By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
What did I do?
Besides loving you
Caring for you
Nurturing you
What did I do?
In your sweet young life
To have earned such disdain
That brings me such pain
What did I do?
That keeps you away
No visits or stays
Not even on Holidays
What did I do?
That embarrassed you so
Not meeting your wife
Not part of your life
What did you do?
To the one who stands for you
Loves you beyond any other
This lady who’s your mother
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
How bad can it be?
Perhaps she won’t see,
if I lay on this couch,
be a silly old slouch.
I’ll pretend I don’t know
then maybe she’ll go.
Keep my eyes closed tight
avoiding the fight.
Oh, what do I see as I lower my lids?
Caught red-handed just like a kid.
Laying right at my feet,
now I’m in it deep!
Her towel that I found
I can’t say I’m proud.
Threw it up, threw it down,
coughed up the threads on the ground!
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
In response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Spicing It Up Hosted by merrildsmith – Use at least three of the spices listed in your poem: Aleppo Pepper
Arizona Dreaming Basil Cinnamon Coriander
Cumin Dill Fennel Seed Garam Masala Ginger Krakow Nights Lemongrass Mulling Spices Mural of Flavor Mustard Seeds Nutmeg Paprika Saffron Sea Salt Sesame Seeds Sunny Paris Thyme Tuscan Sunset Vanilla Zatar
I have to admit though it pains
me to confess this
A cook I am not
and never will be
I haven’t the patience
nor even the thyme
To fiddle with fennel
or flavor with dill
Not a spot of paprika
no pinch of green basil
or is basil brown
Never ever have used
Forget all about mulling
over convoluted spices
And however do you flavor
with a tincture or mural
No I think I’ll stick
to my nightly routine
Take it out of the freezer
microwave and be done!
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
In a small town in the back
country of Arkansas
On an even smaller country farm
a girl child was born
Third in the family
second girl child
With the eldest a sister
the next was a boy
Her parents were farmers
with chickens and pigs
Growing parcels of cotton
some corn and a horse
This horse was a mean one
biting human and fowl
His end came the day he bit
my grandpa as he plowed
Only one baby more
was born after the third
Another tiny girl child
making three girls and a boy
The second baby girl born
September 19, 1936
became this ladies mother
a mere twenty-one years after
It’s been twenty-five years
since that second girl child
departed this Earth to reside
with her family on a faraway farm
When it’s my turn to depart this Earth
leaving behind the living to continue
I hope to follow the path that they took and see them all on the farm again
____________________________
Post-Note – I post these pictures to show what a lifetime of cigarette addiction looks like. My mother died young, age 57. I’m 64, an age she never saw.
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
The Sunday Wordle #570
Hosted by bwarren
Eyes that know no normal
No clue how to play the word game
Search the world over
Journeying further and longer each day
Time is a sweet healer
Or can rattle the strongest reserve
Using pills from a bottle
To escape the false gilded box
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
I know you no longer
this child of my womb
I remember it well
almost loosing you though
The blood started running
the pain beyond my endurance
I clutched at my round belly
I begged you to wait
My sister she drove me
as fast as was allowed
to the hospital where soon
an ultrasound could be done
She reached out and touched me
while speeding through stop-lights
people blowing their horns
She said to me that my baby was gone
I started to shake and tried not to cry
Would not believe the words that I heard
Clutched at my belly still swollen and hard
Knew in my heart my boy was still there
Nurses and doctors all handled me with care
kind blessings all around could be heard
Soon there were leads hooked onto my skin
listening intently for that heartbeat again
The thumping and whooshing made it so clear
my baby boys heart beating so strong
The doctor confirmed what I’d known all along
you there inside me tucked safely within
Now you are grown with a wife of your own
I know not this man who despises me so I wish for a moment I could hold you once more to hear the heart-song of this mother’s love for her son
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
Young neighbors burst
from their home
giggling in new love
and healthful exuberance
Friday night freedom
Teenagers spill out of their
parents dining rooms
appetites temporarily sated
school buddies converge
to watch girls watching them
Friends with grand plans
head for the marinas
golf courses galore
women gather for coffee
ending up at the mall
Watch their lives unfold
relationships come and go
from the chair where I sit
most days here alone
in my chair built for one
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
In response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Story Swap #8 “SURVIVAL”
He wore flowing robes in white and blush rose. I had never seen such a beautiful color, not before or since. He walked slowly, His robes swirling around His bare feet. He looked as though He was skating on air, no sound did His tread make.
Entranced, I watched Him come closer. He smelled of ocean breezes and frosty mountain air. His eyes a deep chocolate, small crinkles at the edges spoke of laughter, worry, strife and redemption.
“You can not do this thing you contemplate My lady,” He spoke. His voice velvet soft, enveloped me in warmth and care.
“I called out for You. I cried for You. I begged, but You did not come. I have no desire to keep fighting, to keep struggling, to keep hurting,” I whispered.
“But yet, you must. You will My lady. You are the light they will follow. You are the strength that will be needed. Without you, all will be lost. Without you, I will be lost. Only you hold Me deep within your heart. Only you hold true love for Me within your soul. So you see, you must survive, you will survive. For Me,” He said softly.
“For You,” I echoed even softer.
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
Shadow dear shadow,
do you know from where
you’ve come?
Are you aware at all,
of where you will go
in the fall and in the winter?
Shadow dear shadow,
at blazing summers zenith
you stand full and tall.
Chasing suns rays
across a blue horizon,
flickering as clouds pass by.
Shadow dear shadow
how you dance in the wind,
dipping gracefully against the gale.
I will miss your quiet strength,
your testament to the hot season.
Until next year, farewell dear shadow.
By Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
In response to dVerse Poets Pub
Prosery Prompt Piece 144 Words
to include – “I’d like, too, to plant the sweet alyssum that smells like honey and peace.”
Walking the long winding path to the plot where my father lay. We stood hand in hand gazing
down at the flattened mound covered in soft green grass.
The breeze gentle, the sun warm but not hot
on our necks bent in reverence. The double tombstone bore his name, birth and death date.
The other side of the massive granite monolith was engraved with mother’s name and birthdate. The script upon the gleaming white stone sat in
silence awaiting the date of her death.
“Soon I will be laying here beside my love. I’d like, too, to plant the sweet alyssum that smells like honey and peace here above us.” We planted that very day.
I walk alone along the winding paths of the vast cemetery. A breeze lifts the hair from my neck, delivering the scent of sweet alyssum blossoms to my nose.
Gypsie’s Wonderful World of Words 