Loan's Poem

The new kid on the block
Waiting at the bus stop
Head swaying side to side
No means yes
It is not quite so obvious
The sun rises
The river runs
Each bank on either side
A touchstone of faith
The wicked divide
No more
Light befallen on my face
Rich crystals of righteousness
Reflecting the colors of my heart
Once again I stride
With strength and courage
To take the path of the unknown
The bus arrives
I am ready

Poem Tweet #4

Think Jim Jones
Koolaid ladle pot
Perished foolish flock

Poem Tweet #3

The moment when the
Bridge lights illuminate at dusk
The sheer power of it
Let me live that fantasy

Poem Tweet #2

I brought a new kitten home to love
She was not happy here
As evidenced by the scratches on my face

Poem Tweet #1

I'm hiding in my bed
It's safe in here
But
It is cold and lonely without you

Dinah's Poem

Lifted of the burden
Tears flow unabandonedly
An openness as wide as the sky
Gives way to a lite-ness of the soul
My heart once heavy
Released
Beats anew
Fresh blood flowing
Coursing through my veins
Renewed life brought forth
Silent tears flow
Out of joy and happiness
Overflowing in gladness
Smiling like a new-born baby
Ready to write a story afresh
Of the restored soul

Precious Time

Precious time with my little one
Life happens all around
Soothing rumbles of uneven beats
Warmth seeping through
Capture the fleeting passages
In a voice of solitude
Of moments not to spare
Fresh breath
A releasing of the heart
Nothing more precious than this

Crab Crab Crab

Crab crab crab

What's in it for me?

I'm tired and so are you

We'll be okay

You and me

Baby cry baby cry

Which one gets attention first?

Stress doesn't help it

You will survive

And so will I

Gone

Why would I let you go?
In fact I never let you go
You were gone
The butterfly unreturned
My expectations unfulfilled
I longed to hold you for the longest time
Time got away
And you weren't there
Grasping at straws that
Disintegrated in my hands
Now the path I travel is alone
No fights
No misunderstandings
No misspoken words
I don't cook any more
I eat alone
A hot dog with catsup and mustard is
My relish
I put in new energies to complete my happiness
I'm able to laugh whole heartedly
My creativity blossoms
I walk assuredly heavy on my feet
My toes are beautiful
Like never before
Maybe finally I've let you go

You

You gave me the collective
I've fed and nurtured it
Calling it my own
Now you've come to take it away
I'm at odds, did I do something wrong?
Except to love the baby

Chita's Poem

There's no quandary that holding a baby can't fix
There's no broken spirit that a Steven Gary song can't cure
Walking at sunset
A starry night
Ripples on the gleaming lake surface
Soothes my soul
Tepid mint tea
Marbles in a glass jar
The last French fry found at the bottom
Bring me my favorite things
They say mind over matter
But is it true?
Who minds anyway?
It is I who truly matters
Good
Better
Best
Makes my day
More words to say
Nevertheless, I'm holding the baby

To Be Filled

I've punished myself long enough
Failure upon failure
Laying waste of what filled my heart
Not deserving of the tangible
No release of goals of art and soul
Or the completion of a whole
Passions unperfected
Destinations unchallenged
Love withheld
Capture again the beauty
Bright vibrant sight
Capture wishes untold
Grasping with delight
Petals of glorious glory
Softening of lines upon my lips
Traveling along the grain
Mesmerizing fullness
Bursting to capacity
Once more

Chill-time

Lounging on the beach
Relaxing in the sun
A half and half within arm's reach
Watching the clouds go by
And seagulls flying high
The sound of the ocean surf
To and fro
The breeze smoothing o'r my cheeks
And whispering through my hair
Grains of sand between my toes
A salty whiff in the air
This is what I'm imagining
When I take a moment just to chill

Change for Change's Sake: A Poem for Janet

The only consistent thing in life is change
The road swerves to the left instead of right
A school
A bridge
A theater
Renamed
New owners, new restaurant, new menu
My money in another bank
Yet, it never left the building
Hours of learning, listening
Hours of counseling, advising
Creeping downstairs in the dark
Sleepless lonely nights full of anxiety and despair,
what am I doing here?
A building completely gone
Paying Bills
Meeting friends
Becoming a friend
What is lost is not to be found
A memory
A childhood
Not to be returned to
Miles accumulated
Never young again
The seasons fold into themselves
The intangibility of it all,
what once could be held
Nothing stays the same
Like the ebb and flow of the tide

