Poem A Day Challenge April 21, 2019

This poem was inspired while reading My Dog is A Carrot by John Hegley. He has six poems in it about glasses that tickled my fancy. While reading them, I remembered an episode in my teen years when my sisters and I lost our glasses. I let the idea percolate for a bit before sitting down and starting writing. John Hegley's poetry is full of humour. In his honour I've tried to write a poem that might make you smile. 

A Poem For Lost Glasses

High ho! High ho! High ho! High ho!
Into the mountains we did go.

We chanced upon a clear clean lake,
and so a stop we did make.

The day was hot and so were we.
Off went our clothes, one, two, three.

From the wharf we all did dive,
leaving our glasses there behind.

Three pair sitting on the edge,
till someone knocked them off that ledge.

Down, down to the deep they went.
A lot of money the folks had spent.

A reward was offered for their find,
while we meandered nearly blind.

Those glasses never were retrieved,
leaving our parents poor and aggrieved.

We all learned forever more
to leave our glasses on the shore.

Somewhere still on that muddy bottom,
our glasses are there but not forgotten.

Here is a link to blogs of other participants in this challenge. 

Links to my previous poems can be found here

Poem A Day Challenge April 20, 2019

A Skinny is a short poem form that consists of eleven lines. The first and eleventh lines can be any length (although shorter lines are favoured). The eleventh and last line must be repeated using the same words from the first and opening line (however, they can be rearranged.) The second, sixth, and tenth lines must be identical. All the lines in this form, except for the first and last lines, must be comprised of ONLY one word. The Skinny was created by Truth Thomas in the Tony Medina Poetry Workshop at Howard University in 2005. They are poems about social issues. 
With the recent elections of right wing political parties here in Canada, here's mine.

Politics

What do we lose when they win?
more
powerful
corporations
wanting
more
poverty
prisons
partisanship
more
What do we lose when they win?


What do we lose when they win?
less
hospitals
libraries
schools
less
diversity
planet
protection
less
What do we lose when they win?



Here is a link to blogs of other participants in this challenge. 

Links to my previous poems can be found here

Poem A Day Challenge & Poetry Friday April 19, 2019

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm. Make sure you read her ongoing story poems about John and his dog, Betsy, and check out her page for links to more poets sharing work today.

In 1958, when I was five years old, my parents and other relatives set out on a great adventure north. I have been writing bits and pieces about that time for a while. Over the last couple of years, and as I write more, I interview remaining family members for more details and stories about their experience. To motivate myself to write, I plan to post bits and pieces of their saga here every Friday. They might not be in any kind of order. I'm just hoping to get some kind of reasonable drafts out there. I hope for feedback both on the construction of the poetry, and more details from family.

This is the third instalment. You can read the first one here and the second one here.

journey

they set off north
abandoning
the grey green shades
of cactus,
grease wood,
sage and
darker hues of
lonesome

ponderosa pine

left behind
irrigated 

lowlands and
orchards ripe with fruit

hoodoos and
silt cliffs
saluted them
in the early morning
light of their leaving

took the ferry across
Okanagan lake
where Ogopogo
is rumoured to swim

saw terrain transform
from orchards
into ranch land

drove
through town
after town
when main street
meant something

reached the interior plateau
and headed west
through Kamloops
to Cache Creek
traversing
a desolate landscape

hills so barren,
the dried grasses
on their exposed bones
wearily waved them on

continued north again
up Highway 97
to Clinton where
they stopped,
rested,
spent the night
with family

Peggy and Maurice
welcomed them
fed them,
and sent them
on their way
the next day

onward they pressed
deep into the heart
of the Cariboo
passing through
country lush with lakes,
following the old gold rush trail
in search of a different kind
of riches

through
100 Mile House
William’s Lake
and Quesnel

mile by mile
groves of white and green
aspen attended them,
bearing witness 

open grasslands
merged into
northern pine forests

that second evening,
arriving in
Prince George
they halted
overnighted with
family again
Alma and Red,
mom’s eldest sister

had fresh baked

huckleberry pies

waiting for them

next morning they set out
northeast across the rockies
on the last
leg of their journey
into what would become
their new homes
their new lives


Links to my previous April poems can be found here.


