Category: Author

  • Spinning

    Spin us a poem of precisely 44 words (not counting the title), containing some form or other of the word spin. In response to – dVerse Quadrille #204, hosted by De Jackson aka WhimzyGizmo, this week.

    Courtesy of vectorstock.com

    Be sure to make the popular choice
    not loosing your hierarchical liberties
    We can’t allow the power of greed
    to turn back the wheels of time
    Spinning all we have gained,
    all we have built to spin reversed
    by a swipe of his pen

  • Unusual Attachment

    She was sturdy and loyal and sure
    for much longer than anyone knew
    Age crept upon her body so slowly
    adventurous miles kept her young

    A rare model made with care and skill
    not like the new ones of this time
    Her body heavy and solid and sure
    but still a lovely sweeping design

    Her color once a vibrant blue
    washed out by the sun and the rain
    Had turned a worn sort of faded hue
    the only sign of her extended years

    A sputter here and a stall there
    foretold the arrival of her impending end
    A tune-up, some oil and little grease
    kept her going another few miles

    The day came when her engine went still
    the mechanic shook his head and said
    It’s the end for your old blue jeep I fear
    watched her go with tears streaming down

  • Waiting

    Picture courtesy of shutterstock.com

    Time crawls by
    minutes drip slowly
    into hours

    Endless loops of waiting
    aching for the rejoining
    the return of life

    No end in sight
    hopeless days fade
    into distraught nights

    Awaiting the light
    the return of warmth
    the security of strong arms

  • Incurable Pain

    Picture courtesy of simpleartwithrose

    An invisible shroud
    placed upon my body
    By fates or Gods or happen chance
    I do not know nor ever will I

    Perhaps I was meant to be
    a great leader of nations
    Bringing peace and goodwill
    to a world turned so dark

    Or a great warrior among women
    vanquishing injustice and setting things right
    Whatever it was that was preordained
    has been circumvented by physical pain

    Instead of fighting for good
    in a world filled with effluent evil
    I have been set to fight myself each day
    with a smile to hide my grinding jaw

  • The Floods

    The floods came
    unexpected, unannounced.
    chasing the living
    into death, into nothingness.

    The sea, so beautiful and kind,
    turned angry, turned malicious.
    Water once dipped in cerulean blue,
    covers the earth in blankets of red.

    Vehicles of man tied to tar ribbons,
    bob without direction,
    without combustion,
    atop debris laden rivers of waste.

    Livestock no longer living,
    rush past on fields of favored fodder,
    an uneaten cache of bloated
    sweet grass and hay.

    Mother Earth in her glorious wonder,
    provided well and took away.
    Unable to sustain that which was given,
    she will try again, but not on this day.

  • Grandma’s Schoolroom

    Photograph by Brian Brown

    Up the street
    and ‘round the corner
    Sits an old log house
    with only one room in her

    Yellow warning signs
    nailed here and there
    Warn any trespassers
    they had better beware

    Cobweb squatters
    fill every nook and cranny
    Birds nests line beams
    up high in the attic

    Decades of dust carpet
    the old wood floor
    Where scuff marks once trailed
    in and out of the door

    Books no longer sit
    upon the old cedar shelves
    Built into the wall
    some say by elves

    But I know the truth
    though I keep it to myself
    This was Grandma’s schoolroom
    where she taught us all to count

  • On the Outside

    Picture courtesy of Pinterest

    On the outside looking
    into a life that’s never been.
    A life that to me
    would mean the end
    of loneliness and suffering.

    Living through your eyes
    your life and these times.
    Locked as I am in this chair,
    filled with hidden despair,
    abject hopelessness.

    You are a lifeline to things
    never experienced by me.
    Knowing that it could never be
    that way for me, without you,
    your energy and love of life.

    That you chose a broken one,
    that dampens your adventures
    and often spoils your fun.
    Never on purpose, but as the fates
    choose to cut me down again and again.

    On the outside looking in,
    wishing for more, yet thankful to be
    a part of your days and heated nights.
    Stay with me now, as long as allows,
    let me love you as only I know how.

  • The Omen

    In response to bwarren’s
    Sunday Whirl Wordle #666

    Unfathomable despair
    flickering in the shadows
    An omen known to one and all
    the portent of demons is 666

    Dark wings cloaked
    behind a gloaming orange hue
    Hide the cunning charlatan
    his evil flame deep within

    His messages born
    from the heat of his rage
    Destroy what’s good
    propagating hate in his name

    In order to set things as they need to be
    we must fight to our deaths
    To secure the rights of women and men
    and not stop until we see this to the end

  • Face in the Tree

    engin akyurt (artist)

    In response to WDYS #248 posted by Sadje at Life After 50 for Women

    Come with me
    said the face in the aged tree
    Come to where the wind always blows
    where your feet never leave the warm soil

    Come with me
    said the girl to the aged tree
    Come see the sites in the busy city
    where cars jostle for stops and spots

    Upon your branches she did crawl
    up to the top and every single twig
    Upon your branches did she fall
    where she lives within you now evermore


  • Hospitalized Again

    There’s laughter in the hallway
    just outside my door
    It’s dark in here where I lay
    blankets piled high to keep me warm

    Beeps and whistles sound
    throughout the tortuous night
    A stick while I lay sleeping
    wakes my slumber every two hours

    A platter of food arrives
    unappetizing and dry
    The cooking worse than mine
    even on a tv dinner night

    Close my eyes and dream
    of warm sand and lapping waves
    The sound of seagulls as they hunt
    for scraps of food or errant crabs

    Instead of the smell of antiseptic
    a salty breeze clears my nose
    In my dreams I’m there with you
    and not laying here all alone