The barred owl in back of the house Sings it's song of contest. "Are you there? How dare you!" I have learned his song. I sing it back with all of the owl in me. His chicks must be near to hatching. His calls are more intense each night. Dawn will bring a murder of crows And small sparrows to nip at his wings, As the sun rises and he retires to a nest With mate sitting and waiting For parenthood to begin.
The Ides of March are upon us and the fool waits around the corner.
Our bodies fight us, our minds turn and swirl with effort.
We are human, swirls of bright color in the dark of night,
Shadows to rest in where the cool soothes us.
My body betrayed me, my love of what I was lingers.
Hope is not hopeless, dreams reveal this body of compassion,
Shared hopes, shared anxiety, turbulent days, still moments
We are the storms of the lion, the still of the lamb.
All of us are the rays of the sun, even in the dark.
Words, light as butterflies,
Will intrigue, tempt,
Illustrate a moment,
Soft as light,
When a buttercup gives
Its first kiss.
Litter dog,
your task of cleanup
is monstous
as we walk the shores
of the river.
You bring your treasures
to the bag of endings
I carry.
I organized my solar system, Milk on the top shelf, Little bottles below Organized by spiciness. It was a clean solar system. Then came life. Someone moved my orange juice. Hidden from me lying sideways on the lowest shelf Means I lost my moon. The rotation of the planets Fruit and Vegetable became skewed, bizarre. The old slipped quietly away, Rotting and needing more Than my old heart could give. Fruit, covered, moonless now and all alone in the world. The clean shelves, blocked by Drips and drabs of unpleasantness. I will reorganize my solar system. I always do. I must live where I am planted.
The world, a single landmine,
found in a solar system of beauty.
Ordered by nature to change,
the leaves fall, sprout, grow and dream
of what life would be like
if we danced with the rules of nature,
If we protected with our careful steps.
I saw a wave, long and sensual,
White caps spilling into sand
Loading lighthouses, lighting them.
If we tread carefully, perhaps,
just perhaps, someone will defuse our danger
and allow skipping to flourish.
Smashing down a wall of indifference,
I dreamed of shouting,
angry and persistent as I fought
The organization that was to be my family.
My home, my yard, my neighborhood
Finding fault, faulting me
For two hours early on the destination
Of a trash can. I wave my pen,
Streak across the open places fully
In my birthday suit.
What have we done to deserve contempt?
The management company
describing themselves in the shrill icon
of a Cardinal and I take my fancy pen
to a murder of incompetents who
know neither the law or compassion.
I wake knowing that the meeting is
Wallowing in two hours as I grab a pen
And angrily exit the door of my home.
I have a word in my pocket, Joggling my mind, filling my empty shoes. Don’t be too quick to rectify a word, The brain teases you along. I had to use a tacky glue to bring cohesion to my mind, Indolently lazy, I surf the pages of my dictionary, Proofing my new words, giggling when I find obscurity. Enthralled with words my life passes my reflection In an uncanny reflection of my mother. Some might wish to know whether my dreams are real, But I just dance the moments I have, Swayed by laughter and good friends.
I work in my garden, alone, But for bees that communicate Satisfaction with my efforts. The neighbors whisper and watch, Looking for an error, a stagger, Never once caring for more than gossip. I live alone in a house of people, Never noticed, never seen, The dust is my intimate friend. I watch the sunset from my window, Its golden light illuminating my Loneliness, I wish and dream. I had a friend once, He as golden as the sun. He left like all the others, without a storm. He was beautiful, rich, Filled with ideas to make the world better. As my world collapsed in tears, he left. Gold sunshine will return at sunset, Not always there, but returning To give me a kiss of hope. The neighbors will talk, and I will freeze Like a rabbit before the fox. Let them talk, I am deaf to them now.(February 2nd, 2016)
Insolvent and angry, you promised.
You lied, and you stole our lives.
Confronting lies isn’t easy
In the face of the opposition,
the political correctness..
But the world froze and turned,
Turning and frozen, it thawed
And the heat blazed freely,
A cancer in the souls
Of the poor, simple, lifelike
Golden people. The masses lead easily.
The cancer, a mass of anger,
For those without medicine,
Without a doctor.
Your lies grew great.
You scoffed at the students.
Who were learning to learn.
Scoffed again at those
Without your reckless faith.
Scoffed at me, the poet,
Who knows you, Lucifer, man.
Not a fallen angel but a construct of
Bullies and armies.
Lucifer, you celebrate my bruises,
while I lick my wounds.
Your dreams are follicles of ignorance.
Come for you?
I shall. Burning the way to your truth,
To your service without serving,
Oh Lucifer, you should have died,
At your own lips posturing
.
I dream truths. Dreamt dreams of truths.
Your violent words are no God’s words.
Your simple outlook, fraud.
A detective would mock you,
Wait for you to try again,
To deceive again.
Then the police shall find your lair,
And if one honest officer
Appears with the truth,
Hold that officer as a hero.
I shall chase your hypocrisy
Around the Circle of Willis
Cleansing as I go.
Your globe a bathtub handle
While my globe holds mystery
and vindication.
Oh, Lucifer of man, your republic of
Small minds will melt from the heat.
Lesser humans will smirk, but the compassionate will
Watch you fill the world with lies.
They will ignore your fallacies, shake their heads and begin
The work of cleaning vegetables
for the poor who hunger.
Ann WJ White 