Advice for a Rewarding Life


Your story starts today:

Don’t overlook change.
Make an effort to be
part of the celebration of life.

Run in a garden
full of bluebonnet, wild roses,
miles of Spring blossom.

On a red violet night
perform amazing music (it lives
across space and time).

Travel into the sunrise.
Explore mysteries and build
your own unique environment.

You make the rules.
Begin a lifetime direction –
life excluding limitation,
inspired with creativity,
based on highlighting love.



-Tie for First Place WSToday 2024 Poetry Contest, April 2024

Rules: Craft a poem using only the words in April 8 newsletter

Road Trip

Coyote beside the road.
SUVs and trucks
never slowed,

each exceeding the speed.
No one notices.
Wild indeed:

carving out his life between
forest and highway,
barely seen

in the rearview glass.
He trots past.

2024 Highland Park Poetry Challenge, 3rd place Non-resident, Prime 53 poem, March 2024

The Embrace

Sadness took me
in her arms.
She exhaled warm breath
into my face –
scent of bitter dandelion.

Her fingers ran
through my hair,
tangling.
Her velvet lips
kissed away
my tears.

Throughout the ebony
cloud of night
she held me close.
But as day broke
I gently pushed her
to arm’s length
and slowly stepped away.

-published The Mindful Phoenix Review, Vol II-Reclaimed, October 2023


Once Upon a Time

Once
I literally held the magic
of dragonflies
on my fingertips.

Hovering,
they appeared
anywhere I was –
congested parking lots,
strolls in the park,
drives to complete errands.

For several years
my spirit animal
seemed to abandon me.

For several years
hope and happiness
abandoned me.

I discovered a cultural belief
that this creature represents
one making a conscious effort
to express wishes and dreams.

At the present time
I pursue serenity,
struggle to hold my head
above turbulent waters,
sleep well more often than not.

Moreover
a dragonfly has made an appearance
seemingly out of nowhere.
Another drifts by the window
daily as I work.
And a blue one flickered past
yesterday just as I departed my car.

-published Highland Park Poetry Daily Poem, 7-11-23

Superstition

No longer do I wish upon
the evening’s first star.

My eye may catch a glint of coin 
on the ground I only walk on.

Three on a match – no worry;
Spilled salt shaker – no concern;
Thunderstorm in a meadow – no apprehension.

A ladybug tickles across my arm
I ignore the signs.

An old horseshoe saved
 gets tossed in the trash.

I lay my hat on the bed,
walk under ladders,
caress the black cat in my path.

I knock on wood
a prayer.
Often St Anthony recovers my lost items.
Therefore some speck of hope must remain.

-published 45 Magazine Literary Journal, July 2023

Front Porch Swing

July in the South

A southern summer:
fried chicken sizzles
the front porch swing creaks
condensation rolls down
the glass of iced tea
blue sky puzzle pieces
show amidst the clouds
and a green tinged furry puppy
runs joyfully through
the fresh cut grass

____________________

Moonglow Ribbon

the haloed glow
of the moon
this night of mist and damp

delivers lunar beams
which course over
and around me

as I twist and flap
a banner
in the indecisive
wind

____________________

The Blue Jay

A jay chases an ebony crow
Pecking, scolding

I grapple with dark clouds
Snarling, snapping

Desolate is the call
afloat on the wind

Emerald leaves turn inside out
Preparation for the coming storm

My skeleton ossifies to stone
against my personal onslought

My sculpted being watches
The clouds part

Golden rays of sunshine
flare amongst the gray

Subsequently wisps of hope
drift skyward from my soul

even as smoke from a bonfire
soars alongside the fawn jaybird

____________________

melody

the sea gleams
and sparkles
she croons to me
a lullaby
a ballad
hypnotizing
age upon age
this aria
the depths
and breadths
assimilate
in my soul
ever
I sing
back to her

____________________

Potential

The sun’s dazzling rays
ricochet off of the
tawny water

blinding me with
their brilliance

There are spots
dancing in my eyesight

Compelled to peer
beyond the black holes
I relish the loveliness
encircling
the ebony puddles

A strumming pulse
throbs in my bloodstream

Cause and effect
I melt into myself

____________________

Sentimentality

Seashore bonfire
Cinders float
to meet the stars

Curl of a wave
imitates a lock of hair
A crab scuttles by

Evening trade winds
tickle the neck
Heat lightning flashes

Distant pier lights
quiver on the water
forming white squiggles 

Fingernail moon
Velveteen sky
Nostalgia prickles the eyelids

                    

-all published in a microchap May 3, 2023, Origami Poems Project





She Wears a Paper Crown

Hope is a paper crown
sparkling with gold glitter.
Light in weight, a feather.
A strong gust of wind
may jolt it free.

Tossed up, flung down,
doused in a torrent,
its flimsiness risks
its stability,
dissolves the beautification.

Retrieved from the brutal
arms of a tempest
it is spread before
the healing rays of the sun.
Ultimately the crown, though battered
and torn, regains its shape.


-published Highland Park Daily Poem, 4-13-23

Party Talk

Blue haze of conversation
sinks to the ground
silent as it falls

Tap dance across
the syllables and heed
the clicks as they echo

Laughs rebound
from the crystal teardrops
of a chandelier

Words
Murmurs
Sighs
escape through an open door
gliding down the street

-publication Highland Park Poetry Daily Poem, June 15, 2023

Once Upon a Time

Once

I literally held the magic

of dragonflies

on my fingertips.

Hovering,

they appeared

anywhere I was –

congested parking lots,

strolls in the park,

drives to complete errands.

For two years

my spirit animal

seemed to abandon me.

For two years

hope and happiness

abandoned me.

There is a cultural belief

that this creature represents

one making a conscious effort

to express wishes and dreams.

At the present time

I pursue serenity,

struggle to hold my head

above turbulent waters,

sleep well more often than not.

Moreover

a dragonfly has

made an appearance

seemingly out of nowhere.

Another drifts by the window

daily as I work.

And a blue one flickered past

yesterday as I departed my car.

-upcoming publication Highland Park Poetry Daily Poem 2023