Dedication

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is the first of my dedication posts. I will choose one lucky recipient a week to receive one of my fractured haiku.

Dedicated to Ms. Loony:

This delicate and highly philosophical  haiku is dedicated to my friend Cindy of photosfromtheloonybin. Needless to say she loves chocolate cake. And is a great photographer. Check her out on Fridays–she has a mystery photo post she submits every week that is designed to stump us. I think I have guessed correctly twice–and that is only because I looked at the other comments.

Cake

The very essence

Of my being calls out for

More chocolate cake.

Too Normal

William Blake’s “The Tyger,” published in his Songs of Innocence and of Experience is a work of Romanticism (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Just because you haven’t seen something—doesn’t mean it’s not there.” ~ Narrator from movie “Epic”

One would think I would not go near the genre of poetry after last month’s demand of one a day, but this “poem” is one I wrote a few years ago and it reflects the fact that I want to live a more fanciful and magical life.

 I am a believer, I have faith, and I have hope, but none of these things come easily—hence the poem. I think by now you recognize me as a prose poet rather than one who follows rules, or writes pretty verse (though I would like to make that rise).

Here is the preamble I wrote to the poem “Too Normal”. Note to readers: you will not recognize this type of poetry. It is from the school of fractured thoughts, lack of discipline, metreless cadence, and incandescent whimsy:

 

Too Normal

My feet

are planted solidly on the ground

mired in the mud of

my own disbelief

 

My brain

will not accept

what it cannot explain ~

and it cannot explain a lot

 

I say I am open to the

spirits, the muses

the fairies

and the hobgoblins

 

But I am only of this physical world

Aware of what I can see,

feel, smell, hear

or taste.

 

Blind to anything I cannot see

Oblivious to everything but the obvious

I still have hope

that something will sway me

Move me

Make me believe

beyond a shadow of a doubt.

 

I want to believe

there is something

More.

 

I do.

 

Bliss is being sure of what you believe—I have not achieved this totally yet—have you?

Shoot for the Moon

Poem One: A Missed Day

I missed the first day

Of the Poem A Day command

This haiku suffices.

Last Day, Last Poem: Day 30

Creative juices flow

Sometimes like the rapids

Rushing over rocks

Sometimes like a slow creek

Gurgling over smooth stones

There is satisfaction in creation

Forming words, constructing sentences

Inventing and fabricating

Innovating and forming a unique universe

Of words that show what you see

What you feel, taste and hear

Poetry is a form of conveyance

That shouts and whispers

And lets you touch the moon.

Last day of writing poetry  (Photo credit: -Snugg-)

I would like to complete this month of writing a poem a day with one of my favourite quotes about poetry: “Poetry is pulling images out of the sky, the air, the universe, and bringing them down to earth.” ~Marisa DeFranceschi.

Bliss sometimes comes from doing the hard thing. Writing a poem a day falls in this category. What else that is hard for you has turned out to be blissful?

Emily ~ I Barely Knew You

Emily Dickinson Poems Book Cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Michelle, the WordPress Taskmaster has set out a prompt for those of us churning out a poem a day for April. In her inimitable style she prompted: “National Poetry Writing Month is nearly at end. To celebrate it, try your hand at some verse.” Then she suggested that it be similar to Dickinson—and at first I thought–<Angie Dickinson wrote poetry?> Then I came to the realization that, duh….. she meant Emily.

So this is me channelling Emily Dickinson (perhaps a bit tongue in cheek as I do not have her finesse). I think I should get at least a special mention for trying:

Day, Afternoon, Night

 Oh glorious morning

Thy bright warm sun

And chirping birds

Welcome us to a new dawn

 

As noon arrives

We nourish ourselves

No insipid day

Lies before us

 

Oh lovely mid-afternoon

Thy gentle breezes

Blow fresh newness

Into our magnificent day

 

Early evening warmth and delight

We bask in your glory

And wonder how we

Deserve such bounty

 

Night descends

Quietly without solemnity

We wind down from our busy day

Relax and enjoy our families.