Here is a link to blogs of other participants in the poem a day challenge.

Poem A Day Challenge April 18, 2019

This is part of collection of poems I've been working on since last summer. I'm not saying I'm finished with it. Desperate to get something out there today might be closer to the truth. 

drought

day after day

through a

carbon charged

atmosphere,

the sun god
radiates,

desiccates

the earth

plants,

her once fervent

worshipers,

whimper,

whither,

dry leaves curl into

thirst dreams:

dewdrops

rivulets of rain

cool sweet streams

and raging rivers

desperate

for damp,

roots extend,

tendrils splay out

seeking respite

seeking life

offered only

dry earth

crumbling into dust,

hope

is abandoned,

death

is embraced

arid winds

whorl

dried leaves,

brittle roots,

stems

and topsoil

into space

day after day

through a

carbon charged

atmosphere,

the sun god
radiates,

desiccates

the earth

Here is a link to blogs of other participants in this challenge. 

Links to my previous poems can be found here

Poem A Day Challenge April 17, 2019

I suppose my goal to write environmental poems is getting very stretched these days, but then, environment covers a pretty broad spectrum. 

cherubs

i am no authority
on the colours of angels eyes
but I know the brown and blue hues 

of two grandchildren who
are celestials in disguise

Poem A Day Challenge April 16, 2019

I have been occupied hand sewing appliqué to a quilt. My part must be finished is this evening, and I am not sure I will be done in time. Everything always takes longer than I anticipate, especially when dealing with 1/8 inch stitches. 

I am thankful that I had the seed for this poem started so I didn't have to start from scratch at 10:00 last night. It doesn't feel done, but it's all the time I have for it now.


these hands

these hands have 

held onto

sweethearts
friends,
brothers, sisters
children, grandchildren
my mother and father
and aging grandparents

These hands have
cradled history

bathed infants
changed diapers,
washed faces
dried tears
smacked bottoms

these hands have
brought joy

massaged 

my ailing mother
caressed lovers,
secretly
pleasured me,

these hands have 

built things

held hammers,
pounded nails,
painted walls
sanded and
repaired furniture

these hands have 

created beauty

measured bodies,
cut and stitched fabric
wound yarn
worked needles 

and hooks

these hands have
mucked in dirt

planted seeds and seedlings

pulled weeds
tied up plants
harvested the fruits 

of my labour 

these hands have
fed my family

handled knives, spoons
kneaded dough,
rolled and patted pastry
measured ingredients
filled jars
and tightened rings

these hands have
worked hard

washed dishes
and toilets,
hung clothes on lines

swept floors
scrubbed counters,
floors and walls

these hands have
brought change

knocked on doors 

dialed phones
written letters
held signs
delivered pamphlets

these hands have
carried memories

hankies tied up

with lunch money
given to me by my granny
books
pencils and paper
a viola
and a clarinet
(the last two,
were not successes)

these hands have

suffered

burns
cuts
carpel tunnel
chapped, cracked skin
aging

these hands have
communicated

beckoned
waved goodbye
acted out songs
clapped rhythms
applauded greatness
and effort

these hands have

gripped 

coffee in morning
and
celebratory
glasses of wine,
at night

these hands

Poem A Day Challenge April 15, 2019

I've been working on this poem off and on for nearly a year, ever since my sister's death from a fentanyl overdose last June. It's for her, all the other people with mental health issues, and those of us who love them.

Today I'm setting it free.

Hold On

Go dive into the darkness
It's what you have to do
A friend is feeling lonely
A friend is needing you

Short sojourns in that darkness
Might be traversed alone
But for those who bide inside it
There is no place called home

Together in that bleakness
Where you have been before
Sit with her in silence
And end up being more

There are things inside us
That we can not understand
Horrors beyond measure
Til love holds out a hand

We can't make feelings whither
Or fix what hurts inside
But It's better here together
With nothing left to hide

There is no shame in sorrow
There's no embarrassment in pain
Just be there tomorrow
If you're needed once again

From the depths of darkness
A story must be told,
your ears are there to listen
your arms are there to hold