To join the challenge, visit The Daily Post for today.
LOVE’S SIGHT
Some say
That love is blind.
Not so. Instead I find
True love seeks out and focuses
On good.
THE EYES HAVE IT
A smile
Upon the lips,
Can hide ill feelings well.
But sincere smiles will shine out of
The eyes.
WINK, WINK
Hey, guy,
You’ve caught my eye.
You’re just the man for me.
It’s time to kiss those other girls
Goodbye.
~~~
I know the Daily Post Prompt says to write a “new” post on the day’s topic, but I’m going to ignore those instructions. I’ve actually posted most of these pictures in a couple posts for other reasons — and I wrote the poem for a totally different challenge earlier this year. However, they fit the theme so perfectly that I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share both again. The pictures are works that I created using two of my own photographs of the moon, taken at totally different times, and I have used them to create a whole line of greeting cards called “Moonglow.”
MOONSTRUCK
Well, now, you lovely silver orb
Rising nightly, taking up your throne
To rule the sky amidst your starry entourage,
You have the power to stir men’s souls
And capture their imaginations —
Fostering mysteries, romantic notions,
Ghostly tales, and lovers’ secrets.
But how you’ve gained so grand a place
Within the minds of earthly men is quite beyond me.
For truly you are but a piece of rock
With lustrous filaments that cause you to reflect another’s light.
With no light of your own to boast
And no control of how you make your way across the sky,
I fail to see why you should be the root of so much poetry —
Or epic tales — or artistry.
You’re just a great reflector,
And all your beauty’s lent you by the sun.
Yet, still you manage with your borrowed lumens
To capture hearts and minds.
And so ’twill be as long as time shall run
That men, in word and song and artist’s brush,
Will make of you a symbol of their highest expectations,
And set you as the goal for which they reach
As they attempt to soar beyond their realm of dust.
And I suppose in that respect, you do deserve some praise.
For were it not for you, perhaps there’s many a man who would have trod this earth
And failed to lift his eyes to higher heights and deep desires.
So shine on, silver orb,
And carry on your glorious procession
Each night across the sky.
For generations yet of pioneers, adventurers, and lovers too
Will need your light to inspire their hearts to dream —
Then strive to make those lovely dreams come true.
~~~
To take part in the challenge, visit Daily Post.
My muse
Went for a snooze.
Left me to write alone.
And although on my own,
I wrote great stuff.
Aha! I’ve learned I don’t need him at all.
“Dear Muse,
You snooze; you lose.
You’re fired.”
~~~
News Flash!
Gert and Yogi
Just had a baby boy.
They compromised to choose his name:
Yogurt.
Sorry: It’s been a very long, very hard day. I just couldn’t pass up this ridiculous thought (especially since I was eating a cup of yogurt at the time).
However, I did accomplish something worthwhile today: I bought a car. Life is almost back to normal now.
~~~
I looked
Into the night,
And to my great delight,
I saw a thousand stars begin
To dance.
I heard
No music played,
But could feel the rhythm
Of their pirouetting ‘cross the
Night sky.
Angels
No doubt did sing
And tap their feet in time:
The universe in harmony —
What joy!
~~~
#1
Windy:
Flash summer storm,
The fan I’ve turned on high,
My neighbor in her gossip mode—
Hot air.
#2
Sidewalks
Could fry an egg.
Too hot to walk barefoot.
The asphalt melts beneath car wheels.
July.
#3
The sweat
Runs down my nose,
Forms currents down my back,
And plasters underwear to skin:
Heat wave.
~~~
Unpredictable Eunice – her name:
For changing her mind was her game.
She’d start out the day wearing blue;
Then change when the day was half through.
She’d order a meal on a date,
But then, asking the waiter to wait,
She would dither and dather and hop
From entree to entree, then stop
And request her original dish.
That she’d go home was her waiter’s wish.
When it came to the men in her life,
She was asked to be several men’s wife,
But she just couldn’t make up her mind,
And each man did eventually find,
When he looked up the aisle for his bride,
She had run to another man’s side.
Oh, poor Eunice; she wasn’t well liked,
And folks thought her quite curiously psyched.
But each one could predict accurately —
Could bet money and win frequently —
That when Eunice had made up her mind,
She would change it again in no time.
Unpredictable Eunice — her name.
And she’ll never change that: What a shame!
~~~
To participate in today’s challenge, visit The Daily Post.
~
You say you just can’t trust my love is true.
So I am meditating what to do.
Somehow, I think there’s no convincing you
That I’m the faithful type all through and through.
How to forestall your fears I wish I knew,
I’ve had myself in such a miserable stew.
But I’ve brought it down to this: Here’s what I’d do.
I’d cross the desert on a three-legged mule for you.
And if that’s not good enough, my dear — I’m through!
~~~
Okay, I know it’s a ridiculous poem, but I didn’t get started until late in the afternoon, and it’s the best I could come up with. If you want to participate in today’s prompt, drop in at The Daily Post.
~
Nathaniel was feeling quite blue.
