night sky

night, owl, moon

observe the owl,
illuminated with shivering shadows
cast between branches
by the moon—

is it a sign,
an initiation?
or simply a reflection
of the enormous mystery
of a journey
whose path can never be
foretold?

When I saw Jane’s Random Word Generator list this week, the first word that jumped out at me was owl, which of course reminded me of my moon and owl painting that seems to go so well with so many poems. I was thinking about it when David published the W3 prompt for this week, which invited us to respond to Denise DeVries’ poem “Generation Gap” using a computer aid, such as a Random Word Generator.

In Denise’s poem, she and her granddaughter look up in wonder at the night sky.

The words I used from Jane’s list were: observe, owl, illume (illuminated), shivering, cast, sign, initiate (initiation), reflect (reflection), enormous, foretell (foretold).

Denise wonders if using a Random Word Generator would be cheating. But words are just words, no matter the source–why would it be cheating to take any word from anywhere as inspiration for a poem? It’s the poet who must make them sing.

false storm

I tried to photograph the lightning–
the flash between the layers of sky—

(no thunder)

clouds streaming over the moon

how many miles distant?–
far away, too far away to hear—
a silent film that eluded my camera

so I let it go and let it shine
in bursts through the window
into and through my eyes

the color was salmon, maybe
yellow, maybe pink—a pastel
shimmering against the dark

eventually the moon disappeared
behind the false storm,
and only the city lights glowed–tiny
squares of refuge against the night

For this week’s challenge, Brendan at earthweal asks us to interrupt our usual programming with flashes and booms of this extraordinary power. Lightning falls: what are we going to make of that?

the beach at night

eclipsed mandala s

can moonlight tumble?
reflections transformed by waves–
diamonds in the foam

moonlight tumbles–
reflections transformed–
diamond foam

moon
light
foam

For Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday where the theme, chosen by Franci Hoffman, is the night sky. I did not get to the beach this year, but I’m remembering the magic of past summer nights by the ocean.

And once again using art from the archives.

everything we need

everything we need s

we do not
need revelation–
what will be
should be un
known, a mystery, like night
skies, like orbiting—

if we hold
the stars, the cosmos,
constant in
awe, we have
already seen both the be
ginning and the end

A shadorma chain for Colleen’s tanka Tuesday. The theme, picked by Sally Cronin, is the night sky.

Hologram

hologram 1s

Have you listened to the night sky
opening yourself wide
to let it echo through you?
Have you tasted the stars?

Opening yourself wide
have your eyes become mirrors?
Have you tasted the stars,
your veins glowing?

Have your eyes become mirrors
of infinite silences,
your veins glowing,
drunk with the darkness

of infinite silences?
Have you been pulled,
drunk with the darkness,
into luminous trajectories ?

Have you been pulled,
revisiting the returning
of luminous trajectories,
forever somewhere else?

Have you revisited the returning–
let it echo through you
forever as somewhere else?
have you listened to the night sky?

This is the first of two similar pantoums I composed for Merril’s dVerse echo theme. The art is from the archives.

As you may have noticed, I like the repetition and echoing in the pantoum form, and the way it circles back on itself. You may have also noticed I often write about the night sky, the stars, and the moon, often assisted by the Oracle. Merril and Jane, who are also acquainted with the Oracle, told me not to read their poems until I had composed my own, but I’m guessing stars appear in theirs somewhere too.

hologram 2s

Of course stars echo in light!

Milky Way

milky way blk s

a river of light
captured by the air, turning,
spinning outside in—

uncontained by outlines–this
arc of souls with wings sailing

A tanka for Frank Tassone’s Milky Way Haikai Challenge.

The Milky Way is, mythologically speaking, a roadway built by the gods linking heaven and earth–souls and birds use it for traveling between the two worlds.

Just so.

Linked also to Open Link Night at dVerse.

Trajectory

trajectory s

Night moves inside itself–
closes, hidden,
expanding, letting go–
suddenly singing

Closes, hidden,
opens again, opens
suddenly singing
infinity

Opens again, opens
an interstice–
infinity
trying to fly—

An interstice
spiraling out of its shell,
trying to fly
into the stars

Spiraling out of its shell,
a nomad rising
into the stars,
painting the sky

a nomad, rising,
expanding, letting go–
painting the sky,
night moves inside itself

For Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above.

I haven’t written a pantoum in awhile.

K.

lines that aim to be