This is for Rick Daddario’s 30 DOH/Days of Haiga. Read more at
https://19planets.wordpress.com/2017/09/10/haiga-2017-010-30doh-mississippi-flood-waters-circa-1940-50-minnesota. Photo below is my daughter’s.
December Passion
the Fall brought her to me warm and soft
with dark brown eyes and tiniest hands
reminding me nine months prior to the
month of December when passion ignited
fervor between cotton sheets and darkness
transforming cold into heated pleasure
where in the aftermath holidays came
filling the kitchen with baking of pies,
sweet sugary cookies warm from the oven
& the promise of love lasting a lifetime
© September 2017 Renee Espriu
This is in response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Prompt which you can see at
https://jamiededes.com/2017/09/06/portrait-in-february-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from Public Domain Pictures
and digitally altered by myself.
***Dreaming of Children***
A landscape of memory littered
with pieces of dreams
children that once lived
once laughed
oft times schemed
she sees a house abandoned now
ought times with love filled
each & every birth an
auspicious moment still
& each year
she knows she has been gifted
that any tears shed
were merely a bridge
between yesterdays
& tomorrows albeit
as other mothers cry oceans
of salt filled tears
for children that lived once
without fear in loving arms
with kisses, soft still
their auspicious moment shattered
a broken memory like
shards of glass
now buried descending deep
earth’s grief surpassed
whose sorrow cannot rebuild
houses in ashes smoldering
whose dreams
hold ghostly remnants
pale & fading
where a timeless epitaph remains
of young lives interrupted
photos tinged yellow
touched by death
a noxious poison
thinking of this she turns pages
a book of photographs old
& knows dreams
will still be her comfort
will still unfold
that some mother’s dreaming will
become a vile nightmare
an interloper in sun rays
unwanted slumber
empty days
© April 2017 Renee Espriu
I am a little late to post this on my site. It was first posted in the Bezine last month. You can read more of some wonderfully written poems and other posts at https://thebezine.com/project-type/the-bezine-april-2017-vol-3-issue-7. The photo below was taken from the Morgue File & Digitized by myself.
***A Miracle of The Heart***
I was but ten years old and fearless
steeped in the tradition of miracles
brought about by steadfast prayer
symbols of candles and holy water
rituals with the heavy smell of incense
chimes and bells extolling virtues
of those who gazed upon a crucifix
a man’s body nailed upon its’ image
a man whose story repeated as an echo
through time, through space in my head
someone I would never meet and who
lived in a distant past Jerusalem
I never questioned as my prayers filled
the vast void of my heart in need
of those miracles I believed would come
when an accident left you living
but only a shadow of who you once were
leaving me with unfulfilled prayers
feeling betrayed by a belief system
filled with rituals of incense and bells
of symbolic candles and crosses
a lifetime spent in understanding
that beliefs are what you make of them
that systems may not work or betray
that what I believe in is far greater
than myself a universe not made by people
that churches are made by people
when numbers far outweigh ones’ fear
solace and joy can need to be shared
that I loved you despite everything
© March 2017 Renee Espriu
I have written this poem for Jamie Dedes’s Wed prompt. Please read more at https://jamiededes.com/2017/03/15/once-upon-a-sea-green-day-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt/.
Image Taken From Morgue File & Digitized by Myself
***Omnipresence of Life***
Her omnipresence is felt in the universe
transcending solar systems unknown
past the galaxy of the milky way
glittering within the aurora borealis
she embraces her duality always complex
orchestrating the life cycle
of a caterpillar from cocoon to butterfly
exquisite of design and beauty
she extends her arms as tree branches
taller than redwoods wider than mighty oaks
contained in the tiniest clover flowers
fragrant as fields of wild roses
she gives birth to both male and female
always with her heart and strength
loving with tender passionate acceptance
the uniqueness of all creation
she laughs in playful abandonment
as dolphins and otters of rivers and oceans
dispersed like a whale song balm
so tempers the opium of fear and hate
she is intertwined in fabrics’ existence
stronger than silk of worm or web of spider
will not be broken or manipulated falsely
without her there would be no life
© February 2017 Renee Espriu
Written for Jamie Dedes’ Wednesday prompt at https://jamiededes.com/2017/02/15/eve-wild-in-the-night-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt and Image taken from Morgue File and digizted by myself.
