Emotion

Underlying

I'm grieving

I didn't realize it

My mind feels numb

A general sadness envelops me

I recognize it as how I felt

September 11, 2001

The bloody carnage isn't physical this time

Invisible

Unrecognized

Deadly 

based on photo

Companions

The weeping willow looked lumpy

like furniture draped for moving.

Behind it, slender hardwoods

stood straight and tall,

as they gazed upon the pond.

from a photo

The Island

The island lie there lazily

in the blue sea

like a hippo in a river.

Foliage dotted its back.

Cottages gathered at its midsection

like nursing young.

Gray cliffs marked its back hip,

and reddish sands its rump. 

Reaction

For God So Loved

Like parents fighting over

how to squeeze the toothpaste tube

while their children suffer

is the church with the issues.

What really matters is John 3:16.

morning prayer

Grace Floaties

I take a deep breath

and dive into You

like a refreshing pool

on a hot summer day

and let the worries

wash off me

like dust from my feet.

Before I go back

to the daily grind

I want to lie back

and rest in You,

feeling Your gentle love

lapping rhythmically

like whispering waves.

I breathe in Your freshness,

Your hope.

Your light.

Your peace.

Take away this tightness

of my soul,

this nervousness and fear.

Usher this stress off

to wander in the desert

while I delight

in Your verdant presence,

strength and joy.

I cast my care on You

because You care for me.

PRPG mood

In the Moonlight

The white horse, indigo, in the moonlight

Its full mane flowing along

Dreamy shadows called from the ocean

Singing their age-old song

Come where there’s adventure

Come and you’ll be free

Forget all your worries and troubles

Come to the lovely sea

The rider, a wisp of a woman

Her violet hair waving as the mane

Answered the urgent calling

And was never seen again.

Come where there’s adventure

Come and you’ll be fee

Forget all your worries and troubles

Come to the lovely sea

Poetic Asides Something shouted

Praise the Lord!

You’re designed to be a praiser

a worshiper and pray-er,

Not a grumbler, or scowler

a grouser or complainer.

To acknowledge how great He is

how good, loving, and kind.

This is what is good for you,

your body, soul, and mind.

6 23 15 PA something shouted

Duck!

He dropped to the ground,

when he heard the loud cry.

And them smiled with relief

when the duck waddled by. 

6 22 15 PA something shouted

Run!

He didn't have time to ask what or why.

He couldn't hear what they had to say. 

So he woke up right there in the hospital

Knowing he had run the wrong way. 

6 21 15 PA something shouted

Good Job!

While others gathered ‘round you,

shaking their heads with disbelief.

Asking, “Why? How could you?”

And there was no relief.

You smiled and said, “I must, that’s why.”

And they felt put upon.

They waited for you to quit.

But you just carried on.

Despite the discouragement,

the grousing and the frowns.

You went at it by the spoonful

and got that elephant down.

6 20 15 PA something shouted

Hurrah!

H ooray! Bravo! I am afraid I

U nderestimated you. Congratulations! You

R eached for the stars. You kept on going,

R adically insistent on pressing forward,

A lways pushing for the prize.

H ooray! Bravo! Good for you!

pa wordle doublespeak, astronomical, premium

His doublespeak

rockets aggravation

in astronomical ways.

Freedom comes at a premium

sparked by politicians these days. 

PA wordle translucence, premium, whirligig

The translucence of her spirit

was at a premium 

while I felt like a whirligig

going round and round

in the wind. 

for 6 17 15

Stress

Fierce like a lion

spying a tasty tidbit.

Suffocating like an ocean

to a nonswimmer.

Heavy and confining

as a ball and chain.

is a ton of to-dos

without You.

from PSY 100

Optimistic Realist

Is there any way

to be a realist

and an optimist?

A wise person

once said that

the difference

between optimists

and pessimists 

is not the glass

-half-full-glass-

half-empty thing,

but optimists

seek solutions

to problems

whereas pessimists

put up with them.

