On the Left Side of My Head

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On the left side of my head, I turned my cheek.
Trying to kiss my lips, he landed on my ear.

That may have been the clue
we should have heeded.

The justice of the peace proclaimed the words
that turned me from girl to wife.

No skin off his nose; he was grinning,
likely imagining the awkward night to follow.

On the right side of my brain were enchanted
and magical thinking dreams.

On the left side of my life, I paid the price.
Being a wife did not bring a happy life.

My third eye was fixed on escape and liberation,
which finally arrived; o! merciful release!

The next man said "You've not been kissed
for a hundred years."

He said, "You came to me a virgin." It was true.
After that, left and right sides came together.

After that, when cage doors appeared,
I was a bird with eyes completely on the sky.


for Sanaa's challenge at Real Toads: to pen a poem in the style and format of Joseph Legaspi's poem "The Kisser's Handbook". Given my memory bank, this is what popped up. Nevertheless, I have remained a hopeless romantic all my life.

Instead of roses........

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Instead of roses, bullets.

Instead of smiles, tears 

that will never end.

Like September 11,

Valentine's Day

will never be the same.

We remember you.

Today is the anniversary of the Valentine's Day shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.  Those Parkland kids who became activists after that event are my heroes, and my biggest source of hope. I hope all millennials turn out at the voting booths. We need every single one of their votes, if we are going to turn this ship around and get into sane and sustainable waters. Those who have sold their souls to money are never going to do what needs to be done. There is a good article about some of the Parkland survivors here.

In Love With the Wild

My heart belongs to the wild.

My eyes make love to the shore.

As long as I can hear the waves,

I could not ask for more.

I fell in love with the sky.

I lost my heart to the trees,

and a small wolf pup

with a goofy grin

claimed the rest of me.

He awakened the wild in me.

I loved the wild in him.

He lives forever in my heart.

His memory will never dim.

The creatures of the earth,

its mountains, fields 

and streams,

feed my hungry soul

and wander nightly

through my dreams.

As long as there is sky,

as long as there are trees,

I need little more than a roof

and a bed -

the wild's enough

for me.

for Susan's prompt at Midweek Motif: Love

GIFTS

Gratitude travels

from eyes to heart,

at the beauty I am seeing.

Memory rolls out

the long line of gifts

I have been given.

From way back then

to the wonder of now:

blessings.....

my spirit rising

in a prayer of thankfulness

to the All That Is.

Gratitude is my most constant feeling, these days and all my days. For Marian's prompt at Real Toads: Sensation.

In This One Moment

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At the shore,

sandpipers picky-toe

along the sand,

then rise as a group,

flying off

when a loose dog

gets too near.

The song of the sea

swirls through my being,

like a lullaby,

a hymn,

a cry of freedom.

The waves roll out;

they roll in.

Forever

is happening

in this one moment.

for Karin's prompt at Real Toads: Finding a Moment

Wolfsong

from deviant art

AroSilverfang

follow a raven

and find a wolf

hear her gobble-cry,

his soft whuff

up on the ridge

where wild grasses grow

they tarry to listen

while the west wind blows

the wolf sings out

when the full moon beams

hear his howl

threading through your dreams

out on the desert

before the dawn

you can look for his tracks

but he'll be gone

at the end of the trail

near the Joshua Tree

a big black wolf

waits for only me

one from 2012 to be shared with the Poetry Pantry at Poets United - great reading every Sunday morning.

Zero Tolerance

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My heart has zero tolerance

for social injustice,

abuse of animals and humans,

Zero tolerance

for wealthy psychopaths

who grin all the way to the bank,

while they destroy the planet for profit,

(whose?)

and

Writing a poem

feels like

emptying the plastic-choked ocean

with a teaspoon.

yet

One must do something,

when so much is wrong:

speak up at every level of governance:

municipal, provincial, national,

personal/political.

Apologize to fallen trees;

plant more.

Hope there is still a planet

to house them

when they grow.

Yes, it is discouraging. But the largest part of my inner make-up is hope, so I have to go on hoping, against the INSANITY that abounds everywhere right now. I have zero tolerance for it all. Yet somehow have to bridge daily peace and gratitude, and hopefulness, in the middle of it all.

for Susan's Midweek Motif at Poets United: Zero Tolerance. Pick any topic. I have zero tolerance for all the ways humankind gets it so wrong, when, given a little light, it could be so much better than it is. Society is very sick. It needs an intervention, starting right at the top. A good start would be the removal of the orange prez and his complicit cohorts.