**I Will Be The Scent of Flowers**
When I am gone I will be
like a balm to heal
all disease of your body
wounds of your heart
will be calmed
I will be the water from
the run-off of snow
driven over waterfalls
into rivers & oceans below
I will be that silence
that cleanses your spirit
& be the peace of your soul
I will not be the arrows
in a quiver to pierce
unless with pure love
that helps you
soar
I will be the essence of love
& when you breathe in
the scents of flowers
it will be me
I will be the sweetness
of honeysuckle, lilacs, roses
& you will know I loved you
you will remember me always
each time the rain gives life
for I will be in each raindrop
I will be the warmth of sun
a blanket for the sky
I will be the sweet chocolate
you taste & hear as
you break into it with
its’ tempered snap
remember this is all I hope
for you now with a love
to embrace you forever
after I am gone I will BE
© February 2017 Renee Espriu
Image Taken From Morgue File & Digitized by Myself
I took a prompt from Jamie Dedes’s site about what would you be if you were able to come back in another lifetime. As Jamie says, even if you do not believe in reincarnation, the idea of coming back as something else is intriguing. Please see her post at https://jamiededes.com/2017/02/01/one-lifetime-after-the-other-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-promp. This is dedicated to all of my adult children, each of which, have had many health issues during their adult lives.
***Many Colored Patterns***
There is always hope peace will come
if not encompassed in the living
most certainly not in the dying
but in increments of moving forward
Making changes interacting with others
knowing that even in differences
we are all connected in commonalities
That loving & laughing in twilight hours
should be brought into the light of day
broaching imagined fears & realizing
that others may have the same fears
That birdsong & music must be heard
over the sound of bullets piercing us
to hear the poets words stitched into lines
That the birth of all natures creatures
the wail of a newborn’s crying demands
is the crescendo beckoning to humanity
to see life as the ultimate gift
That life is not as simple as a color
& more complex than lifestyles lived
that defects & handicaps are beautiful
That the poets stitched lines a stanza
of many patterns woven into many colors
of all life with powerful voices to hear
there is always hope peace will come
© Renee Espriu 2016
Photo Taken From Morgue File & Digitized by Myself
There has been yet another mall shooting here in Washington State killing lives that most hold dear. Please see others’ writing for 100TPC that is holding a virtual event today at https://intothebardo.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/100tpc-2016/
*COUNTING LIFE IN TOMORROWS*
No longer do I count life in years holding dreams
of newness of a younger love when each day
spilled over in the smell of scented flowers
when the air after the rain fell spoke
of clean, sweet beginnings and new meanings
I now count life in tomorrows obliged of sun
with nights counting blankets of stars
where they meet at dawn and part company
knowing there cannot be one without another
No, I no longer count life in years that promise
with the energy of youth who cannot wait for
hours nor even minutes as they peer at clocks
eager anticipation of the next moment
and the next and the next never knowing
That the time comes when tomorrows will become
as cocoons breaking open to free butterflies
the warmth of the sun as welcome as the rain
and the night a time of dreamt memories
Now I count life in every tomorrow promising
that there is another day in sun or rain
with nights in the company of radiant stars
with hope in becoming as butterflies
regaling in the nectar of scented flowers
© July 2016
Renee Espriu
Image Taken From The Morgue File & Digitized by Myself
***THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING***
I wanted to post something so very touching to me that it surpasses all the cards not received in the mail, all the frustration that life gives and all the doubt that I tend to hold onto, with the nagging question…”am I loved, am I cared about”. For, although, I have been told those things hundreds of times over the years I am like so many people in this world. I need reminded that it is true and that there are those who hold me in regard. My daughter sent this text to me when I was having one of those days filled with questions. It has been a long recovery from open heart surgery and for one who did not have to frequent doctor’s offices, it has been difficult at times. I recently spent three days in the hospital due to an upper GI bleed. The new heart valve that has given me life requires blood thinners in order for it to keep doing so so it is a tenuous balance. She has reminded me once again that I have made a difference no matter the questions I have.
© Misha Cruz
Your art and words are you. And you in return me. You gave me the wonderful gift of artful words. Without you I would only have my father’s numbers and angles. You have made me complete. And as you love all the positive nature that is within me…you must know that it is within you. Because I am also you.
Sweet dreams mama.
Image Taken From Morgue & Digitized by Myself
Mother’s day is coming soon but with such beautifully painted words as these I don’t have to wait for I have the knowing that I am in my daughter’s heart every day. I hope all mothers know, like I do, that it is not just once a year that you are loved and cared for. I gave my daughter life but she continues to nourish my life every day.
****DISTANCE A GRAIN OF SAND****
the darkness of the night enfolds you
trying to hide you in its’ shadows
as i see you there within its’ curtain
answering my call to come to me
covering me soft with angel’s wings
the nights wore on and you were there
calling you in a time of urgency
the night a cover with moonbeam light
revealing the many layers of your love
transcending time’s clockwork hands
now yours’ tenderly holding onto mine
touching my fevered face and brow
distance becoming a grain of sand
the night your warm embrace
© August 2015
Renee Espriu
During the many weeks of being ill and feeling as though I were alone I believed that my mother was there with me. Odd though it may seem death is not really a separation from those we love.
Image Taken From Morgue File & Digitized 
reneejustturtleflight.com 