choka

Self Loathing

Anger consumed her.

She lashed out at her loved ones.

Unwittingly, they fought back,

unaware of hate

she harbored against herself.

The world darkened for them all.

They tried many things:

drugs, alcohol, religion,

till the youngest met Jesus.

Jesus is the light.

Her beacon revealed the hate.

Till you love yourself, you can’t

reach out to others.

Animals a-z

Affenpinscher

“The little monkey dog,” so cute

A breed derived from German root

They’re small but long, like a short log

So cute, “the little monkey dog”

Kept long ago for pest control

Was excellent in hunting role

Rat numbers down and not for show

For pest control, kept long ago

They come in colors black and gray

In forties brought to USA

Coarse wiry fur, and smart not dumb

In colors black and gray, they come

Adventurous, loves fun, no fears

Domed head, dark eyes, short snout, small ears

In loyalty, can’t be outdone

No fears, adventurous, loves fun

Their happy owners have no regrets

The affenpinscher make good pets

Affectionate and not loners

Have no regrets—their happy owners

Some stern advice, they can be hurt

With fragile bodies, be alert!

They’re not for kids, don’t pay the price.

They can be hurt, some stern advice.

Poetic Bloomings Books

My Dream

I used to dream of rows of books.

I loved libraries’ smells and looks.

When I was young, I’d plot and scheme.

Of rows of books, I used to dream.

To own a book, oh, such a treat!

A gift like that could not be beat.

You’d catch me reading in a nook.

Oh, such a treat, to own a book!

As years passed, my collection grew.

My bookish dream was coming true.

I needed space as they amassed.

My collection grew, as years passed.

My dream approached, when my kids moved.

For shelves of books I had more room.

But other guests, the place encroached.

When my kids moved, my dream approached.

One Christmas day, I got a gift.

It’s very light, easy to lift.

Alas, my dream, it went away!

I got a gift one Christmas day.

It could be worse, do not be sad.

The Kindle’s made me very glad,

Because my dream fits in my purse!

Don’t be sad, it could be worse.

Totem Poles

Totem Poles

Hand-crafted faces speak the past

Skilled men wield adze to spruce to last

Curved eagle or straight raven beak

From past, hand-crafted faces speak

They’re carved and formed, from single log

Show clans: bear, beaver, fox and frog

Red, turquoise, black and white—the norm

From single log, they’re carved and formed

From top, a human figure warns

Of dangers, thieves, or of life’s thorns

Against all debtors, like a cop

A human figure warns from top

Six types of poles, the totems claim

There’s Lineage, Story, Honor, Shame,

Event, and Grave—the dead extols

The totems claim six types of poles

The Carver knows their mystery

The Commissioner—their history

The totems do not read like prose

Their mystery, the Carver knows

The Totems stand for so much more

Of pride and sorrow, shore to shore

They speak of who once owned the land

For so much more, the totems stand

Inspired by Christmas Ornament

Santa Rides a Polar Bear

Santa rides a polar bear

Bet you didn't know it

All the pictures that you see

Surely do not show it

Twelve reindeer pull a sled

Piled high with children’s toys

Magically riding throughout the world

Delivering to girls and boys

But that’s just on Christmas night

Then he parks his sled in a cave

And lets his reindeer all run free

Dear Santa’s kind and brave

Then throughout the year

He rides big and burly Andy

Who carries Santa everywhere

Yes, polar bears come in handy 

Day after Christmas

The Star

The way, the truth, the light

The star in a silent night

The good shepherd the door

The star in a silent night

Living water to thirst no more

The way, the truth, the light

Angels chorus, “Glory to God”

A humble bed in manger hay

The light, the truth, the way

Poetic Asides gift

Gift

Graciously, You gave the greatest gift

I thank You for sending Your Son

F ather, thank You for providing

T he way for us to come to You

for 24

New Year, Next Step

Help me remember

as I make my goals for the New Year

that January first

is just a day after December thirty-first.

No need to attempt to start all over again.

Help me see my goals as the next steps

of the ones you have already

laid on my heart last year. 

for 23

Christmas Eve morning

A typical busy day

Filled with memories

Poetic Bloomings Christmas

Wonderland

I remember standing on tiptoe

looking into the big plate window

of Glosser Brothers store—

to a magical Christmas wonderland.

Miniature Christmas scenes:

Santa and workshop, busy shoppers,

old fashioned cars and street lamps.

All with moving parts.

And then inside—

the giant dolls I knew I’d never get.

Riding an elevator, floor to floor—

each a world unto themselves.

Then the flood came.

And the Richland Mall.

Then the Galleria.

Johnstown isn’t the same.

The magical place, only foggy memories.

Lets make magical moments

for our children and grandchildren.

even if they’re only temporary.

