The Oracle responded immediately to the NaPoWriMo day 17 prompt of the moon. And who could blame her? It’s always a good subject for a poem, in this case, a Badger’s Hexastitch.
moonsongs
treeroot between
the ancient wanderings
of night—follow secret
animal paths
earth deep
Also linking to earthweal open link weekend.
only
stillness remained
afterwards—everything
else unearthed, uprooted,
exposed into
absence
A badger’s hexastitch for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday with synonyms for the words provided by Jude: search and lost.
And because I’ve been neglecting the NaPoWriMo prompts recently, a short Skeltonic poem for Day 16.
The sunny day
has gone away–
I want to say
it’s not OK.
It’s been a very showery April so far. Hope that portends a very flowery May.
Under concrete still lies the earth.
Am I bridged? Do I travel on or over?
The air takes my thoughts and plays with them,
embroiders them, suspends them between.
Am I bridged? do I travel on or over?
My fingers want to hold the windwhispers–
embroider them, suspend them between
the bare branches of the trees.
My fingers want to hold the windwhispers
that touch the moon on her journey
through the bare branches of the trees
into the fullness of the reflected light.
I want to touch the moon on her journey.
My own face is shadowed with uncertainty,
backlit by the fullness of reflected light.
My own hands are empty, unthreaded.
My own face is shadowed with uncertainty,
a landscape I too often inhabit.
My own hands are empty, unthreaded.
I keep trying to rearrange what isn’t there–
a landscape I too often inhabit.
I look for birds. I want to ask them their secrets.
I keep trying to rearrange what isn’t there–
how to be someone that is also everything.
I look for birds. I want to ask them their secrets.
How to dance across the invisible threads.
How to be someone that is also everything,
crisscrossing land sea sky stars.
How to dance across the invisible threads
that hold both concrete and earth,
crosscrossing land sea sky stars–
(the air takes my thoughts and plays with them)
This pantoum is definitely a work in progress. For NaPoWriMo day 15, and the earthweal weekly challenge: Toward an Ecopoetry.
Also linking to dVerse OLN, hosted by Sanaa.
moving the water
with my feet
I float on currents,
my shadow following
each intersection with light
not thinking
who or where
I am–
cocooned in myself
and threaded to the aliveness
of what passes me
passing
crossing waves tracks
of lines and circles
forming patterns–
greeting me meeting
myself, transiting
throwing time into the wind
and not waiting for it–
wandering
in place
Kim at dVerse asks us today to write a poem in the first person that compares some trait of ours with something animal. In addition, the title should be the animal thing,
If I became
the wind, I would be
breath itself–
no need to swallow
air and turn it
vibrating into sound.
I would be
the universal chord
transformed into stories
that appear suddenly
surrounded
by stars,
carried by
the voices of
cosmic seas.
I would speak
in parallel
with the trees,
listen
as they released
their wisdom
on the wings of
birds, woven
with ancient messages
still wild and waiting
to be translated
into form.
I would be
the light
reflected as sky,
the night’s
dark
mystery.
I would be
every song
all at once,
the portal
into what can’t
be seen.
Do you hear
the whispered
invitation?
It is the unbroken
promise of
the moon’s return,
the painted journey
of the sun hovering
on the horizon,
of the waters
that rock the ages
into safe harbors.
Will you follow?
Stand open
and still
and be
prepared
to fly.
I’ve been working on this poem on and off for awhile. And I may work on it again, but here it is, as of today.
Who gives us life–
you have many names–
the seed, the root, the vine, the flower in the field,
the lily, the rose, the fertile garden,
the cedar, the cypress, the cherry, the tree of life,
the fountain, the dew, the living waters,
the cloud raining upon the earth,
the lighthouse, the harbor, the shell and the pearl,
the star of the sea, the cresecent moon,
the morning star, the air we breathe,
the cup, the vessel, the channel, the conduit,
the food of the spirit—
You need no kingdom.
You belong to everything,
the very elements that make up
the earth and the cosmos.
You bestow mercy and grace to all,
saint and sinner alike,
rejecting both power and glory,
vengeance and servitude.
May we honor your gifts
with gratitude and humility,
mending and treasuring
the fragile balance
that sustains them.
We remain, stubbornly,
Human
Dear Humanity,
Open your eyes and your hearts.
Honor and practice what preserves life
not what destroys it.
Take only what you need,
and return as much as you can.
Be patient and persistent
and don’t lose hope.
I remain, forever and ever,
Your Mother.
NaPoWriMo asks us today to write an exchange of letters.
Also linking to earthweal. Did you know it’s Earth Month?
K. 