Poetry Challenge Day 30: Praise

 

Puzzle

Thank you, LOVE,

for sitting with me at this table,

on this day,

working through this mess of the puzzle

of my life.

Everyone blames you for broken hearts.

They are wrong.

You are the reason for putting it

together.

Let’s start with the corner pieces then

the edges.

I’ve learned through time that happiness is

not the end,

but the discovery of finding the 

right pieces

of our heart. I understand now that

the box came

with extra pieces. That is the great

mystery

of living. This puzzle has different

possible

pictures we can construct. I can’t do

it alone.

So, thank you, LOVE, for helping me with

my puzzle.

Poetry Challenge Day 29: Total (blank)

Total Eclipse of the Heart; Wait that Title is Taken

How many times has this word been written

or that one

or the one at the end of this line

We gather ideas like Easter Eggs

to display in our own hand basket

When placed side by side

one can see that there are no new eggs

only the arrangement differs

Every word written has seen the page before

Every letter now worn like a child’s favorite blanket

Yet, the Easter Bunny tempts us with the promise

of a golden egg

Waiting for us to find

    behind the books

    on a shelf

    tucked inside a drawer

The hunt exhilarates us

Happy in every discovered egg

    but yet

        somehow just short of total joy

But you’ve read that before

Poetry Challenge Day 28: Looking Back

Like Stars

We all are walking portraits of our past

Decisions etched in the lines on our brow

Thoughts collected at the edges of our lips

One can view the storms we have endured 

In the rhythm of our gaits

Scars record the pain of violence

The slope of our shoulders reveal the weight

Of our dreams and the acceptance of others

We are like stars

Each our own unique constellation in the life sky

Moving from dawn to dusk

Remember that

When we meet face-to-face

You are gazing back in history

My past shining in front of you

Just like a star

Poetry Challenge Day 27: Massive

Believe Again

It’s early in the morning

    but the sun has beat me to the sidewalk

The neighborhood is up

    Figures move in kitchen windows

A jogger ahead of me

    A new puppy taking its owner on a sporadic walk on the road to the left 

Music playing from my earbuds

Water trickling down the curb ways

    to storm drains

    from last night's rain

and sprinkler systems

I enjoy the morning

    like I have for 42 days now

Each day new but the same as yesterday

Ahead I see a massive puddle

    at the T-junction 

        of Elm Drive and Sycamore

The reflection of

trees

    mailboxes

    and houses

move across the surface as I approach

Until I am standing at the edge

    and all I see is the endless blue sky 

The world I’m in is now below

I pause the music

I wonder

    Is this a puddle from the Wood Between Worlds?

    Can Aslan see me standing there?

Like a child I become dizzy with the possibility of magic

    Suddenly the wind pushes at my back

        as if to say

        “Believe

            and jump in”

Is this like platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station?

The water seems to hold a parallel world

Can I call the Goblin King like Sarah did?

Is the choice between a red and blue pill just in the heart?

For a minute I stand at the cusp

    of reality and childhood belief

I bend my knees, just a little

    The wind

    again, strong at my shoulders,

    speaks 

Instead of pushing me

    It brings white petals down from a nearby

    Bradford Pear tree

Like little clouds

    they populate the puddle

    Crushing my own blossoming childhood view of the magical world

    reflecting at my feet

I turn to face the wind

I am surrounded by the petals

    Like a swarm of fairies, they bombard me

        covering my shirt

    One sticking to my glasses

I feel something inside my chest crack

    Another gust of wind

        Surrounded again in a wave of white petals

        I faintly hear a lion’s roar

            I bow my head in reverence of the moment

I turn back to the path I was on

    I hit play

        Music fills my head

But my heart takes flight as I step into the puddle

    heading home

Poetry Challenge Day 26: Change

*An attempt at a palindrome poem.

Again

Time is powerful.

Calendars change date.

Another alarm sounds.

Eyes open again.

Today falls fast.

Can we

change?

We can.

Fast falls today.

Again, open eyes

sounds alarm. Another

date changes calendars.

Powerful is time.

Poetry Challenge Day 25: Remix

*The prompt today was to remix a poem in some way from the challenge so far.

Last Line

I am awake again, just before the witching hour

The house filled with sounds of slumber

a fan

a radio

and the troubling thoughts in my heart

My mind turns to the written word, 

the poetic muse is stretching in the darkness

Robert Frost once said that a poem should end in wisdom

I think back to the lines this month I’ve written:

… same as this new world

Like we will live forever

...both father and son

You will read the same

Of a room I built for myself

LOVE is…

A sonnet written...

He prayed as her voice faded away

I dream of better days…

Here on earth

...Nobody called.

...For this poet, it cuts like a knife.

“could be someone, be someone, be someone”

My skin warming in their hugs

I’m unsure if Frost would approve

All my words are mirrors for others to see

a reflection of our moments,

shared through my wisdom

The darkness swirls my pain with doubt

Tomorrow will take another day from me

I bring my legs underneath me

as fear makes my chest cold

Tomorrow is another day to my

last line

Poetry Challenge Day 24: Nature

Friday Rain

The sunrise is covered by grey April clouds

Rain colder than snow

Penetrates my skin

Grass and winter’s decay mix with my coffee

Not sure if my spirit will rise today

The storm is covering my window panes

While the wind is stirring through the garage doors

Moving dust along the foundation

How do you find the sun

When yesterday looks just like tomorrow

All I want to do is run free

Dodging the rain as it follows the wind

In a frazzled way down

Down with my eyelids 

Protecting my view of today

My hair beginning to flatten to my skull

Dripping down my collar

Another gust pushes me to my left

For a second I believe I can tumble like a leaf

To be swept away, maybe to the gulf

But I step hard with my left foot

Steady my cup in both hands

My daughters call to me, with giggles

They want to know what I was doing outside

Their eyes smile in wonder, anticipating an answer

I want to tell them the truth

That I was searching to be baptized by the storm

That I was trying to recite a sacred prayer

Instead I tell them that fathers gain special powers

In a Friday rain

What powers they ask, never doubting my words

I stare at them for a few seconds

Then quietly I tell them the truth

To love you more each day

Slowly, they start to smile

My skin warming in their hugs

Poetry Challenge Day 23: Social (blank)

Social Suicide

Love is

Holding hands while walking in the sunshine

But now they say

Keep      your      distance

Friendship is

Breaking bread around a table 

But now they say

No      eating      together

Parenting is

Exploring the world through experiences

But now they say

Closed      for      now

Life is

Sharing love and pain together

But now they say

Keep      your     distance

Keep            your            distance

Keep                   your                  distance

Keep

                                your

                                                               distance