Photo (Album) Synthesis

I think

you’re like spring umber--

just a glimpse of you

before all’s chartreuse.

One minute you’re here,

then away--

and in the next, I realize

you’ve always been gone.

Hey, it’s NaPoWriMo Day 30! What?! We did it!

This is for Bjorn’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden, having to do with particle waves and photoelectricity or somesuch.

Refection on a Stop for Death

As you believed

the egregious Miss D

should have stopped for death--

Reminded me that dashes

as punctuation

were used by you for your own

nefarious purposes--

I understood your meaning

and expected you to snort.

No cat’s pajamas! No sirree!

You simply could not see it.

Reflected that one never knows

who might be a worshipper--

You forgave me, but never her--

NaNoWriMo Day 29! A poem for Brendan’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden: VOYAGE'S END
Crafted from the penultimate text conversation between me and a dear poet friend prior to his death-- his own voyage's end-- musing on-- well, you know--

Padiddle

Rhythmic back-seat sway

& soft country music

lulls a small child

to drowsiness

while her parents talk up front.

Beams across the headliner

grow in intensity

awaking sleepy curiosity

so she shifts to look ahead

into the darkness.

White light eyes fly by

against the treeline

faster and faster until

in the distance a creature

with only one bright white eye

bears down on the family car.

Upon fearful questioning

Mama explains it’s a padiddle.

That sounds friendly enough,

but it looks really mean to her.

Late, but here is NaPoWriMo #28! For Rommy’s Boogeyman prompt in the Imaginary Garden. This is very much an incomplete draft. I got all wound up in this idea and couldn’t get my mind off it, but also I haven’t been able to satisfactorily express it in verse or come up with a conclusion. I need to put this aside for now and move on to the next prompt. Maybe after a bit I can come back and actualize what I was thinking about. Sigh!

Ernie Was Right to Wait Up for This

Uncomfort

-able not knowing

    when but cer-

         tain (as can

         be)  the moment

will come

when          the other shoe

dramatic

  -ally       drops

Photo by Marian Kent

NaPoWriMo Day 27! For the Real Toads: WRITING SHOES

Hard(l-)y Out(side)

Feint

back

before

         losing hope

entirely

         as with

mourning blue buries

                betrayals

mount until too heavy to hold

           & limbs start breaking

(c) Karin Gustafson (all rights reserved)

NaPoWriMo Day 26! For Karin’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden: OUTSIDER ART and featuring her whimsical but somehow weighty artwork.

Caught Up in the Glower

"All my poems are dark,"

I said, "But people insist

there’s a bright light

radiating from within them."

You said, "That’s the thing

with poems and housekeeping."

Challenge, Agnes Lawrence Pelton (1940)

NaPoWriMo Day 25! Linking up with Kerry on the Tuesday Platform in the Imaginary Garden.

Confined Beauty

There are birds of prey

caged in the park

where after train rides

kids sought a sojourn in the tiny zoo

to commune with with goats and deer

And all kinds of birds: peafowl,

a dozen chickens and roosters,

barn owls, red-tailed hawks,

even two haggard bald eagles

separately enclosed

Talking with little ones

about raptors and hunting and flight

and injury requiring rehabilitation

hence the tags

and chain link fences

Several times we saw a wild hawk

scoping chipmunks

high above the hawk cage

in a cruel display

of freedom

We walked with toddlers

who were learning

about their space in the world

while peacocks

strutted their opulent plumage

in confinement

NaPoWriMo Day 24! 
Responding to Margaret’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden: BEAUTY

Also, it is the birthday of the Runaway Sentence! This girl turns seven today! Thank you, friends, for all these years of scribbling and blogging and support and fun. Love!

Song for Sunday Afternoon

The magic

is in the way the sun streams

through muslin curtains

and the breeze

suggests I get up and find a sweater.

The song is laughter of children

combined with birdsong

as each day grows a little warmer,

clouds so high

they suggest soaring,

Sunday love-day, let me fly with you

and not forget tomorrow, and the next day

when I’ll jones

for your sweetness again

NaPoWriMo Day 23! Responding to “Ballad of the Morning Streets” by Amiri Baraka, for Gillena’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden: THE WAY YOU SEE IT

Just a Few Small Things I Like

I like the way

you open windows

in any kind of weather

as if to say hello morning air

thank you for visiting

I like the way

your fingers

navigate a messy ponytail

on weekday evenings

when you let your hair down

I like the way

you say you love me

even when you’re pissed off

NaPoWriMo Day 22! For Susie’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden featuring the artwork of Mi Young Lee

Gimme a P

Souvenir megaphone

tries hollering

from the belly of a whale

on an Anytown beach

Its environs no longer

conducive to the cheer squad

Its hurrah reduced

to a last plastic gasp

      Go School

Note: Today is the birthday of John Muir and tomorrow is Earth Day.