Sometimes it hurts
A hollowness
Carved from the inside out
Rough transitions
Going up and down

Peacefully, gracefully embracing change
Looking for new posibilities
I capture my life's quest

Facebook Poem August 27, 2013

It's the last week of summer
Tough summer guys
'Til the very end
So happy today
Fall is coming
Bring on the Fall
I'm ready

Peet's New Friend

I had a friend like you
Sitting in the same spot
Every day with out end
With a book and a Racer 5
Irritable should anyone break his solitude
How can you be alone at the corner
bar where the regulars and degenerates meet?

Like you he had authoritative facial hair
In a zone much like you
I would show up once a week on Mondays
Crashing through his protective layer
Conversations of poets and philosophers
Conversations of JR Tolkien and Ray Bradbury
Conversations of his apathy towards his ex-wife's cat
Conversations of genealogy and his quest
of traveling across the country to continue his search
Agreeing not to bring up politics or religion
He was agnostic and a republican

One Monday he wasn't there
Went back Tuesday
Went back Thursday
Still missing
Where? Where is Hank?
Short time later he was gone

I miss those Mondays I so much looked forward to
Visits with an unconventional friend
He was a curmudgeon and me a positive force

Now there you sit
Always with a white hat
Newspaper in hand
Pleased by your presence
I wonder should I make a new friend?
I am afraid of rejection and the potential loss
of another unlikely friend
As I sit across the way
It just feels good to have you there
And today you asked, "How are You?"
A friendly greeting of hello
Finally an acknowledgement

Now you're on your way, escaping
While I was intent on writing this poem
I get a glimpse of you making your way down the walkway
Another person taking your chair

Looking forward to seeing you next time 
My new Friend

A Poem for Denise

Are you dead?
Not quite
My heart is stone cold
What life I have left
is mine to give
Flowers aplenty
White roses for my grave
Pink roses for summer smiles,
Just because
Letting go of what's behind
Moving forward,
is the hardest step
The Good Samaritan
is our example
to live our lives
My life is what it shouldn't be
I'm a fraction of what I used to be
Bring me flowers in the desert
Catch a butterfly
Shoot for the shooting stars
I shall return
I have returned

     Peace be with you
     Shalom

Kristina's Poem

Outside of this place
I move mountains
I move hearts
I am my own mountain
I am my own heart
Poised and polished
Shimmying amidst the void
Don't think of me as frail and feeble
I want to learn more
Allow me to take that next step
Shining in the space between

The Red Line

The red line
Boundary
Stop
Don't go there
Rolling along in my wheelchair
Movement to comfort my soul
I've no idea I've crossed a barrier
Just red paint on the floor
I think they put it there
To test you
To control you
Some power play
Scolded
dismissed
confused
I roll back the other way wondering
which wall I will hit next?

Prayers and Priorities

Prayers and priorities
Leaks in sinks
Bills and correspondence
Crocheting craft
Job application assessment
Job training
Job hours
Writing a memoir
Concert or open mic?
Grandmother in the hospital
A trip over the bridge
The wedding of the century
Emails returned
Parking ticket to be paid
Need to rent a dolly
Baby growing fast
Finger nails in disarray
What’s that story to be written?
And, also, that speech?
What about the therapist?
Books overdue
Car estimate
Who needs perfection?
Cats need love, too!