But at the same time

point to the eternal, to a place

that makes Glosser Brothers

seem drab and dreary.

List Poem

Symbols

Lion king mask,

Carved golden tree,

Glass chiming bells,

Cardboard circles featuring poems,

Wooden wagon,

Sailboat,

Painted Amish scene,

Sedona gourd,

Javelina

Jeweled seahorse,

Santa riding a polar bear,

Plastic tree with daughter’s photo,

Candy canes,

Scottish bagpiper,

Gar scale flower,

Crab claw poinsettia,

Eifel tower on a ball,

Dough art hot-air balloon,

Large hand-crafted felt ball

Tiny wooden figures,

Satin cross,

Popsicle stick star,

Ceramics children in winter-wear,

Crocheted bells,

Mouse in a matchbox,

Wire, wooden, cloth, straw,  angels,

On and on they go.

I love my Christmas ornaments.

Maybe I should

leave them up all year.

 I need a bigger tree. 

for Dec 20

The Washing Machine Chugs

The steely gray sky urges me back inside

where the washing machine chugs,

the woman in the wheelchair calls

and my husband murmurs to her

in his deep voice as he helps her,

and the washing machine chugs,

the man sits in the chair next to me

playing with a toy flashlight

with a confused ladybug that lights the way,

and the washing machine chugs,

the cat sits on my lap, my keys tap,

and the washing machine chugs.

for Dec 19

Heroics

A night out in Chicago

the Texan visitor said

after they fished

their dead friend

out of the river.

Thirty minutes.

Why couldn’t they get her out?

Nightmare

Several of us walking

on a high suspension bridge

A Chinese woman I know,

slips and falls.

Despite my desire I did nothing.

PA Sometime, PB Sonnetina Tre

Sometime

Yes, everybody’s gotta learn sometime

The kindergarten basics of friendship

To share, to care, to reason and to rhyme

To sweetly solve problems, to get a grip

Yes everybody’s gotta learn sometime

We are temporary people on earth

Taking a downhill slide after the climb

And then inevitable second birth

So let’s enjoy the moments while we can

Till that sometime, when we shed the old man

And I Cant Write a Poem Poem

Uninspired

This is a poem

I’m writing at home

On the keys, I tap

With a cat on my lap

The Christmas lights glow

I need to go

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

Extended family

Converge on one home

Happy Birthday Pappap

Gift exchange

Kids play, eat,

Savor Aunt Marg’s cakes

Poetic Bloomings garden

Daddy Plants

I can picture him there
In the garden
Acres of garden

Tilling the earth
His back red
Sweating

Planting
Weeding, working
Tending

Calling on his five girls
To pick and gather
Snap, husk, can, freeze

We, often complained
About the work we had to do
The fun we were missing

Not thankful enough
For the love he planted
In each little hill

Poetic Bloomings Terza Rhima Wordle: collection, blessings, processes, impressing, trinkets, guessing, speaking, proclaim, ears, bonus, straight, point, still, envelope

Unmet Debt

Collections of memories—priceless possessions

Of graces and mercies and all of God’s blessings

The processes of life, of prayers and confessions

A three-in-one Deity greatly impressing

From trinkets, to cathedrals, we seek to return

His favors but I believe we’re merely guessing

His creation is speaking so people can learn

They’re messengers sent to proclaim past what we hear

With our ears but with our hearts and souls we discern

The bonus He gave us from a heart of good cheer

Birthed straight from the Father’s bountiful compassion

The point was and is Jesus, then, there, now and here

We still try to repay by thanks in some fashion

Our lives like an envelope of praise and passion

Poetic Asides Antiques

Antiques

A ntiques give tribute to the past, reminding us

N ow is just a moment, many have come before and many will come after.

T he oil lamp on my cupboard top tells me to be thankful for electricity.

I look at the black and white pitcher and am grateful for running water. Grandma’s

Q uilt consists of patches from clothing my husband’s family must have worn. The

U rn once carried ashes of a grandparent. The gravy boat features cracks

E mulating wrinkles of aged ancestors who once used it at thanksgiving feasts.

S o many trinkets left to teach, inspire, enlighten, admonish and memorialize.

Catch up Dec 12

Moment of Truth Dream

I sat at a coffee counter

between two friends.

I asked, “How bad is it?”

One started to speak,

the other,

trying to be discreet.

hushed her.

“It’s bad, then,” I said.

“Of all losses, losing your memory is the worst.

We lost my dad a little bit each day.”

How do you prepare yourself for such a thing?

Catch up Dec 11

Off the Path

God I wonder

how I let myself feel

so far removed from You.

I get so caught up in daily life,

like the seed off the path,

getting choked by the cares of the world.

God, draw near. I need You. I love You. Draw near.

Catch up Dec 10

The Real Cost

Why do I pile on the projects

Then grieve

when I’d like to spend time on other things?

