Dandelion Days - Poetry Jam

Dandelion Days

Walking home from the library

I never stepped on sidewalk cracks

I clutched books close and climbed

Up and over the railroad tracks

Coming down the other side

Sneakers kicking dust and stone

I’d sometimes lose control and slide

Careening my way closer to home

Cross the road and up the street

Into the shade, away from the heat

Dark lush maple tree nods and sways

Cooling off those dandelion days

Up the hill to the little grey house

Round the back quiet as a mouse

A clothesline tent with pillows lush

A place to hide in summer’s hush

Beginner books that held me sway

And helped pass many a summer day

With words as lush as any flowers

Adventures to while away the hours

Ideas and dreams that oft took flight

Like dandelion seeds blown free

Seen in that tent’s soft dappled light

The books, the summer, the sun, and me

... a fast write shared at Poetry Jam ...

The Mag 176 - A Lady's Resolve

Image Credit: Super Moon - New York - Julio Cortez

A Lady’s Resolve

She never thought it would be easy -

She stepped into a concept

She settled into a nation’s psyche

She watched nascent dreams grow

She suffered the flaws of fanatics

She shook away the cynic’s acid

She raised the strong arm of resolution

She steeled herself for posterity’s sake

She softened her face for the new

She shook her tablet at the established

She looked up and away

She never said it would be easy -

this welcoming of strangers

this holding high the hallowed lamp

this watching the skies

this picking up rubble

this pushing aside fear

this building anew

this act of forgiveness

this moving on

this raising a new bastion of freedom

this clearing collective vision for the future

Lindquist – 7/11/1/3 

Initially, the second verse was the first verse .... but then ... personifying Lady Liberty seemed a fun way of approaching this prompt. The things that have happened around this monument are stupifying ... if only she could talk to us.

This piece is shared with other writers who visit Tess's weekly writing challenge at Magpie Tales ... this week's challenge can be seen here. Check it out ...

Hope Lies Here

Such hope lies here among the cracks

Nascent dreams and unknown deeds

Between the gritty detritus

Curl and wend toward the glare

Prism light shafts piercing down

Draw the hopeful toward the beams

Ever upward into day pushing

Greening curling twirling outward

Crystalline structures follow plans

Ordained by a power mysterious

And as the first drop falls a ‘click’

It’s heard like thunder down below

Birthing streams and wakening mud

The cracks give birth to the riot of life

Miracles work with dust and clay

Creation – nothing to something

More from less - oh, how hopeful

A fast write, like a fast shower, can bring on a sudden burst of something from nothing ... thanks for the idea/prompt that came from Alan who is hosting this week's Poetry Jam. After playing with it for a couple hours, it is what it has become ... over time, it may become something more. I look forward to seeing what others bring to this week's post ...

Northern Lights

Northern Lights

“What cosmic dance these lights perform”,

I soft exclaimed upon that beach.

“No, sweet, you murmured in my ear,

 just particles on the solar wind.”

“Look how they move and undulate”,

I spoke with awe and clutched your arms,

wrapped tight around me from behind.

We stood quite still and watched the lights.

The waves broke soft upon that shore.

Breeze and water sang to the night.

Above, the sky opened ever more, 

As sheets of color swirled and swayed

Unconsciously, we moved with the dance,

leaned and twirled on planted feet.

All the while our necks bent upward,

Drinking the night and cosmic wind.

“Times like this are magic, you said,

they’ll not be repeated very soon.”

“I hope not, I whispered in your ear,

for this heart can’t stand such perfection”

So, the stars shone, the lights shimmered.

The waves curled in upon that shore.

And we, like drunken lovers, weaved

our cosmic dance back to our door.

- 3/16/13 

Mag 156 - Abandon

Abandon

Let’s all go on a joy ride

Out in the world today!

Let’s all shout and spin our wheels

Throw back some beers and say

To Hell with the rain, to Hell with the mud

To Hell with the wind and spray!

Let’s just throw back our heads

And hoot on this heavensent Spring-like day!

There’ll be many a day for sorrows

Many more for bending to work

There’ll be way too many tomorrows

When duties allow us no shirk

So let’s all go on a joyride

Out in the world today!

Hold onto your hats! Slam the car doors!

Let’s just be on our way!

Notes: Nothing earth shattering here, just the simple joy of a break from winter and the unfettered joy it brings me. I look at this as just another piece of doggerel verse, written quickly and tossed off to the day! It is shared with others who have probably given far more thought to their writing. The image credit and details that Tess has provided for this week's writing prompt can be found at Magpie Tales. See the link here to check out other works!



Magpie Tales ... Primordial Plea

Image by Francesa Woodman

Primordial Plea

Let me return

Let me return …

The wolf is at the door
Yapping, slobbering
Pushing with a nose
Snapping teeth
Pacing, pacing

I’m holding my shell
My shell …

How I sicken of wrappings.
The starch, the rustle
Sliding over skin
Being pulled back
Cool air causing spasms

Let me return
Let me return…

I demand to foil the wolf,
No going to ground for me.
I wish to float off;
To be the one to tear free.

I’m holding my shell …
Let me release it …

I dream a blue current
Pulling gently seductively
Swirls of sand and mud
Soft fins fluttering close
And sunbeams above

I'm slipping my shell
My shell ...


A fast write to a difficult image - what is the artist trying to say here? There is such room for interpretation; the image of the breast and the hands tearing free while holding fast is intriguing.

This post is a creative writing exercise that is submitted to Tess Kinkaid's writing share at The Mag

The Mag - Fast Writing ...

                                                                                                             

 Image: River Irwell by R.A.D. Stainforth

Untitled

I dreamt …

Shades of green pass by

As we skim along
I look downward
Your hand trailing under the water
You always have been one
For both worlds
I reach to splash
Look into eyes that reflect
The clouds and sky
Yes, you always have been one
With both worlds

I walked to the river this morning

Whispered down and up
Come back to me …


Dear Reader,

Fast writing is so very difficult, but that was the writing challenge for this morning .... look at an image and write to it ... the image is haunting to me, as is the mood of the 'fast write'.  I will return to it most likely and maybe it will lead to something new, maybe different words, maybe a title ... but, until then, here is an offering for The Mag ...

Susan