Monday morning sitting in my Lazyboy
I’m exhausted

The sun comes from behind the clouds
My day is renewed

List

I love my kindle fire
I love my couch
I love my cat
I love my granddaughter
I love my car
I love my job
I love my Lazyboy chair
I love flowers, live or dead
Laughing with friends
Comforting hugs
Live music
Italian cherry sodas
Oatmeal muffins, grandfather's recipe
A hot shower or a soak in a hot tub
A smooth glass of wine
The music of an ice cream truck
Found pennies in my pocket
Writing poems
Feeling sand between my toes
An ocean sunset
An energetic workout at the gymn
Reading a bestseller book
Hearing Grandma's oft repeated stories
I enjoy my TV immensely
I enjoy trips to Disneyland,
the happiest place on earth


My happy list

Sunday Poem

Off to church to see the pope
Off to church to save my soul
Off to church my heart full of hope
Off to church God's grace he bestows

Words Cannot Express

Words cannot express
How heavy my heart felt
When you left me alone in the room
Two shallow breaths and you were gone
Surprise
Shock
Bewilderment
To watch your life ease away
Helplessly, I sat down beside you
Held your hand
And bawled my eyes out,
My shoulders shaking between sobs

To lose a friend is one thing,
A burnt bridge or a disappointment
To lose a friend in death is another,
But to be there when you died was
More than I could imagine

I had to take comfort
That you bestowed me the honor
Of your transition from this life
To the beyond

I still feel the heaviness in my heart
A gift from you
For which I'm still confused

The most profound moment of my life

Gary O's Limerick

There is a talented musician named Gary O
Who tonight put on a fantastic show
He sounds just like Elvis
With a swivel of his pelvis
And all the girls screamed GARY O!!!

Heart and Time

Everything we have heard about time is true
From Saint Augustine to Shakespeare
and don't forget Solomon
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks….
Don’t try to chase it
Don’t try to escape it
It is the here and now
Taking one breath at a time
Minute by minute life fills to the brim
Overflowing with joy, happiness, peace
Take in each moment
Experience it
Hold it dear to your heart

My heart is full awaiting more.

Christina’s Poem

Finding inspiration
It can’t be found
It just happens
Happening
In that oft heard song
In that emotional television episode
In the smile of the bubbly waitress
When hearing laughter across the room
Trudging through the forest floor,
The sun barely shining through
Feeling life is complete,
With an ocean sunset
Passion surges
The heart races
Misty eyes
Mommy tears
A time of great importance
A moving speech,
The power of zero
Unexpectantly discovering a place,
In your heart and soul
Reminiscing a precious memory
Serendipitous moments of great excitement
Inspiration filters in with a mind
Open to what the world has to offer
Delighting in your sense of well being
Floating to the top
Feeling comfortable about life
Inspired to meet each new day with love

Julianna's Limmerick

The was a young woman named Julianna
Who loved to eat bananas
She eloped in July
With her beau ever so shy
Now they're blissfully in nirvana
(Still eating bananas)

Book Review: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

The Paris Wife, a New York Times Bestseller and Best Book of 2011, by Paula McLain embarks on the love story of Hadley Richardson and Ernest Hemingway and its eventual demise. The lure of the idealistic life of Paris in the 1920's draws the newly married couple to Europe where life for Hemingway as an expatriate writer commences with the alliances of Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Gerald, among others, and where Hadley struggles to fit into the hard drinking, fast living life of Paris. The novel is Hadley's story, dull at times as she herself is, but the mystique for Hemingway and his womanizing ways keeps the reader glued to this soap opera romance. What is most impressive is Hadley's poetic voice and the research done by McLain to make this historical novel read true to life. In the end, Hemingway writes that he wished he had died before he loved anyone but Hadley

Book Review: The Night Circus By Erin Mortenstern

Have you ever dreamed about the romantic life of the circus? The Night
Circus, Mortenstern’s debut novel, evolves into a fantastical love story set at the turn of the 19th century transporting the reader across the boundaries of what is real and what is not. Open sundown until dawn, Le Cirque des Rê ves, the circus of dreams, is the arena for a deadly competition where the two players ultimately fall in love. The love story continues with a young boy, the “rê veurs” and a set of twins born into the circus revealing the narrator’s and the author’s love for the magical circus of which is here one day and gone the next off to another destination unknown. The sensational imagery depicted makes great fodder for a movie now in the making, although a release date has not been set. Join the “rê veurs” on a wondrous dream journey of a lifetime with The Night Circus. 

Holding My Breath

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

I'm stuck in my chair

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

It's driving me crazy

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

No purpose to move on

Forward is the way to go

Reaching out

Grasping what's in arm's reach

Holding on to hope

No more wasting life away

Take a stand

Take that next step

Patience will endure

The waiting will be over

Exhale