Innocence

May 20, 2018May 21, 2018

Before My First Breath

Image Taken From Morgue File & Digitally Altered

Dragonfly Blue

Dragonflies are timeless bold creatures
found in the amber fossils of millennium
as is innocence secured wonder cocooned
in everything I saw around me
whether it was earthen brown
or flowers christened
by the sun

I drank everything in endless thirst
always yearning to understand
and to grasp all the words
to weave into life
even when threads
were frayed

So the years did not diminish
my questions nor
bring solace
to answers

There is youth no longer here
when reflections are
made of wrinkled sagging skin
but youth only rests
within the perimeters
of my mind

So that there will yet be a moment
where the light shines bright
and the fire burning glows
revealing the happiness and joy
I felt in being aware

That there are those things timeless
like questions and answers
held within my mind
not loved nor cherished
with my heart

I know now without pause for doubt
there will always be
dragonflies

November 3, 2017November 3, 2017

Guns Are Not The Path To Peace

The child found what looked like a toy
but when a way was found
to fulfill curiosity

found their friend
lying dead at their feet

guns are not the answer to feeling secure
left lying within the reach of
innocence

she was about her morning
preparing breakfast
on yet another Valentine’s Day

when she heard a gunshot
fill the air
and looking ’round

found her husband
of many years crumpled
in the doorway

dead…a gun in his hand

guns are not the answer to depression,
to problems seemingly
having no answer

Leaders of the world always disagreeing
make plans for larger armies
to carry more guns

to kill more people who are caught
in the cross hairs

guns are not the answer to solutions
for forcing others to agree
to another countries’ ideas

guns are not the path to peace

This is in response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Writing Prompt. Read more responses at https://jamiededes.com/2017/11/01/dueling-with-words-to-stop-gun-violence-wednesdays-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from Public Domain Pictures and digitally altered.

Path To Peace

August 20, 2017

“Stained” Glass Windows

She embraced the rituals of worship
of which practicing seemed to bring calm
to a personal life bereft of its’ being

whereupon entering a sacred place of
stained glass windows and the statues
of holy saints long dead brought
daily tests to question her soul

she watched men cloaked in white robes
garnished with vestments hung about
their necks symbols of their holiness

where the incense they spread in the air
afflicted her senses but must be done
for it was said it purified & cleansed
raising up the prayers of the faithful

but nothing addressed her innocence to
enlighten her of past holy wars that spread
death to those who believed naught the same

so she entertained a communion white veil
to be replaced later by a robe of red as
she promised to put her belief in those
words written by nameless faces of others

she believed in it all until the day her
faith stood the ultimate test of the reaper
causing her heart to have a hope of its’ own

This is in response to Jamie Dedes’s Wednesday Prompt. You can see other poet’s responses at https://jamiededes.com/2017/08/16/a-puppet-dancing-in-the-dark-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from the Morgue File and digitally altered by myself.

Stained Glass Window

June 3, 2012June 3, 2012

“But Why”

innocence treading in silence
listening to the whirring
machines a sterile room

holding a bed on wheels with
white linens blankets
covering him in sleeping

standing close to her looking
’round watching before his
hand extends beckoning him

closer to touch his to assure
him all is well as he touches
then holds the aging hand

she tells him time to leave
he wants to go home with him
but she says ‘no’ not this time

“But Why?” his brown eyes implore
she can only say he has to stay
here for awhile ’til he’s better

until they say he can go home
but he can only look at her to
implore “But Why?” looking for

answers he won’t understand as
his innocence fills the silence
he tells his grandfather good-bye

I am still very good friends with the man I was with for 20yrs and married to for 30yrs. He underwent major surgery this last week to repair a triple aortic abdominal aneurysm and although he has other health issues he did much better than expected. I decided to write something taken from my grandson’s experience. Kade is 4yrs old and is trying to wrap his young mind around why his grandfather is not at home where, in Kade’s eyes, he should be. We are all pleased that his grandfather is recovering nicely. I was privy to all of this but the last part when his mother, my daughter, told Kade it was time to go.