NaPoWriMo Day 21! For Magaly’s prompt to the Real Toads: "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"

Take It or Leave It

It’s the nature of ultimatums.

If this, then that

or if not this, then another thing

determined by the issuer,

nothing else after.

Pondering this, I notice

now there is a crow

on the rosebush outside my kitchen window

that ordinarily hosts a circus of sparrows.

The sparrows have been gone all year.

I wonder

if the crow issued an ultimatum.

My way or the highway, stupid sparrows.

Maybe I am meant to take this occupation

as a sign. The crow prophesizes--

this will not end well.

NaPoWriMo Day 20! 

For Fireblossom’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden: CORVID AND SIT A WHILE

Broken Things

The washing machine broke,

wet towels piled in garbage bags

to be taken to the laundromat.

The cat is suspicious of this pile

and the rest of us are weary

of the entire situation.

Broke my tooth this week, too

so it’s next in line to be fixed.

New washing machine coming Friday.

You can only fix a washing machine

so many times before it’s just junk,

or maybe we gave up on it too soon.

The dentist will crown my tooth

and it will be better than it ever was.

Remember when our girl broke her arm

and then her leg, then her other arm?

Now she’s fine. Not broken at all.

How many times can stitches bust

and heal again, fuller than before,

threatening to tear newly sewn seams?

Because love’s like that. It snaps

and heals. Breaks, then all better again.

Don’t give up on this love too soon,

this fragile thing, this human condition.

NaPoWriMo Day 19! For Sanaa’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden, taking inspiration from wonderful poet CAROL ANN DUFFY

Why I Should Never Go to the Mall

What are you trying to hide?

is the million-dollar question

posed by the Dead Sea Salts Guy

in the middle-of-the-mall kiosk

as he has emollient cream to fix

every clumsily concealed shame.

He notes my pink-ruddy cheeks,

dry patches on my eyelids,

dark circles, lines around my eyes,

laugh lines, blemishes, crepey skin,

everything aging with the promise

of youthful vibrancy and tightness

following 6 to 8 weeks of daily use.

He even notes my chewed fingernails

You must stop biting. As if I didn’t

know. As if over years and with less

jowl elasticity one becomes saggier

of mind and social understanding.

I can’t help but wonder if Dead Sea

Salts Guy would sell more creams with

Look at you, absolutely perfect. Gorgeous!

NaPoWriMo Day 18! Sharing on the Tuesday Platform in the Imaginary Garden.

Infinite Trend

In a perfect world, David Foster Wallace is trending every day.

NaPoWriMo Day 17! 
It’s National Haiku Writing Day and DFW is trending on Twitter, so here ya go

American Sentences

Reflections on Easter Sunday morning:

(1)

The house is full of Easter chocolate, but I earnestly eat Grape Nuts.

(2)

Wind lifts the scent of backyard hyacinths wafting through muslin curtains.

(3)

Your hands feel so large on the small of my waist--please lift me to the sky--

NaPoWriMo Day 16! Trying on Ginsberg’s American Sentence as suggested by Kerry in the Imaginary Garden. This article is so fantastic, check it out: What Are American Sentences?

This is the kind of form that sneaks into my brain and can easily turn into a big-time bender. I’ll try to restrain myself but don’t be surprised if you see more of these from me!

All I Wanted Was the Recipe

Everything I did

was for love

of my catfishing

computer wife

Love is treachery

creates identity

and justifies

villainy




NaPoWriMo Day 15! For Rommy’s prompt in the Imaginary Garden: THE VILLAIN SPEAKS

For the uninitiated, this is Plankton and his computer wife Karen from SpongeBob SquarePants. 

Driving the Bus

Captured

window reflection

does not include me

but I am here

behind glass

squinting into the sun

It contains street signs

building facades

sidewalk walkers

a grandiose steeple

spire poking the clouds

and me

listening to snippets

of private conversations

for later poem-making

I am here

noticing all of you

not noticing me

NaPoWriMo Day 14! For INVISIBLE in the Imaginary Garden.

Short Sale

Suckers

are born every

day. Hustlers scurry like

roaches at night-time, nurturing

their marks.

Lucky 13! Short & sour for Grapeling’s GET LISTED word list prompt including sucker, hustler, and mark.

Signs of the Time

We listened

to Nikki Giovanni

read poems

of love and resistance

at Chicago Public library

Outside queens and dykes

danced in streets

illuminated with rainbows

We joined and kissed

in front of a yelling man

with a sign

reading God Hates Fags

In memory of my dear friend Tracey, with love.

NaPoWriMo Day 12! For Izy’s prompt to the Real Toads SIGNS OF THE TIME. I am not posting a photo of the sign referenced in this photo. We all know what it looks like.