New York Hamlet

grandma-moses-e1274766463590-1024x798

Google Image/Grandma Moses in Eagle Bridge, NY

i am traveling the byways of
new york reaching deep
into antique shops and
2nd hand stores looking for
nothing in particular and

there by the side of the road
in a small new york hamlet
i see  posted neatly out front
a sign “Homemade Preserves”
so i stop and park as i am

intrigued and so i walk
to the front door of a
well-appointed house knocking
so as not to disturb and
who should answer but you

i’ve read about your rising
fame and as newspapers tell it
you are ‘never too old’ to
try something new and you
certainly did as you’ve shown

i feel at ease as you smile
at me inviting me in for
biscuits and jam with tea
your eyes twinkling so as
though we’ve met before

and i so want to know why
you never painted before
when you were young..not
that eighty something is
not…and so you answer

without falter that there
never was time with children
to raise and a farm to run
and happiness comes from
where it comes and i see

now that your life’s been full
so when i leave, on that
my traveling day and see
images of all the surroundings,
it is like i’ve seen it all

before on the canvasses where
you captured them in the
snow and sun, the church and
the town, the farms where
people live and i see then

that it really is ‘never
too late’ to do something new
when there is time and yes,
‘happiness comes where it comes’
in the byways of a NY hamlet

© March 2013
Renee Espriu

Please do go to Wikipedia to read more about this famous artist American Artist whose folk art style of painting became known and loved around the world. She began painting when she was in her seventies. You can find the link at http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses/

http://dversepoets.com/category/a-cup-of-coffee-with-a-famous-person/

Ransomed Time

52 Ford

Altered Google Image

seasonal changes of ransomed time
coming ’round again in your eyes
when scenes play out in your mind
sepia toned images playing rewind

a summer day on a sunlit beach
walking to the water’s edge
just out of reach
casting long shadows
in our stride
digging for treasures
in the ocean tide

a vacation spent camping
at yosemite park
no pine needles allowed
in the canvas green tent
a diaper laundry line hung
between pine trees
the Coleman stove, the lantern
the sky a starlit sea

winter skies warmed by
the california sun
a metal christmas tree colored
as the color wheel turned
a little girl gazing
waiting anxiously for
christmas ‘morn to come

a spring day showing off
our Sunday best
the elm tree, the ’52 Ford
and all the rest
the smell of vinegar
the strongest kind
hunting easter eggs
our want to find

seasonal changes of ransomed time
coming ’round again in your eyes
when scenes play out in your mind
sepia tone images playing rewind

© March 2013
Renee Espriu

The Piano

The Piano

Altered Google Image

you set waiting amongst others of your kind
housing the large harp within your casing
standing upright and waiting for that one
that would love you enough to once again

lovingly ply your ivory keys with passionate
longing to coax musical notes waiting to
escape the dust that has settled upon them
in an effort to come alive, notes chording

to no longer set idle in bitter loneliness
but belong in the midst of those that would
wipe away the weary years with but a touch
of shine from joyous tears that melodies sign

will rise like timeless orchestrated sighs
bringing rays of light into lives one true
measure you will no longer wait in silence
but fill empty hours with unending pleasure

© March 2013
Renee Espriu

 

http://dversepoets.com/category/negative-capability/

Hush Little Baby

baby dreaming

Altered Google Image

i held them all one by one
a gift of life in my arms
watching their eyes move
beneath fluttering lids
of what do they dream?
with their warm bodies
and sweet milky breath

“hush little baby don’t you
cry cause mama’s gonna sing
you a lullaby”…Shhhhhhhh
now don’t you cry, be safe
in my arms, just you and i

watch them inhale as
they quietly are dreaming
making soft baby noises of
what do they see?…bottles
of milk, my smiling face or
sunbeams that sunsets
will never let stray

“hush little baby don’t you
cry cause mama’s gonna sing
you a lullaby”…Shhhhhhhh
i shall tell of beauteous things
to soothe you when i sing

© March 2013
Renee Espriu

http://dversepoets.com/category/openlinknight/

 

The Color of Envy

green envy

smoldering green with envy
she did not know of
having plenty but dreamed
of store bought pretty clothes

not handmade ones of fabric
that she chose to
craft on the Singer
as she had learned to sew

taught by her mother who
was taught by her own
using bolts of cotton with
colored threads adorned

she did not know then
of the loved passed down
in every neat seam
or how it made her unique

she only dreamed of being
the same as the girls who
like candles burned brightly
but smoldered green with envy

© March 2013
Renee Espriu

This is for dVerse Poets Pub http://dversepoets.com/category/tag/its-not-easy-being-green/

 

Lone Chickadee

Lonely Chickadee

Altered Google Image

seeing
budding tree tops
with promises of life
a lone chickadee heralds songs
singing

 

© March 2013
Renee Espriu

I don’t normally do form poetry but was a bit taken in by Tony’s prompt and explanation so thought I’d give it a try.  My take on a Cinquain.

 

This is for dVerse Poets Pub http://dversepoets.com/category/tag/cinquain/

Forgotten Dreams

forgotten dreams

Google Image

let my mind run with
imagination down the
page of forgotten dreams

always in anticipation
of dredging up whimsy
in stars that are gazing

down at me wondering
at the human condition
forever pondering if

we really pursued in
selfless abandonment
dreaming of futures

for those that have less
whose hearts never ask
to have not the aching

that their minds might
run with imagination down
a page of forgotten dreams

© March 2013
Renee Espriu

This is for dVerse Poets Pub http://dversepoets.com/category/online-poetry/

My Need To Fly

Phoenix

Google Image

I have written this for dVerse a bit late and realize it won’t be posted there now as the link has expired but I was taken by Gretchen’s idea of music and wanted to put this out there in any case.   Please listen to this song that has given me such pleasure to listen to and I hope you will see how it impacted my writing here. Thank You!
http://www.metrolyrics.com/who-i-was-born-to-be-video-susan-boyle.html

do you live in the shadows
as i have done so wanting
to please who would
guide but from

a distance above as
you walk a tightrope
i did many years for
i always hoped

acceptance would come
in palpable ways to
amaze me and show me
my path was not grey

ambivalence filled with
the need to sleep when a
well meant prayer struck
fear ‘my soul to keep’

where the days took me
on a journey of my
own making and never
would i be forsaking

my need to fly to the
heavens above to create
all that my heart dreamed
of for it is sad it came

when she left this earth
to finally release me to
soar unburdened as i
move ever forward

my muse now nurtures
the wordsmith that was
once all but broken
the letters form words

that spill forth in
treasure to give my soul
long-awaited pleasure
conjuring melodies

seldom heard a display of
fireworks in rainbow
colors i walk my path in
awe and it has occurred

that life is still here and
i have not missed it as
i dance with it now as
i live in the moment

© March 2013
Renee Espriu

This is for dVerse Poets Pub http://dversepoets.com/category/tag/interact/