Optimists

know the light

at the end

of the tunnel

isn’t always

a train. But

if it is,

God, like superman,

is more powerful

than a speeding

locomotive. 

haiku

Deadlines are looming

But I go outside and play

A need to refuel 

Phoenix Rising Poetry Guild plot

Partnership

You wonder why

I stack things on my plate

Ceiling high

And don’t leave things to fate

I wonder why

You lazily sit there

Until you die

Playing solitaire

I get so busy

Driven by all my goals

Feeling dizzy

The projects taking tolls

Then you step in

And make up for my lack

With you, I win

Thanks for having my back

from morning pages

Hi, Jesus

I picture You

in Your white robe

watching, observing, laughing.

Then You see me and come over.

You embrace me, hold me,

and kiss me on the top of the head.

And then You say,

“You’re so fun, Connie.”

Have a fun day. 

Poetic Asides Change

Change

C reating something new out of something old

H aving an urge to make things different

A lternate ways of doing things

N ew and improved

G radual or immediate

E ternal or temporal 

Poetic Asides Change

June Showers

It is still raining.

I am not complaining.

That is nearly a crime in the southwest.

It rained almost every day in May.

It is still raining in June.

The radio announced a flash flood warning.

Usually at this time, the fire danger sign is red.

I feel like I am in one of those movies

where the main character walks out the door

and the whole world has changed.

It is strange.

Like instead of visiting Pennsylvania,

it has come to visit me. 

PG setting

Maine

The bay dipped into

the rocky coastline

as if inviting the coastal pines

in for a swim. 

PG setting

The mountains

circled the pool,

like a giant’s bathtub

PG setting

The Lake

  

Straggly trees covered the embankments

that flanked each side of the lake  

which stretched out to the blue sky.

A spattering of fluffy clouds drifted by.

The bench was up the slope a little ways,

perhaps far enough that when the water was high,

people stopping a spell to take in the scene

wouldn’t get their feet wet. 

Phoenix Rising Guild setting

An After-Church Poem

I sit here in my green comfy chair

tapping the keys of my laptop.

The living room is open to the kitchen

where Vanessa pushes away from the table.

My husband wipes her face, while teasing.  

Vanessa erupts in a fit of giggles.

She pushes a button on her DynaVox,

“Loren is being crazy again.”

“Loren is being crazy again.”

“Loren is being crazy again.”

She laughs a deep belly laugh.

He wheels her out of the kitchen

so she can watch movies in her room.

Justin sits beside me in the next chair over.

With his knees up to his nose,

he’s falling asleep with his jingle bunny.

His arm is up with a jingle, jingle

then his arm slowly lowers

while his eyes close.

Then up his arm goes, jingle, jingle,

then back down.

Up again, jingle, jingle, back down.

I type my poem while the radio plays,

“Here I am on earth, so I’ll let my words be few.

Jesus, I am so in love with you.”


Last two lines by Matt Redman, also sung by Phillips, Craig & Dean

couplets

My Poem to You, Lord

This is my poem to You

Not any words will do

Because you are just and good

I’d like to write what I should

Something that would make you smile

And make my time worthwhile

There’s a song deep within

Free from death and sin

A song of new life pure and sweet

Something beyond my own defeat.

Colors lively and full of life

Free from chaos and strife

Dancing and whirling about

Occasionally giving a shout

You sweep me off my feet.

You, dear Lord, cannot be beat.

pa shirt color and animal

Gray Goats

The old gray goats

With rumpled coats

Bah, and butt and nibble

And steal dear Frisky’s kibble

Frisky barks in great dismay.

The naughty goats run away.

Just to return another day. 

pa color of shirt and animal

Brown Cat

How now brown cat

Slinking this way and that

Scurrying through the house

Toying with a little mouse

Then lying down for a nap

Poetic Asides Color of shirt, animal

Multicolored Manatee

Drifts along

In shadowed water

Slow motion

Soulfulness  

Like a couch cushion with eyes

Keeping its secrets

Phoenix Guild Person of Influence

Fifth Grade Teacher

You had a loud voice

and you thought my reading

was a wonderful thing.

Even when you weren’t my teacher,

when you saw me a with a book,

you would announce to all around,

“There she is reading another book!”

I wonder if you suspected

I’d be writing them someday.

Phoenix Guild Person of Influence

I

am not

one to put

people on high

pedestals but that

is where you were settled.

You looked down from lofty heights

and minimized me to a speck.

You who gave your life to help people.

Somehow, it didn’t work so well with me.