Category: poetry

September Song

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn poetry21 Comments

credit: www.3ddigitalwallpapers.com

Stepping out into the last of an August day, I hold onto the season

Darkness descends earlier now, but a few summer sounds remain

The delightful din of the peepers, the cheerful chirping of the crickets

Families roughhousing outside

     Laughter and whooping lighting up the dusk

The sound of the Red Sox on the radio from the house next door

The lingering humidity, a heated quiet that is slowly giving way

To the rumble of school busses and children dressed in sweaters and sweatshirts

Amber sunsets which promise cool nights and mornings blessed with a chill

Wicker baskets ready for apple picking under brilliant foliage

Reminding us of the gifts from the changing of the seasons

The autumn aroma of crisp air and nighttime bonfires

        Crackle, sizzle, roar  

We ease the chill with cocoa for the young ones    

And something that brings a glow to the cheeks

And fire to the belly for the older imbibers

We rejoice this ninth month as it births its third season

In all its wondrous glory and new beginnings

Inspired by Kellie Elmore’s Free Write Friday: 

#FWF Free Write Friday: Fall Word Bank

foliage – amber – wicker – aroma – sweater – cocoa

free write friday kellie elmore

The Familiar

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn poetry, Uncategorized2 Comments

credit: 8tracks.com

One last sleep before my journey

We lie with just a sheet

and the whir of the fan

lulling us to dreamland

Our bodies take turns finding ways

to stay tangled, twined and touched

Fingers, legs, torsos, arms

tug, pull, envelop, whisper, graze

Nearness, breath, a sigh

until morning’s deep solitude awakens us

attempting to shed night’s imprinted stirrings

Marking Time

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn poetry28 Comments

walmart man

photo courtesy of Kellie Elmore

Born through the grace and mercy of the Lord

Workin’ on Papa’s farm since my feet taught me to walk

Mama called me shy, her worried little boy

Happy to plow them fields sunrise to sunset

Got called up at eighteen to kill the commies in ‘Nam

Found myself knee deep in rice paddies

or in jungles lined with mines and leeches

Saw friends lose their limbs and lives

Lost my mind

Drownin’ in the blood left on those hills and in those huts

Red the common color in comrades, babies and women

Numbed my soul in the arms of yellow girls and in bottles of hooch

Got myself hooked on smack when the demons ruled my dreams

When the killin’ was done, they brought me home

Leavin’ me with nothin’ but the ghosts carried home in bags or draped in flags

Papa died while I was gone and Mama sold the farm

Found myself on the streets lookin’ for the next fix

‘Til the shelter took me in and cleaned me up

Spend my days workin’ the soup line and waitin’ for the clinic to open up

Livin’ and dyin’ through the grace and mercy of the Lord

Another great one from Kellie Elmore this week We wrote a story from this image that she posted on Instagram. His name is John. Check others’ out at:

#FWF Free Write Friday: Image Prompt

August Blues

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn poetry26 Comments

Photo credit: wermsgarden.com

The sun makes one last valiant effort to shine through the mist, and for a few seconds, everything steams, yellow and gray. Then the rain sweeps in and everything is gone.

A trip back in time when this month’s beginning was her world’s ending

Bracing for the inevitable

As the storm’s clouds raged in the distance

And when it came, her body crumpled in defeat

Nights sleepless, Days motionless, Tears endless

Rifling through papers

Reading

The Destruction

The Anger

 The Deceit

      She

Collects

Gathers

Tosses

Burns

  Returns them to the Earth

 Dissipating Disintegrating Disappearing

Extinguished and Extinct

#FWF Free Write Friday: Famous Last Words

This week’s prompt from Kellie invited us to take the last few lines of a memorable book or poem and create a story or poem based on it. This quote is from the last two lines of  “Those Who Save US” by Jenna Blum (her first novel- I highly recommend reading it).

August is not a favorite month of mine and I have been thinking of ways to write about some jumbled up feelings that this month represents for me.   Kellie’s Karmic Connection has helped me sort them out a bit!