To his Darling, he’d been quite untrue.
Though he hadn’t been caught,
With his conscience he fought,
And was trying to think what to do.
He could keep it a secret from her.
If she questioned him, maybe defer.
But if someone else told —
Some old gossip quite bold —
Then his Darling would toss him for sure.
What to do, what to do — so distressed.
It was not that he loved Darling best.
But she had lots of dough,
And his coffers were low.
So perhaps he should crawl and confess.
But, alas, he had let time expire.
Darling charged in, her eyes full of fire.
Six feet tall and quite round —
Nearly three hundred pounds —
She immediate repentance inspired.
She said, “Nate, dear, you should be ashamed.
Your unfaithfulness has caused me pain.
But I know how to fix
You and your bag of tricks.”
Round his leg she did fasten a chain.
Now Nathaniel is faithful and true.
After all, there’s not much else to do.
For his Darling learned fast:
If she wants love to last,
A girl does what she just has to do.
~~~
I wish I could stand right now at the edge of the sea,
It’s salty breath a warm caress,
It’s rhythmic waves – roll on roll –
That surge my way, then break abruptly,
Tame and playful, licking my feet.
The sight, the sound, the scent – they beckon me:
I wish I could stand right now at the edge of the sea.
~
(Thanks to my sister Brenda Calvert for the great photo.
~~~
This week’s prompt from Sanaa at a ‘Dash of Sunny’ is “Let us walk together in the moonlight.” We can take the subject in any direction, so if your imagination kicks in, go to Sanaa’s site to get the details of participating with us. I decided to feature some graphics I created from a couple of my own shots of the moon — as well as a bit of free verse to round things off.
Well, now, you lovely silver orb
Rising nightly, taking up your throne
To rule the sky amidst your starry entourage,
You have the power to stir men’s souls
And capture their imaginations —
Fostering mysteries, romantic notions,
Ghostly tales, and lovers’ secrets.
But how you’ve gained so grand a place
Within the minds of earthly men is quite beyond me.
For truly you are but a piece of rock
With lustrous filaments that cause you to reflect another’s light.
With no light of your own to boast
And no control of how you make your way across the sky,
I fail to see why you should be the root of so much poetry —
Or epic tales — or artistry.
You’re just a great reflector,
And all your beauty’s lent you by the sun.
Yet, still you manage with your borrowed lumens
To capture hearts and minds.
And so ’twill be as long as time shall run
That men, in word and song and artist’s brush,
Will make of you a symbol of their highest expectations,
And set you as the goal for which they reach
As they attempt to soar beyond their realm of dust.
And I suppose in that respect, you do deserve some praise.
For were it not for you, perhaps there’s many a man who would have trod this earth
And failed to lift his eyes to higher heights and deep desires.
So shine on, silver orb,
And carry on your glorious procession
Each night across the sky.
For generations yet of pioneers, adventurers, and lovers too
Will need your light to inspire their hearts to dream —
Then strive to make those lovely dreams come true.
~~~
I have posted this poem a couple times over the years, but today I found myself reading it again and being inspired by it. It is one of my own personal favorites of the countless poems I’ve written during my life, and I just decided I WANTED to post it again.
ALONG THE RIVER
The sun is playing hide and seek with clouds
Along the river.
The clouds are gray, but friendly, soft, and free
Along the river.
I move unhampered by the flirting breeze
Along the river
Breathing deeply of the moistened earth
Along the river.
Quiet now invades my mind and soul
Along the river.
I’m letting go of tumbling, troubled thoughts
Along the river.
My past recedes; my future quiet rests
Along the river,
And water speaks to waters deep within
Along the river.
I sit and contemplate historic past
Along the river
The generations served by this same stream
Along the river.
And sense that I belong to something great
Along the river
A part of something bigger than myself
Along the river.
And far beyond my power to understand,
Along the river,
An elemental knowing I am known —
And I am loved —
By the Creator of the river.
***
Visit Saana at “A Dash of Sunny” to find out how to participate in this challenge.
Well, I just had to have some fun with this week’s challenge. When this idea popped into my head, I knew I’d give in and write it out.
SONG OF THE ELEVATED EGO
I find it oh so easy to detect the faults in you.
It doesn’t take much effort; quite a simple thing to do.
And the guy who stands beside you, and the girl from down the street —
Well, it’s clear that not a one of you could my high standards meet.
But I balk at your suggestion that I may myself have faults,
Or that I come short of perfect due to imperfections caught.
No, it just seems quite impossible that problems you could see,
For I’m the measuring standard: there is nothing wrong with me!
~~~
~~~
Like a stream running through the mountains,
Like a cool wind sweeping o’er the plains,
Like a river rushing to the ocean,
Like blood coursing through the veins,
Like a current running through a cable,
Like a song swirling through the mind,
Like inspiration flowing through the poet,
Like compassion coursing through the kind,
So love for you is running through my soul,
Super-charging me; causing me to grow,
Reminding me that loving makes us whole.
***
The Happy Wordcrafter 