 

The joy of midnight

Is upon us

We are enchanted by the dark

We rest to receive the new morrow.

Admittedly I was having a bit of fun here, but some of the things I mentioned in the poem do add up to a blissful day. Do you have anything to add?

Simply True

Truth (Photo credit: d4vidbruce)

As this month of writing a  poem a day winds down, I am both going to be relieved and miss coming up with something that does not have paragraphs and specific rules. Of course I will continue to write my rendition 0f poetry, but not so on demand. My offering today is simple ~ it came out of nowhere ~ but I hope it goes somewhere:

Simply True

revenge: forgiveness

jealousy: trust

greed: generosity

for every bad

there is a good

Bliss comes from the realization that bad stuff has as its opposite, good stuff. It may not be profound, but it is true–do you agree?

WINGS

Bird’s nest (Photo credit: TaranRampersad)

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” ~ Pema Chodron

Pema’s words hit a chord and inspired my poem, for this the 24^th day of Poem-A-Day:

                                                        Wings

Sometimes it feels as if my wings are clipped

But when I am thrown out of the nest

I find I can still take flight

It was all in my mind…………

Have you ever found your bliss when you freed your mind?

Lake Erie Fairies

Illustration of fairies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dazzling sunlight dances

on the water; crystals form ~

Fairies brought to light.

Politically Incorrect Wonder Years

Wonder Bread Hometown Fresh Sign (Photo credit: joseph a)

As politically incorrect

as a bologna sandwich

on white bread

with mayo or mustard or sometimes both

topped with iceberg lettuce

and cut into dainty quarters

accompanied by salted potato chips

on a styrofoam plate.

Gulping down a coke

with its empty sweet but oh so delicious calories

while watching TV

a rarity in my childhood house

where most meals were served

at the dining room table ~

meals that included meat and potatoes

and a side of vegetables or two and a salad

on china plates.

Dessert (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And in those days dessert ~

because my father

who expected little, did expect dessert.

Bliss then was

a rare sandwich for supper

instead of the usual heavy healthy fare

and the best sandwich of all

was politically incorrect.

What did you eat that gave you bliss when you were a kid (or even now) that seems out of step with our nutrition crazed (and rightly so) world?

Related articles

• Days Gone By (onthehomefrontandbeyond.wordpress.com)
• Day 5- Oh my GOD…SUGAR!!! Just give me something sweet! Is dessert okay? (cavemandad.wordpress.com)

My Safe Harbour

Trees (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

MY TREE

No longer in the backyard of my childhood home

My tree lives on only in my memory.

In yesteryear

I would climb into my tree everyday

and sit in its generous crook,

my back leaning against the rough bark of the trunk.

The branches formed a canopy

shadowing the sun

A breeze would rustle the leaves ~

and I would settle in with a book

or just observe the world

whiling away an endless summer afternoon.

I was sad to see one day

when I went to visit the place where my beloved tree once reigned

that it was gone.

But,

the vivid memories remain

of sunlit days sitting in my tree

safe and apart, yet one with the realm ~

Venerable tree (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I ruled the world from its safe harbour.

 

Remembered bliss–is there anything better? Do you have a childhood memory of bliss that stands out?

Related articles

• These Trees (humorhappens.wordpress.com)
• Requiem for a Sycamore and Poplar Tree (beebeesworld.wordpress.com)

Thinking Out Loud

I am inspired today

Idea Barnstar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

with a new idea.

An idea

that if it takes form

would plug me into the outside world ~

A world of creative thought

Of possibility

Of people with like ideas

Who understand that philosophy

Is merely approachable ideas with values and beliefs.

But I cannot reveal it–

It is too soon.

Inspiration and new ideas lead to bliss, even bliss unrevealed. Do you have a new idea that produces bliss?