I like flowers, so I’m writing about them again for day 22 in the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon.
Wildflowers swim
Wildflowers swim in a sea of grass
breaking to the surface, dipping back
below the green, gliding to and fro
as the wind creates ripples and waves
petal overlapping petal like scales
on fish, they bob and undulate.
If I dangled a raindrop on a hook
could I catch one?
Here is entry number 21 in the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon.
To the Little Phlox That Could
You were devalued when first we met
at the hardware store, lonely
the one remaining woodland phlox
rejected by all who came before.
Only I was willing to take the chance
on your struggling, half-withered self
being in pretty much the same condition.
“It won’t last” – I could see that message
in the eyes of the cashier who united us.
I wasn’t a great bet either
have not logged a high success rate
with green growing things.
Yet I gave it my best and so did you.
Look at us now, you with your
amethyst petals bursting with pride
and me, not doing too bad my own self.
~~
I’m going to be a real downer with entry #20 for the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon. I came across a snippet of journal writing I did in late 2016, which was a terrible year for many of us on a large scale, but also one of the most difficult years I’ve ever experienced in my personal life. Anyway, I adapted it into a poem.
Year of Grief and Foreboding
My heart has become
a heavy-footed drunk
pounding the walls
disturbing my rest
railing against loss
upon loss.
Even when it wants to dance
it can’t find the beat
staggering with
uneven steps
raggedly rhythmless.
~~
Day 19 of the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon.
I work a clopen shift at work Tuesday-Wednesday. So I’m always exhausted by the time I get off work on Wednesday. Today, I also spent half an hour moving dirt after work. All of this to say, it’s a haiku kind of day.
Callery pear, lace
covered beauty entices,
odor repulses
~~
Entry 18 of 30 in the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon.
I have written about marbled orb weavers before on my blog, but this time I turned it into a poem.
**
Marbled Orb Weaver
Such a lovely day
even this bashful
leaf dweller couldn’t
hold out against the yearning
to embark from the shadowy
security of its home
by the creek
and explore the delights
of the afternoon
carrying the sun on its back
~~
Today’s entry for the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon is an ekphrastic poem. I followed the email prompt this time, which explains ‘”Ekphrasis” means “description” in Greek, and it has become the name of a kind of poem that describes a work of art.’ The email included a link to a site for random images and I used the first one. The image is a jumping off point for me. My poem is not meant to be an exact description.
**
Luxury Resort
Someone quarried the stone
for the rustic walls.
Someone felled the trees
for the finely crafted
furniture carved by human hands.
The rugs were woven on a loom.
By whom?
The lovely potted plants did not
bring themselves to the setting.
Presumedly someone does the watering.
Authors and artists devoted
hours (months? years?) to the
creation of the coffee table books
that someone selected and someone packed
and someone delivered.
How many workers labored
to lay the granite floor?
Someone scaled ladders to hang the
mood lighting, placing it just so.
Someone cleans it all
day after day after day.
Every 12 seconds someone remembers
that we’re all in this together.
So says the sign someone
hung near the entrance.
**
Where I live, lightning is a frequent visitor. For my day 16 entry in the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon, I experimented with the visual presentation of my poem. Remember, what I’m posting this month are first drafts, subject to change.
~~
Halfway there! Day 15 of the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon. I was short on sleep last night and had to work all day. With little time or energy, all I came up with was this little light-hearted scrap about part of my day.
Apologies to William Carlos Williams and his red wheelbarrow.
**
Creating a Library Display
so much depends
upon
a green paper
cutter
with a sharp
blade
beside the paper
scraps
~~
Today’s entry for the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon is an erasure poem. That’s where you take some found text and erase or black out parts of it. My found text is the Missouri attorney general’s emergency rule making trans health care nearly impossible to obtain — an attempt to erase trans Missourians.
Erasure
~~
For my 12th entry in the City of Refuge Poem-a-Thon, I’m back to haiku.
Puffs of white on the
horizon bring no rain, stand
of blooming dogwoods
Nomadic Noesis 