meet you, Mary!  For you:

Lizzy drinking from the water garden, 

An autumn rose

Lizzy in the snow

and winter sunrise.

Happy New Year!

Two Shoes Tuesday... a place to share what we enjoy doing most... writing!