Shadow

September 10, 2023September 10, 2023

Shadows of Hidden Things

A tiny clay mushroom glazed
And fired to reveal a forager

Apples left for Does, Bucks
Uneaten except for the bees
That swarm

Black crickets chirping
The sound slicing through
The night silence

The lone black and white cat
Flees for a safe refuge
His hunting forgotten

The river current time changes
As the coyotes respond in kind
howling

Photo is my own digitized as art

August 14, 2017

An Infinity of Stars Woven

Within the landscape of time are
the shadows of war residing
casting doubts of fear
over hope filled integrity

for if I could but ease the pain
& erase the memory of horror
that slices through hearts
once laden with joy
I would

but there will always be those
who seek righteousness loaded
with weapons of destruction
their efforts devoid
of compassion

and soldiers who participate
on the battlefields of wars
whether at home or across seas
will carry scars always

and if it were possible within
me as a wordsmith to pen a poem
of salve and healing
I would

so that children may once again play
on peaceful soil under watchful eyes
of mothers and fathers
who can rest assured
of a tomorrow

filled with the spirit of love
& that fireworks will be celebration
& not the deafening voices
of bombs falling

for my soul cannot rest within me
until the vision of the universe
is the essence of peace shining
like an infinity of stars

the threads of woven fabric
like none that has ever been made
containing naught of the shadows of war
but a humanity of peacemakers
the gardeners sowing
seeds for the
future

This is in response to Jamie Dedes’s Wednesday Prompt. Please read more poets responses at https://jamiededes.com/2017/08/09/do-not-make-war-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from the Morgue File and digitally altered by myself.

Field of Peacemakers

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

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.