Author: Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris

In response to Maria Antonia’s Photo Challenge #11 / Window

Amid the traffic and blaring horns
drivers sitting rigid stiff confined
within the controlled atmospheres
of their stick shift and automatic conveyances
halted for the moment by the snarled congestion
of holiday travelers and local rush-hour workers

I turned and pressed the window down button
releasing a portion of my glass and metal enclosure
enabling a treat of fresh wintry air to pass
across my over-warm and blushing cheeks
still reddened by my rarely released and never seen
out-burst of frustration and temper

It was then within the brush and dried thistles
lining the side of this overused
and ill thought out highway
I heard the faint but lovely chirping
of a wee little bird perched upon
a thin thorny twig looking fit as a fiddle

He sang and he sang with all of his might
as though saying goodbye or maybe hello
to all of the humans in line on this night
going nowhere so fast on this stalled pavement lot
I thought as I sat contemplating the scene
what a beautiful world and gave thanks once again

Life is like a soap bubble
squeezed from an opening
impossible to fit through

Popping forward into a glaringly bright world
full of undercurrents, tumultuous waves and chaos
bobbing around without perceived purpose or direction

Catching a ride on a stream
of atmospheric happenstance
ignorant of its intent to be tsunami or gentle tide

Surviving, expanding and growing
during the bumpy but wonderful journey
to become a glowing, colorful soap bubble

Sometimes collapsing beneath the strain
of gravity and the rough path dictated
by fate, timing and the original soapy ingredients

All bubbles, the big and small, fast and the slow ones,
the multi-colored and the nearly invisible orbs
bounce around until finally popping out of existence –
Gone

Stuck within the echo of life’s clock
rooted in a past that slips away
before my eyes

The sound of footsteps
upon each hour loop through years
of creaks that stir a frightened imagination

Before I open my eyes to look
the past has claimed the future
imagination becomes reality

Always a tag-a-long
the dangler
the third
the one left behind
in an emergency

Never number two
number one a long-lost dream
something little girls
and old women dream about
in a world where they do not exist

Contemplating the role
of the ever-present
but seldom seen
or noticed third
needed by couples and groups

Time passes slowly
the tag-a-long
sinks into despair
weary of the chase
retreats to become – a loner

Light fades
the year passes by
Brilliant when new
dimming to hues of brown
in summer

Leaves fall
the circle continues to spin
Just before the end
myriads of colors clash together
in a magnificent climactic explosion

October blows a cold wind
through my soul
Days of water and warmth
are gone

Nights of frozen stillness
seize the lonely one
Icy tendrils pierce
a barren heart

Twigs snap outside
the foggy window
Beware for the dead
of winter is coming

(Dedicated to my Pomsky, Koda – who constantly does this!)

Eenie Meenie Miney Mo
catch a doggie by his toe
He chewed up my favorite sheets
all to go trick or treat!

He’s too fast and I’m too slow
but in the doghouse he will go
That’ll teach him not to eat my sheets
all for silly Halloween treats!

The wonderful Sea Notes Choral Society I am privileged to be a member of, established 50 years ago and still going strong, invites everyone out for not one but two concerts! Saturday December 6 @ 3:00 pm & Sunday December 7 @ 3 pm.

Tickets are free and can be picked up at any of the locations noted on the above official announcement. Hope to see YOU in the audience!!