Rhythm

 

"R-H-Y-T-H-M" Sister Catherine pontificated,
from her desk at the head of the room.

Grade nine. My introduction to rhythm,
to poetry,  to the world of words.

My first poem came to me there.
I wrote it down in my spidery scrawl.

                          ***

Gastown, 1972, as I felt personal freedom 
for the first time, and began to grow a Self.
Walking into a gallery: Here Comes the Sun
playing on the stereo. Love lying ahead,
just waiting to be discovered.

                          ***

Years later: a gathering of gentle people
in a meadow, just before sunset. The wild notes
of Mullingar rang out: fiddles, violins, drums.
Spontaneously, everyone began to dance,
in a wide circle, around and around the meadow.
My youngest on a friend's shoulders, both grinning.
Joy, as the sun went down on a golden chapter
of my life.

                          ***

2026. Songs of the 70's take me back
to all those joyous times: music, always
leading me, the sound track of my life.

Now they bring tears, for all the hope and dreams
we had back then. For how close we came
to changing the world.
For all that dark hearts have done instead.
For how much we need 
to change it back.

                        ***

SMALL BIRD

 

Small bird of my being,
you flit about
inside my mind
like a hummingbird
beating its wings
against clear glass.

So too,
you have flickered in my heart,
through all these years,
like a midnight gosling
seeking its mother,
in a strip of moonlight
on still water,
forever
in search of home.

Small bird, 
you have fluttered
until your wings
grew tired and slow.
You are an old bird, now.
Your flying days are done.
Fold your wings and nest
in the stilled and silent chambers
of my heart.
Rest now,
for you will soon
be home.

SURVIVING THE APOCALYPSE

The jays chatter on my front lawn,

squawking over seed, as if this life
will go on forever,

and the seed will always be there.

This is hope and Carrying On
during the apocalypse.

Somewhere wildfires are burning,

animals fleeing in terrified distress.

Those fighting the flames

can hear their anguished screams.
(I hear them in my dreams.)

I walk into the forest: coolness, peace,

sunlight slanting through the branches,

everything green, green, green:

leafy breath and human sigh.

This is relief and comfort

during the apocalypse.

At the CoOp, we catch each other's glance:

we nod; we smile:
solidarity, a community caring 
for each other
during the apocalypse.

It feels like a large segment of the population

is experiencing a psychotic break, convinced

by fake news that reality is fake

and illusion is real.

"Communist news!" they jeer

at the free press, and try to suppress it
like Communists themselves.
My mind boggles

at the depth of the rabbit hole

we have fallen into.

If the Mad Hatter pours me some tea,

it will be no stranger than what

is on my tv screen.

The sandy beach stretches ahead

as it always has; the waves surge to and fro,

they ebb and flow, in their eternal dance.

This is my moment out of time,

my walking meditation, like

Thay in Plum Village:

with this step, I breathe in calmness,

with this step, I breathe out peace.

"I kiss the earth with my foot."

This is survival. This is

trust in the Big Picture, and

 - we live in hope -

in Mother Earth's ability to survive us.

This is me, trying to survive, myself,

to stay steady, to withstand. This is me,

holding onto hope,

dreaming in green

during the apocalypse.

Inspired by the amazing poem "Surviving the Apocalypse", written by 15 year old Nina Evans, a prompt for Wild Writing by Laurie Wagner.

Here is a video that cracked me up back in the day.........a smile for you.

In The Slow Lane

 

Wild Woman never hurries

any more.

Her pace is slow and stately,

like an old barge,

plying stagnant waters.

Sometimes she yearns for
a tugboat
to give her a little push.

Yesterday, on my mobility scooter, I passed a blonde cherub beaming at me from his stroller. He thought my scooter was very cool and would have liked to trade. "Wheels at both ends of the spectrum", I grinned at his parents as we passed.

WHEN WILD ONES GROW WEARY

When you love a wild thing,
it is impossible to return to being tame,

once he has gone.

You can pretend you are civilized,

but the twitch of your whiskers will,

sooner or later, betray you.

Stalking the sunset,

sweet memories will accompany you.

The thought of that little wolf-pup,

gamboling along the beach,

and, when he was bigger,

plunging in and out of the surf
with a loopy grin,

will bring a smile, and a tear.

Love is joy. And then pain.

But oh! the remembering!

so bittersweet.

Forever, now,

I will listen for his song.

I will live all the day long

remembering,

a weary wolf woman

with wolf howls in my heart.

 I created this poem by using titles of four of my poems.

He Walks Among the Stars

 

The starpainters have taken over now. They look down briefly on this planet of turmoil and trouble, shrug briefly, then turn to play among the northern lights.

Down below, I stand, an old woman, seeing things I never thought could happen in the land of the free, my heart aching…….swooshing down landslides in Nepal, climbing into vans with handcuffed innocents hauled away by masked and heartless ghouls, an orange wanna be king taking up all the oxygen with his ranting rhetoric. The Himalayas are melting, and people are distracted by all the chaos (which is an effective strategy for those making all the money). I am looking up....up above the cacophony and suffering on this planet, trying to catch a glimpse of the starpainters, watching for the One Who Walks Among the Stars, for he is truly there now, painting beauty across the sky.

for Mish's wonderful prompt at dVerse, a tribute to Canada's Gord Downie, who was given the title Man Who Walks Among the Stars, by the Assembly of First Nations. He succumbed to brain cancer at the age of 52. In his short life, he gave the world so much. 

CLAYOQUOT SOUND HAIKU

 

Wolf Spirit, your call

from your misty mountain lair

sends my soul keening

*

footprints in the sand

my heart follows where they lead

till I'm home again

*

bonsai in the bog

a little touch of Asia

in Clayoquot Sound

*

shore birds on the sand

lift and dart and land as one

I watch in awe

*

in the following I tried 7-5-7

Luna leaves as Sol arrives

Sun and Moon - same sky

little boat chugs happily

for Rall's Senryu Sunday - haiku and senyru have the same 5-7-5 count.