Or just on relaxing.

My decisions

effect what I do later on down the road.

When am I going to realize that? 

Catch up Dec 9

Drastic Measures

You cried last night.

Hard tears.

Your request was unusual

Your brother

Or my daughter.

I called her in.

Your tears stopped and laughter began.

Was it just a cry for attention?

Sometimes nonverbal people

Resort to drastic measures.

catch up Dec 8

Parental Zig

You hide in your room

Consumed by your addiction

A harmless addiction

But one that hides you in your room

You come out occasionally

Using unintelligible computer game speak

And I wonder

Where I zigged when I should have zagged.

catch up Dec 7

Wounded Hearts

I’m aware you’ve lied to me

Over the years

But I know you love me

The lies protect you from my possible rejection

But I won’t reject you

And they protect me from the grieving.

Yet, I already do.

I may grieve

I may pray

But I won’t reject you. 

catch up Dec 6

Facebook Friend Dream

We met

My husband was there

Yet we held hands like grammar school friends

You had five children

One thing we don’t have in common, you said.

I grew up in a family of seven, I said.

Your four year old son had red curly hair.

And a secure smile

It was just a dream

But is there such thing as just a dream?

Poetic Blooming Unexpected

The Faceless Woman

I spent too much time writing

to finish the portrait of my daughter,

so it came with a promise.

“I like it faceless,” she said.

The faceless woman?

Then not my daughter.

Shall I finish it, or not? 

Poetic Asides Fog

Fog

What giant infant

spilled milk over the world?

Watch for red eyes blinking

and white lines.

Don’t cry. 

a-z animals

The Adelie Penguin

Way down south, clear to the South Pole

Where it is rocky, icy and cold

Live many penguins small in size

With white circles around their eyes

Wear a “tux,” black back and white chest

Hike or slide to their rocky nests

Strong pink feet, bumpy nails are nice

To climb cliffs, push and slide on ice

Sociable, live in colonies

Communicate in “penguinese”

Hunt together for fish and krill,

 Mollusks and squid, they take their fill

Chicks hatch out using their egg tooth

Then congregate in little groups

Male and female care for their young

Who fend for themselves in three months

Animals A-Z Abyssinian Cat

The Abyssinian Cat

You may have heard of

an Abyssinian Cat

They’re the oldest breed

Imagine that

Playful, smart

Loyal heart

Silky fur, almond-shaped eyes

Slender, long, medium size

Large ears, broad head

Blue, gray, fawn, red

Fantastic hearing

Hunter’s will

Egyptian heritage

Can’t sit still

Poetic Bloomings colloquialisms

Jingle Bells Alzheimer’s Version

 Dashing through the doodad
In a one hickey open thingamajigger
O'er the thingies we go
Laughing all the way

Gizmos on dillybobs ring
Making whatchamacallits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A thingamajiggering doohickey tonight

Oh, jingle gizmos, jingle gizmos
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one hickey open thingamajigger

Jingle gizmos, jingle gizmos
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one hickey open thingamajigger

A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a thingamajig
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my whatsit

The hickey was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
We got into a drifted thingamabob
And then we got upset

Oh, jingle gizmos, jingle gizmos
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one hickey open thingamajigger

PAD 30 Disappear

I saw a whale!

What? We don’t see it.

I’m not a kook.

T’was just a fluke.

PAD 29 commercial

Good God (It’s Alive!) Lobster

On Tongass Avenue

In a blue and white shop,

We sell specialty foods.

You won’t regret the stop.

Salmon (fresh, smoked or canned):

Sockeye, silver or king,

Lobsters, oysters, mussels,

Clams and crabs —just the thing!

Or go wild! Buffalo,

Venison, caribou,

Musk ox, wild boar, elk, and

Antelope—just for you!

Abalone, rock fish,

Halibut, scallops, cod,

Red snapper, prawn and shrimp—

Online or at Good God.

Day 28 Bird

The Bufflehead

The Buffleheads bob in the bay

Male black and white, female brown/gray

Compact ducks submerge to catch food  

Large, rounded heads and short, wide bills

Noted for their fine mating skills

Males swim in front as if they’re rude   

Nodding their heads like no control

Like to nest in woodpecker hole

Fly rapidly as if pursued 

PAD 27 Local

Ketchikan, Alaska

There are no roads to Ketchikan

of Revillagigedo Island,

the first city in Alaska.

We venture out by skiffs and ferries.  

The airport lies across the Narrows.

The dock seams the ocean

to the small town crawling up the hill.

Ketchikan Creek flows through

making houses on stilts look like women

holding up their long skirts in a flood.

We’re still the salmon capital of the world,  

but we no longer log the Tongass Forest.

The Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian live here.

We have more totem poles than most

and tourists toting cameras.

