Posts for June 8, 2023 (page 6)

Registration photo of Laverne Zabielski for the LexPoMo 2023 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

My Daughter’s Poppies

In my backyard, there is a shed I use for an art studio.
Sometimes, with a desire to get clean, she stays there.
And then she’s gone. As I reclaim my space,
I write to her in my journal.

My dear,

I see what you have left me. The beauty and the pain draping and dripping, stuffed in corners, messages of your love and despair, so conscientiously placed, an installation,
an altar.

A sunflower card folded and tucked between slices of bamboo.

An old tobacco stick carefully wrapped with silk, holding an art sign declaring my aspirations–secured with ties you must have found tucked away in the plastic box designated for art shows which I never do anymore. Now the silk wrapped stick and sign become part of my studio installation.

The old walking stick from your brother, now gone’s, apartment where it leaned against the wall in the corner with a large feather, and silk wrapped around. I retrieved it when he died, and you have installed it, a relic, a monument. I say his name. I tell him it’s up to him now to hover in your haze, protecting you from all ill-ways.

This love letter you have left me has been well received. I am reading it carefully. At first there was only pain, the way you lit that forbidden cigarette before you walked away the last afternoon you were seeking my gift of salvation, which I could not give, drained I am, I was, with nothing left, everything from the past gone, all the cliches realized.

Now, layer by layer, as I peel away and reinstall myself, I find your notes throughout— a Monet painting on a card, mommy and her daughter walking in a field of poppies you wrote.


Category
Poem

Like Ships in the Night

As if the world collided with another
you were there 
and I was here
and now we’ll never see 
the childrens’ museum together
and I’ll never tell you about
that drink I tried that tasted like Christmas.
You’ll never tell me
whatever it is you want to tell me
and I’ll never be in the audience 
while you perform.
I’m scared of it all
but you don’t want to leave.
So the world’s will never collide,
at least not until we’re ready
and even then I can see you on the other side.


Registration photo of Les the Mess for the LexPoMo 2023 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

Entrance

Finally, relief.
More than for just a moment;
Not gonna lie down.


Registration photo of DadaDaedalus for the LexPoMo 2023 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

The Animate and the Inanimate

Artisan no more
your hands weren’t made to create
you waste every space their eyes are placed

Former Sir Gareth in the flesh
necrotic phantom to grief Lancelot
you degrade the sanctity of the art you create

Unrequited love
knights cross swords in combat only
you misdirect your point into my heart

Bloodletters enter into spells of bee
buzzing to pollinate in vain utero
you ungerminated seeds entice my revenge

Lord Mordred gives the order
put the traitor Bors the Younger under sword
lure light into corners to be extinguished


Category
Poem

Joy-filled and Grief Stricken

Peace at the lake, 
Waves lap against the banks. 
Breezes blow gently to  
Push my hammock —
A lullaby for reading and resting.  

Service at Creation Camp 
Walking down worn trails through the woods, 
Leading original songs and old camp favorites, 
Moving through waters of want and worship. 

The beach’s beauty
Toes sink deep in the warm sand as 
White-crested waves break along the shore while 
Seagulls sing overhead. 

Yet in the midst of serenity, 
Loss 
In 2019, I wasn’t part of the trip, 
So never said goodbye to my brother 
In 2022, Dad’s brother told us 
His last corny joke and was gone within the month 
In 2023, Mom’s brother died – 
My larger than life uncle finally was.

Yet in the midst of grief, 
Joy 
A time to reflect,
A time to grieve,
A time to be together, 
A time to be. 


Category
Poem

overactive imagination

what happens when
the object of fear
only lives
inside my head?

this persistent anxiety
revolves around
a conceptual future emotion
too big to contain.

when will i believe
fear is a heavier burden
than any emotion
i might conjure on some distant day?


Category
Poem

Untitled

Robin fledgling in evening meditation,
watching full-bodied relatives in stillness,
I will sit by you in solidarity of anticipated flight.

It is a quarter ’til eight & the sun is still energizing
the green of the pond & of our hearts.


Category
Poem

Cradle

He blows through the stop into
The car and 
Sedan: 1, Dirt bike: 0 his
Ride still chugging furiously on its 
side thrown clear
Of him
I think he is dead 
when I come here I think he is dead but

 the shock wears thin and he roils as the pain tries to wrench
him onto his side his arm bones loose and unpiloted by 
the shoulder and I 
grind pavement into my kneecaps my shins  to drop 
and mom this stranger, I insist “Let’s be still together.” I place 
my fingerstips to nest so gentle
his neck my thumbs beneath his ears the blood sludges
from the ostrich egg forming on his skull I point
to the neighbor and demand she call 911

I glare away 
the good samaritan who tries to place a plush pillow
beneath his head his eyes dart
to lock With mine and we breathe 
together in together
out
he wails I am reminded again
again 
he is somebody’s baby 
“What’s your favorite music?” I ask 
“Can you hear the sirens? They’re nearly here.”

 


Category
Poem

Refine

For now, abandoning attempts to rebuild,

Seeking grace in experience and excess
Has yeilded to a more subtle substitute.
Silence and solitude and gentle comfort.
 
Oh to put the throne out of mind, when it’s out of sight.


Category
Poem

Consensus

See those wrecked delusions?
That’s my spanner in those works

Messing with ChatGPT the other day
I asked it to explain Deckert’s actions in
“Do androids dream of electric sheep”
And it wrote me a glossy synopsis instead

Not surprising, since Deckert killed the android Pris
because she pulled the legs off a spider

You’re probably not surprised that I asked it about global warming
   Large consensus 
Show me the data
   ChatGPT cannot
Show me the statistics
  ChatGPT cannot
Do you have eyes?
  ChatGPT has no visual sensors
Can you hear?
  ChatGPT has no audio sensors
What about those who disagree?  Why didn’t you mention these?
  Because there is wide consensus
So, if ChatGPT was created in Nazi Germany, and only allowed to scan their dogma, would ChatGPT state that there are inferior races and there is wide consensus in eugenic theory?
  Yes, ChatGPT would say so
Because there’s wide consensus

I don’t need to lie to myself anymore
I have a machine to do this for me