Monthly Archives: July 2013

Poems — Jan-May 2013

These poems are drafts, not final versions, and are not to be shared outside this website.

Selected Poems

130525

EX-PROCRASTINATOR

Doing nothing?
Nothing doing!

* * *

130515

DANG IT ALL

I’m about to die
in the blink of an eye of a fly
and the question isn’t how,
but why;
why is this life
so interesting now?

* * *

130505

CONSIDERING MY OPTIONS

I kill bugs.
In my kitchen, mainly.
Spiders in the bathtub I escort outdoors.
Well, ticks I drown.
No telling, inside my body,
what havoc occurs to other lifeforms.

Are there alternative options?
Can I redesign any of this
with a mutually beneficial outcome?
Or is it possible that it’s already so?

We’re all in this life/death adventure together;
that’s my basic assumption,
even it’s only within my own mind.
But I do mind
killing bugs.

* * *

130504a

ROLE CALL

I heard the critics
squabbling today.
That’s fine;
they have their play.

The artist chooses bliss.
They don’t know what they miss

* * *

130504c

POISED

How do I move
when my soul is so still?

Why should I move
if I haven’t the will?

* * *

130410

KILDEER

Today when the hail
bombarded the lake shore,
where was the mother bird?

If not on her twig-and-gravel nest,
have those three speckled eggs
gone stone cold?

* * *

130409

ODDS AGAINST

If I start a poem, will a poem result?
I wouldn’t expect a giraffe,
or a gnome, or a carafe . . .
though, if one appeared, I’d exult.

* * *

130403

WORK DEMANDS

Do it now:
that’s all I ask.
Hurry! Hurry!
Multitask!

* * *

130314

SLUMBER

Here he is in workday clothes,
breathing softly through the nose;
hands on chest, clasped and closed;
posed as if in death’s repose.
It’s a preview, I suppose.

* * *

[Undated]

WISTFUL

I don’t know why,
she said with a sigh,
but I want to be healthy
the day that I die.

* * *

130221

EXPECTANT

I hear breathing, chirping;
I hear chiming clocks;
I hear subtle tappings;
I hear clicks and knocks.

But all I’m really listening for—
is that one knock upon my door.

* * *

130220

!  B@@[\]  B!??^/

I been bizzy—
bizzy like a B
when all the
other alphabet
ups and goes to C.

* * *

130219

NO ‘CUZ FOR ALARM

Howdy, friend.
You look glum—
sumthin’ botherin’ you?

Yeah! Nuthin’ matters.

Oh, uh-hum. You might
wanna think that thru.

* * *

130218

SLEEP WALTZING

It only gets better,
this life-death trance.
I am eternal.
This is my dance.

* * *

130213

HAPPY TRUTH

This truth
by wise ones is averred:
you can’t unsay
a done-said word
and you can’t roller skate
in a buffalo herd,
but you can be happy …
if you’ve a “don’t-mind” to.

* * *

130212

ENSURE THIS

Never give up,
even if you never make it.

Never pass the cup
without a chance to taste it.

* * *

130211

THE UNDEAD

Dawn arises,
not from ashes,
but from its own
pooled blood.

* * *

130210

PLEASANCE

Like a happy
hippopotamus
am I—
scant of thought
and slow of pace,
but wallowing
in grace.

* * *

130203

A FRESH VISUAL

Our finches are prolific;
we must take measures.

This morning, Ethan checks
the nest and confirms—
“Time to pluck some eggs.”

* * *

130202

HARD TIMES

16-bean soup,
give or take a bean

* * *

130201

LAMENT

Alas, I’ve failed
at loving you—
but not for want
of wanting to.

* * *

130128

ENOUGH IS PLENTY

It could be fame,
or wealth, or breath, or death—
it doesn’t help to plead;
life doesn’t give me
what I want,
it gives me what I need.

* * *

130125

FINALLY FEARLESS

If God is truly
Love and Good,
He’d never abandon me—

and if He’s not
or if He should,
why would I care to be?

* * *

130123

NOTICE

I declare myself free—
not as a battle cry,
slogan, motto, avowal,
assertion, or affirmation—
as an observation.

* * *

130121

MISFITTED

I weep. I rail. I curse.
What’s wrong?
What’s wrong?
What’s wrong?
Where do I belong?

* * *

 

Decisions, Decisions … and Revisions

Today I abandoned two out-of-date poem blogs due to password nonacceptance. I thought a good alternative would be to simply start a new blog. But some research convinces me that I can jumble all kinds of content here, letting readers sort their favorites by selecting categories. If so, that is a wonderful solution. In keeping with my learning-by-doing orientation, I will proceed along those lines.

Since you will experience the outcome, wish us luck.

♥ Jo

* * *

Learning by Doing

“The work will teach you how to do it.”

This Estonian proverb is my motto. In the case of this blog, I’m learning how to produce one by doing it. … I got my first viagara comment today. Since comments are integral to having a blog, that was a good piece of learning.

I’m off to a slow start today but, actually, that is pretty typical. By the time I do what I call my “dailies”—planning, journaling, and everyday chores—the morning is often half gone. The dailies usually include a poem and the time to complete one is always unpredictable … some have taken the whole day.

My daily planning includes a lengthy gratitude list and a fresh affrimation accompanied by a photo. This creative time is my delight and dearest luxury. Of course, if a time comes when this indulgence must be dropped, it will be surrendered. I’m convinced that necessity of letting go (or going beyond) is true of all egoic traits and activities. This was my thinking as I wrote today’s poem.

* * *

FINAL FRONTIER

If I want to be
completely free,
that even means
free from me.

* * *  

Someday, I expect, my blog posts will be read. You may even be the first reader! First or last, I’m thinking of you today and hoping we will connect with good things to share.  ♥ Jo