Stars

March 12, 2023

Brilliant Stars

The evening sky’s light dims as night approaches
while the silhouettes of mountains and trees
hover as giants lining the distant horizon
all creating the initiation of wonder

as the painted palette of life dulls to grays and blacks
stretching out alongside a winding road
as seen through the windows of a car
two brilliant stars appear to follow

while the road twists and turns they like magnets
draw attention to quiet stillness and light years
become closer than a planet’s nightly orbit
for Venus and Jupiter shine as beacons
within the mystery of the universe

Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Digitized As Art

January 17, 2021January 17, 2021

An Earth Older Than Time

The world revolves symptomatic of that unseen
that becomes the invisible nemesis of people
on a planet named earth so old the beginning
of which cannot be counted in grains of sand

for there is not an hourglass large enough
to hold all the countless grains needed
to account for all that came before
for all that will come after

to enable mortal beings a bit of knowing
just a small cushion of comfort
telling all that live here

they will always be like
babes in the wood
unable to measure up
to countless millennia
of black holes starless
universes unknown

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Create As Art

December 22, 2020December 23, 2020

A Dance of Planets

The Christmas Star shone brilliant
in the evening star for many eyes
to see but hid it’s brilliance from me

for Saturn & Jupiter danced in tandem
on a stage sprinkled with a universe
of stars holding court for them

and I stepped into the predawn light
to see a night sky littered with stars
applauding a new day in dawning

The Image Below Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

August 26, 2018August 26, 2018

“Nature’s Paramour”

If each star is a point of reference
three triangular shapes
with each point lingering
a distance unknown

Where my soul rests before
each journey sought

Then nature is my paramour
from snow glacial
mountain peaks

The highest peaks
touched gently
by wispy
cloud fingers

Whose icy interludes
might be reminiscent
of tiny sugar crystals
sweet upon the tongue

Whose unexpected avalanche
transports me unaware
to the mossy green bed
in a distant
forest glen

Whereupon, I will in secret see
a thunderous waterfall
of rainbow colored hues
brilliantly lit
by sun rays

The mist of the water
touches my skin
a sheen of droplets
translucent

Smitten I become
as the sound of bird song
and the fragrance
of meadow flowers
drift to me
upon
the
wind

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

Love of Nature

June 21, 2018

Sweet Layers of Imagination

Imagination

There are moments I believe
that de’ja’ vu really does exist
when I walk into another world,
an alternate landscape

to escape my obsessed compulsion
crafting a skewed vision filled
with black and white reality

ethereal as stepping on solid clouds
drifting over a technicolor scene
where a yellow brick road
leads to perspicacity
strangely curious

or yet upon closing my eyes
I sleep so deep imagination unfolds
in sweetest layers I inhale
swallowing each one
anxious for
the next

beautiful as pastillage
settling on my tongue
like honey

I see a girl who speaks to trees,
smiling at flowers who
innately knows
her secrets

and where the eyes of animals
reflect her soul
back to her in
infinite profusions
of color

painting details like the spices
completing ingredients
in foods from everywhere
smelling of a full life
in every inhaled
breath

where upon touching a mirror
she steps through liquid mercury
pure as water chaste
before rigidity touches
her image
with age

yet these images might be to me
only lucid as a million stars
in the night sky where
Zeus holds court

only quick
in twilight hours
before I wake

January 21, 2018

Angels Infinite

Stars and Angels

A symbiotic relationship in
a universe stretching infinite
where stars are like angels
their wings as chariots
taking flight becoming
a safe harbor for the soul
now desolate with grief
now hungry for peace
now joyous in its’ vision
however brief that it too
will be immersed
in that infinity

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

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

April 15, 2017September 2, 2017

White Flags Flying

Excitement palpable within me
butterflies dancing
fluttering wings beating
against my stomach

every year the very same
each time I am dreaming of
tall pines, pine cones
needles making

a blanket beneath the tent
heavy and green smelling
of musty canvas
and flags

waving on a line strung across
our site by dad
clean diapers drying
marking the spot

where the tent is pitched
a Coleman stove sets
ready to cook a meal
a lantern lit

lighting branches a reflection
a glow of campfire
the sky filled with stars
happiness overflowing

This is in response to Jamie Dedes’s Wednesday prompt which you can read more about at https://jamiededes.com/2017/04/12/played-on-the-jersey-shore-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from the Morgue file & digitized by myself.

Camping Pines

July 3, 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

Image Taken From The Morgue File & Digitized by Myself

Butterfly Nectar