On
the edge–
fall to winter
burnished gold now
fading, almost gone.
Cold north winds sigh and moan,
blowing time forward. Squirrels dart,
scamper over oak’s bare branches
gathering acorns for tomorrow
and tomorrow—till spring bursts into bloom.
This is an etheree for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday challenge.
John Everett Millais, “The Somnambulist.”
Walls
dissolve
on this night–
All Hallows’ Eve
when the fairies ride,
and ghostly presences
shimmer, translucent figures
beckon from burial plots. “Come,”
they whisper, and you see the ground turned
waiting—waiting for you—one push—you wake.
An etheree for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday using synonyms for dig and grave.
Moon,
fragment
of larger
star-tossed bodies,
do you ring the rings,
in rhythmic melodies,
beauty unheard by mortals?
Rocky surface a void–or not–
universal truths of the cosmos
perhaps not universal or the truth.
This is an etheree for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday challenge, using synonyms for empty and space. I read that astronomers have discovered 20 new moons circling Saturn, making a total of 82.
I’m taking a quick poetry break. I’m sorry I’m so behind on reading posts. The book is almost done.
Pure
water,
the essence
of life, tumbling
down, cascading to
stillness, a pellucid
pool mirrors the sky above.
Clouds ripple in the lake and sky,
and bird shadows soar, black against white–
their calls echo, echo, echo, echo
until the sound fades into the gloaming
and fireflies dance about the shore.
Then come the night sounds and creatures
that fly, swim, flitter, twitter
with anticipation.
She is here, rising
from the water,
luminous,
glowing
moon.
A double etheree for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday challenge.
Train
slows down
time has stopped
rather, reversed–
a more pleasant time–
or perhaps it’s a dream.
She wants to stay here. This place
where flowers bloom, and it is spring
always. She gets off at the stop, now to
live another life, or one meant to be.
Colleen is doing an ekphrastic challenge this week, based on the photo above. This is my quick response before the deadline! My poem, an etheree, is based on the feeling that I got from the photo. The scene looks so idyllic, and the “Next Stop Willoughby” episode of The Twilight Zone flashed into my mind.
Eos, Evelyn de Morgan
Dawn,
blushing
awakens–
pitcher in hand,
she waters with dew
the earth as she rises,
leading the way for the sun–
the god in his chariot glides–
swallowing night in his golden blaze.
But to where does rosy-fingered dawn fly?
On feathered wings, she dances with the stars,
creates new life with passionate embrace,
cares for her incandescent steeds,
(though careless with her lovers)
she beckons and woos, then
sleeps to rise again–
saffron-robed and
radiant–
bringing
light.
Colleen is back! A double etheree for her Tanka Tuesday, using synonyms for beginning and consume. I haven’t written one of these in a while. It’s a fun exercise.
There was a beautiful sunrise this morning.
Why,
I ask,
do I smile
at blushing skies?
If scented, I’d smell
peach—my mouth waters—though
the window glass is frosted,
the peach, only a memory,
a dream of what was, or what could be.
Time, meandering in my head always
circling around, forming connections, here
cascading like a waterfall, or
a shooting star, streaking, trailing
glimmers of light as it falls–
and then, the dinosaurs
gone in random strike,
like a question
unanswered
trailing
if
Sunrise this morning was such a beautiful peach color.
This double etheree is for NaPoWriMo, Day 2, where the prompt is to write a poem that ends with a question. It is also for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, and dVerse, where Amaya asks us to use “cascade” or write a cascade poem. Poetry Month! I wish I could sit and write poetry all day. So many prompts; too little time.
Days
lengthen,
and we dream
again. Circles
and cycles spinning
a planet round a star,
our bodies full of stardust,
so, we reach up bravely, and search
for answers, the hard problem of who,
why, and what we are–but still, flowers bloom
rise with cues of light and hope, a promise
of what was still is, even if we
are not. They will vanish also,
like dinosaurs and dodos,
evolutionary
romps through the ages,
blinks and heartaches–
but still, there’s
you, me,
now
Yesterday, I saw this crocus and some green shoots rising from the ground. It made me happy, even though we’re supposed to get snow today. I’ve noticed how the angle of the sun is different now, and how it lingers longer in the day.
This is a double etheree for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday prompt, using synonyms for game and trouble.
Claude Monet, “Waterloo Bridge, Effect of Fog,” [Public Domain], Wikipedia Commons
and dream
of what could
be. Wonder then,
if happiness comes
will you recognize it?
Or will it vanish, in mist,
the fog streaming from the cold sea
hiding the world from you, shrouding all?
Know that the sun is just beyond the clouds–
beyond the clouds, knowledge waits to be found–
assume this, and then go from there–
where else would you be? What matters
more than this? Contentment, then,
if not bliss. Maybe peace.
But there is more
in lucid dreams
of love and
laughter–
hope.
A double Etheree for the prompt Colleen’s left during her break—synonyms for belief and joy.
Old Pine Street Church Graveyard, Philadelphia
There
she is,
haunting me
wearing her face
stepping silently
over the cobblestones,
to fill a void in the air
with an electrical charge—a
gleam, a shiver, that slight susurrus
of swirling air–sojourning spirit, stay
that I may look upon her face once more,
see her clothed in her favorite gown,
pretend that what is lost, was not.
But she moves into the mist,
dissolves and fades away.
My dreams vanish, too,
forevermore
light is dimmed,
she is
gone.
I’ve channeled my inner nineteenth-century Gothic writer for this double etheree for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday! We were to use synonyms for ghost and hollow.
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
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