Acadia, Acadia

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn Life's Journey, memoir, poetry2 Comments

Photo credit: colonelssuites.com

A rough hewn beauty

A rocky coast of sheer cliffs

Fallen, red hued boulders

made smooth and slick

by the North Atlantic’s unforgiving surf

Glaciers melted and heaved up pieces of Earth

Towers above the indigo ocean below

Icy still as we shock our bodies with the cold

A fertile ground for lobsters and clams

Those delectable and delicious creatures of the deep

Forest dense with birch, pine and oak

Dotted with flora and fauna

too fragile for our feet

Damp and verdant

Cool to touch

Much like its natatory cousin

Mountains

Ragged Craggy Jagged

Haphazard Unpredictable Asymmetrical

We scramble, scamper and slide

as we ascend the winding paths to your peaks

Within these hills lie lakes

Eagle Jordan Echo

Serene and Still

A stark contrast to the sea’s roaring waves

Surrounded by bubbles of peaks

Long endless bottomless

Acadia Acadia

We feel your sacred ancientness

in the oversized gems beneath our feet

in the majesty of your pines

in the scent of the briny air

Stories told and untold

Secrets kept and revealed

Summer Morning

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn poetryLeave a comment

photo credit: inspirationfeed.com

 The air is already thick with heat

 as I creep outside in my bare feet

The cool morning dew relieves

the daily ache in my feet and toes

The wet blades stick to my heels

and sneak in between my skin

      A delicious delight

   dancing with the sensation

                                                             

The day is still at rest

Only the voice of the train whistle bellows

 low and heavy

     through the wall of humid air

      sounding tired too soon

Solstice Walk

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn poetry21 Comments

Summer Solstice

Then followed that beautiful season…Summer.

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Slipping out of work day clothes

into shorts, sleeveless and sneakers

The stroll through the lush streets commences

The sun’s heat sinking into my exposed skin

Surrounded by summer sounds

Singing of tots on the swings

Smells of freshly sown grass

Visions of deep blue contrast with endless glaze of green

Slowly exhaustion gives way to serenity

I ascend towards the sounds of the clock tower bell

serenading us with its medley of silvery songs

I am in the midst of stones both ancient and unseasoned

The souls gather their dust in the soil

Lives well-lived

Basking beneath a daytime star

A perfect Free Write Friday prompt from Kellie Elmore today!  http://kellieelmore.com/2013/06/21/fwf-free-write-friday-quote-prompt-summer-solstice/

The Mat

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn poetry, Yoga2 Comments

Photo credit: www.treehugger.com

 

An island of respite and renewal

                Breathing in and out

Stretching limbs and opening  heart

               Tonight I embrace Down Dog

Ankles, Calves and Tendons

Express relief

               I am inverted

Straight Back

              Forward Bend

Rise Up to Sun A

                Bend and Breathe

Breathe and Bend

                Down Dolphin

Hold, Hold Hold

          Child’s Pose

Hero for those toes

            Warrior One

Crescent Lunge

            My Body Sighs

Wants Its Rest

           I Curl Up on my Right Side

The Night Air Cools

                     My Very Being

and Sings Its Song of Sweet Sleep

A Father’s Day Story

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn Fathers, poetry, RunningLeave a comment

photo credit:  www.ehow.com

Hello my friends!  Since it is Father’s Day, I thought I would republish a post that I wrote for my dad on his birthday last September. Fathers sometimes get a bad rap these days but I know quite a few men who know and understand what it takes to be a good dad.  This post is dedicated to them.

Here’s the link: https://buildingalifeofhope.com/2012/09/13/happy-birthday-dad/

Love in the Dust

On By buildingalifeofhopeIn poetry15 Comments
Photo by Matt Black - The Dispossession - A couple outside their shanty

Photo Credit: Matt Black (www.mattblack.com)

We take refuge in each others arms
From the heat, from the fields
Where we toil and labor
We pick day and night
For meager wages
We feed you
But barely feed ourselves
Our houses are scraps
No water, no stove
We hold onto each other
In hope, in prayer
As we dream
A full belly
A warm meal
A quench for our thirst
This week’s prompt from Kellie Elmore(http://kellieelmore.com/2013/06/14/fwf-free-write-friday-image-prompt-9/) came via Tom Clark (http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/) who featured photos from photographer Matt Black from his series entitled: Dispossessed
This is powerful imagery that should give us all pause for thought.