Laughter

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021

Laughter and Dancing

They met still young before children arrived
with love in their hearts and stars in their eyes
a future unfurled beneath sunrises, sunsets
a world of youth left behind in their wake
with dreams or hopes that hid in the mist

of days that rolled out into months and years
enhanced with laughter and bittersweet tears
but he laughed and she danced to the music sweet
of life’s changing Seasons a tentative beat

times were a wash with hardship and longing
of dreams sought, built on sand always shifting
where the sun might shine bright in her eyes
she would dance, be young and he would sigh

once were parted, now a story of one more chance
he is laughing as he is watching her dance
& if you listen closely to the heavens above
are entwined in the sunset, both still in love
where eternity unfurls and the sun has risen

This poem dedicated to my dad who passed away March 13, 2021. A long life of laughter. He will be missed.

The Photo Taken is My Own of My Dad and I a Few Years Back.

November 1, 2020December 23, 2020

A Child’s Request

The shadow of leaves from a tree
dance across the house next door
but in the darkness of last eve
only the children’s shadows
poured

dressed in Halloween costumes
finer than any Hallows Eve before
they came and kept leaving their
ghostly imprints on concrete
floor

smiles and laughter challenging
fears of a society that they
would dispel as though magic
were in the air and fear
just queerish

a memory of one small girl
a costume only a thin cloak
her words uncovered for she
asked for only a hug
nothing more

my heart was warmed
by her gesture
of which I obliged
in loving
measure

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures and Created as Art

December 17, 2017

Memories Dying Embers

Memory Illusive

I see you tangibly close beside me
laughter still within you
a smile on your face

do you still see me here & now
or a trace of a girl dancing

brevity of memories hinting at life
shared with children…with her

do you know she is gone traveling
with the moon & stars in heaven

I see you tangibly close beside me
laughter still within you
a smile on your face

do you know your time has shifted
as the sands within the tides

ensnaring the memories you captured
now scattered fragments of light

still your eyes embrace her once more
a cherished resemblance of me

wisps of years gone encircling you
briefly in moments & then vanishing

I see you tangibly close beside me
laughter still within you
a smile on your face

the embers are still glowing brightly
not ready to engage in dying

I know your spirit still resides within
I know there still is you smiling

October 20, 2017October 20, 2017

Magic and a Mystery

The rusted tool chest on wheels now
a silent reminder of childhood wonder
when in mystery it did appear as

the night spread before us and sleep
a distant presence wrapped
in the excitement of holiday magic

we were sent to bed you and I
to await the morning’s sunrise
but I was vigilant and
so were you

as I listened to laughter seeping
beneath the door I smelled the
familiar scent of cigarette smoke
unfurling

from the neighbor who often was seen
visiting but it was late at night….and

I knew something or someone was about
as I saw you quietly push the door
to opening

I wanted to know if the gossip was true
that there was no Santa or St Nicholas
who would magically appear for
wishes come true

as we peeked carefully into the living room
it was mother who busied herself there
with the wonder of
holiday gifts
and fare

a shiny red tool box on wheels she moved
beside the tree as she smiled
with care

This is in response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Writing Prompt. Read more at https://jamiededes.com/2017/10/18/the-scent-of-maamoul-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from the Morgue File and digitally altered by myself.

Mystery of Magic

September 17, 2017

Rainbow Laced Muses

dreams are like the sweet smell
of ambrosia
not like
the bitter of coffee
before her

she sits by the restaurant window

staring at nothing

and seeing everything

perhaps she sees her life
without children
running about
demanding
time

time she doesn’t have and
does not have to give
for life should chord

space and quiet

life should be filled

with writing muses
laced with rainbows

filled with artist
paper

& tools for both
housed in a place

beneath
trees

sprinkled with star dust

a place with fields of
wild flowers so
she can commune

with nature
with her
soul

she is lost in her thoughts
as the restaurant
comes to life
around her

with the laughter of

children

playing

she is reminded that life
hinges on choices
of ambivalence

like her food
turning cold
it is only
new

within the essence
of the moment

This is in response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Prompt. Read more at
https://jamiededes.com/2017/09/13/hes-a-tumble-weed-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from Morgue File & digitally altered.

Sweet Ambrosia

July 30, 2017

A Capricious Magician

Unpredictable
in ‘nature’ is she
dropping hints
with sun rays
peaking out
between
clouds

apparitions held
as fading shadows
become
cloudy
mirrors

and the next moment
a downpour of
rain filling gutters
a deluge
down
drain
spouts

a disappearing act
slight of hand
the earth drying
cracks in
hardened
clay

a capricious magician
prone to laughter
a comic relief
dancing
across a stage
of her own
making

This is in response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Prompt. Read more at https://jamiededes.com/2017/07/25/orange-fires-at-daybreak-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from the Morgue File and digitally altered by myself.

Capricious

August 18, 2014

Bring Me Wildflowers

bring me wildflowers
& set them
on the sideboard
by the window
to catch
the suns’ rays

for the petals
that dapple all
of the surfaces
like tiny pixies
set to play

bring me laughter
to eclipse the day
as the moon does
to the surfaces
of the sun

a smile to soften
the harsh edges
of all anger
a candle with which
to light the dawn

Image Taken From Morgue File
Digitized by Myself

March 29, 2014

The Touch of Laughter

tumultuous came the winter
undecided it made its’ retreat
the sun hidden in grey dark corners
such as the time you left me

you tried to return to my side
sitting within breath so shallow
your warmth cooled as by glacier snow
solidity of form now but shadow

my ear touched upon your laughter
a cool breeze then touched my skin
you would be with me as always
to hold as part of my heart within

Image Taken From Morgue File

My brother died many years ago now but the one thing that has never left me is the sound of his laughter. I cannot say how but I remember the sound of it as though it were yesterday and he is sharing that part of himself with me.

March 5, 2014March 5, 2014

Unaltered Moments

precious unaltered moments
the symmetry of which
never wavers
even when out of focus
as images do
in the memory of ones’ mind

laughter repeating
over and over again
& you know
it is completing
the song
the dance

colors languish
a day never to repeat
as no two are the same
because you know
in your heart of hearts
in another time
you will meet

Image Taken From The Morgue File

No two memories are the same. No two are alike. The resemblance ends with the many different people who have them, even though they might have been in the same place at the same time. What do you see, when you see a specific color, a winding road, a waterfall? What brings to your mind the smell of food cooking, bread baking? We each store our memories in different ways and our senses bring them alive each day that we live. In this way we are never really alone.

July 4, 2013July 4, 2013

Thunder in the Distance

Google Image

thunder in the distance
a train moving
down the tracks
metal grating
against metal
creating
hieroglyphic maps
or is it storm clouds
black and angry
when life is
at our back

raising doubts
that squelch
the laughter
when everything after
can only be thunder
or the rumble
of an unrequited earth
giving birth
to yet another
mountain or is it

only a waterfall in a
distant forest
raising its’
voice in chorus
and we hear it as
thunder in the distance
creating refuge
from an
incendiary past

always keep in mind that
just beyond our
quiet solitude
whether real or an
imaginary cast
there will always be
thunder in the distance
waking us to the
reality of
life

http://dversepoets.com/category/atmosphere/