The Misty Fjords National Monument beckons.

We have a moderate climate

and you won’t find polar bears.

Yep, (silly) we take American currency,

and keep the change.

PAD 26 Free

Freedom to Eat

Bald eagle’s wings spanned

Beak down, feathers fanned

Talons out, approaches sea

Catches glimpse of swish

Swoops and captures fish

Eating—part of being free

PAD 25 Remix of earlier poem

Misty Fjords, Ketchikan

Gray sea breathes

High cliffs hide in mist

Falls form stripes

Whales emerge

Seals lounge lazily on land

Eagles nest in pines

PAD 24 quotes, Poetic Bloomings Thankfulness

Sharing

Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it ‘white’. Bing Crosby

If all my blessings were snowflakes,

I’d build a family of snow people,

set them around a dinner table

and give them long wooden spoons,

and the only way they’d be able to eat,

would be to feed each other.

(Long spoon allegory from Rabbi Haim of Romshishok)

PAD 23 I Shouldn't Be Here

I Shouldn't Be Here

(fiction)

I ran from my past.

But it followed me.

I build.

It tears down.

I connect.

It disconnects.

I take one step forward.

It pushes me back three.

I shouldn't be here,

with my past.

I’d like to run.

But where?

I've got to face my past head on,

so I’m free to step into my future.

PAD 22 Wordle: selfie, casket, ideogram, wretch, remora, eclipse

Funeral Selfie

(fiction)

The selfie of me

standing by his casket

served as an ideogram

for what a wretch I am,

practically a remora—

along for the ride

and fed by his scraps,

his life eclipsing mine.

No more. 

PAD 21 secret message

Suspect and Plan (double acrostic)

(fiction)

I

S  ee who you are now. The data

A rtistically hidden in your text may seem

A mazingly like drivel from a simpleton’s mind filled with fog,

C areless ramblings, but they were too

G raphic, too organized. I

R ealized none too soon,

O ver a long time really, that this was all a big

V icious set up from a wounded heart,

E rroneously implicating me. I’m so

S orry that you feel that way, but I will be much better

O ff without you.

N ow, this has stopped being fun.

PAD 20 Always blank, Poetic Bloomings Ae freslighe

Always Gold in Ketchikan

Always gold in Ketchikan

But not the kind that glitters

Help me out and fetch a pan

I’ll fry up apple fritters

The salmon is delicious

The shrimp scampi will enthrall

And scrumptious baked quail dishes

You must try them one and all

PAD 19 love

More Questions

I respect you and ask you questions.

I admire you and sing your praises.

You follow me around like a puppy dog.

I feel loved, but do you really love me?

Or do you just love the way I love you? 

PAD 18 Forget what I said

A Nice Place to Visit

Forget what I said about Ketchikan.

With mountains, forests, sea, it’s beautiful,

but rain pours nearly every day, and the sky

turns into a cranky old grandpa, gray and growly.

If your temper reflects the weather...

PAD 17 element, Poetic Bloomings Personification

Au

Like a carrot dangling 

before a donkey’s nose

I led men unaware

the value lay

in the mountains,

the forest,

the sea

themselves.

PAD 16 half way

Like the Duke of York

The tour guide in Ketchikan
A smart and friendly man
He hiked us to the top of Deer Mountain
Then he hiked us down again
And when we were only half-way up,
We were neither up nor down.
But we took lots of pictures.

PAD 15 What Blank

What’s Concealed in Ketchikan?

What’s veiled by the rain?

What’s hidden by the mist?

What moves in the depths?

What’s secreted in old attics?

What lurks in the rain forest?

What’s waiting in the mountains?

What message lies in totem poles?

What’s in the past haunting the present?

PAD 14 Exploration

Chase Ketchikan

Chase Ketchikan until it catches you

Unlike the harsh Alaska you may think

No polar bears or snow to your wazoo

Chase Ketchikan until it catches you

With temperatures 40 to 62

 A place with nature you can feel in sync

Chase Ketchikan until it catches you

Unlike the harsh Alaska you may think

 And everywhere you’re treated to a view

Chase Ketchikan until it catches you

Where you can zipline, fish, hike, and canoe

Where air and sea acts as the transport link

Chase Ketchikan until it catches you

Unlike the harsh Alaska you may think

PAD 13 self help

Self Help in Ketchikan

You’re wounded and broken and sad.

Let Ketchikan repair

you with its waters  and wild life,

its mountains and fresh air. 

Make Misty Fjords your therapist,

the Narrows your wise guide.

The Tongass woods wait when you need

to run away and hide.

Let kayaks be your counselor

on dark and dreary days.

Let hiking play psychiatrist,

and fishing always pays.

If that is not enough, let go,

please pull out all the stops!

And get your retail therapy

at local tourist shops.