# it's almost like having you here



## freedombecki

when the storms and wind howl and the dog and cats growl,
it's almost like having you here
when you say what you mean but you don't mean a thing
ergo what is ever to fear?

this thread is for impromptu poetry that just pops in and out of your head. nothing serious... also, put stuff here that's "in process" - unfinished stuff you can come back, scoop up, revise, play, until you put in finished form here or anywhere you like.

its name? oh, the first time i heard that silly song "i'm so miserable without you it's almost like having you here," and i laughed till i almost cried, to think someone could say something so funny about somebody else... so i thought it would make a good ice-breaker for anyone with the wild hare notion that poetry has to be contrived or purposeful. it can be anything, really, so just ...

let there be fun here ....


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## Big Black Dog

Here I sit all broken hearted,
Came to poop but can't get started...


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## freedombecki

the ravishing colors of fall are now parting
bare branches are showing their scars
skies covered in ashen foam edges to zenith
woodpeckers, their black and white bars

berries have faded and fallen in cane mazes 
dead bush grass concealing new growth
scrutinizing snake eyes' predatory gazes
under foot, could not be more loathe


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## freedombecki

Big Black Dog said:


> Here I sit all broken hearted,
> Came to poop but can't get started...


Laying scatological thoughts on others at Christmas time is your idea of poetic score?
I guess I'm old fashioned, because I think offensive stuff should stay permanently behind the bathroom door.


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## midcan5

Get Real

Ever have someone tell you
get real
what is real 
grow up
to where
ah come on you know
I don't
start thinking
thought I was 
I give up
on what
you
please try harder
hm
OK


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## uscitizen

Kree!


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## freedombecki

either the egret's wings underneath were black and dark
or else I saw none other than a quickly fleeting stork






photo credits​
I just can't make up my mind. The trouble with birdwatching is that sometimes, you get a glimpse before it swoops behind a tree, never to be seen again. Egrets are highly graceful birds, but when I read a description of storks, in flight they are said to be graceful also. It seemed I saw the tell-tale dark wing tips (similar to the stork pictured), but I can't say for sure, because I only noticed it for a fraction of a second before the holly tree obfuscated it completely. Storks are not usual visitors here, but they are not unknown, either. I'm giving it a 70% chance it was a stork, though. Shadows underneath egret wings are just not that black even in diffuse lighting that we have on a cloud-covered day.


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## alan1

freedombecki said:


> Big Black Dog said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here I sit all broken hearted,
> Came to poop but can't get started...
> 
> 
> 
> Laying scatological thoughts on others at Christmas time is your idea of poetic score?
> I guess I'm old fashioned, because I think offensive stuff should stay permanently behind the bathroom door.
Click to expand...


I'll refrain from posting my limericks about Nantucket.


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## freedombecki

MountainMan said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Big Black Dog said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here I sit all broken hearted,
> Came to poop but can't get started...
> 
> 
> 
> Laying scatological thoughts on others at Christmas time is your idea of poetic score?
> I guess I'm old fashioned, because I think offensive stuff should stay permanently behind the bathroom door.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I'll refrain from posting my limericks about Nantucket.
Click to expand...

So _YOU'RE_ the notorious ...


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## alan1

freedombecki said:


> MountainMan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Laying scatological thoughts on others at Christmas time is your idea of poetic score?
> I guess I'm old fashioned, because I think offensive stuff should stay permanently behind the bathroom door.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll refrain from posting my limericks about Nantucket.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> So _YOU'RE_ the notorious ...
Click to expand...


I prefer the term "infamous".


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## freedombecki

MountainMan said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MountainMan said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'll refrain from posting my limericks about Nantucket.
> 
> 
> 
> So _YOU'RE_ the notorious ...
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I prefer the term "infamous".
Click to expand...

I never thought you odious, MM. Mischievous, maybe.


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## alan1

freedombecki said:


> MountainMan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> So _YOU'RE_ the notorious ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I prefer the term "infamous".
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I never thought you odious, MM. Mischievous, maybe.
Click to expand...


The evil streak only comes out when I am sober.


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## freedombecki

MountainMan said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MountainMan said:
> 
> 
> 
> I prefer the term "infamous".
> 
> 
> 
> I never thought you odious, MM. Mischievous, maybe.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The evil streak only comes out when I am sober.
Click to expand...

...So it's alright! (to quote from the song 'Matchmaker' from _Fiddler on the Roof_)


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## freedombecki

blue escape*

forget-me-not flowers
before me for hours
reminding me of someone dear
trickle down salty wet tear

while no dire tomorrow
i shall flee no sorrow
stay a part deep in my so'
to love others some mo'

the rose with the thorn
seems a phrase so worn
but learning often takes
something bad that shakes

you can only do 
as you feel led to
make life good as good can be
and when you yearn
to have no burn
it's the fault of misery

my o my how the butterfly flies
up in the air without a care
that tear in me can set me free
so i may fly away with flair

*for some reason, i hear a guitar playing in a minor key as i am writing this one...


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## freedombecki

in midwinter 
a summer's day
barren twigs out
in full display
white lilies bloom
beyond the hill
where grass grows green
as time stays still

this warm day deems
on cold to pass
though wind whips air 
to spoil the glass

images at 
the north of lake
not showing trees
on surface quake
while southern half
shows very clear
cloud linings, trees
bold details near

and sunshine streams
in warming blush
beauty and charm
defying gush​


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## freedombecki

ode to the twinkie

o banner child of tempting taste the empty calorie
anathema to good health through addicted reverie
o who shall rule o'er cursed cake with sweet fluff stuffed inside
that transforms lithe muscle into disfigured jowls to hide

he that sets thee on the shelf emasculates thy power
not only shunned thee eight years past, but annuls thee by hour
the gaunt and reckoned discipline it took to shelf and sock thee
rewards the svelte and wizened wit who overcomes and mocks thee​


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## editec

> when the storms and wind howl and the dog and cats growl,
> it's almost like having you here


 
That's actually a great playful metaphor in my opinion.

I'm not a big fan of most modernist "poetry" but the above gets a pass.


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## freedombecki

Thank you, editec.


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## freedombecki

are we
beings on an atom out in space
all suspended in some kind of cosmic glace?
have we in us little universes, stars
that be far-spaced in the matter that we are?

gazing up to heaven at the dark night sky
brilliant secrets overhead that slowly fly
light the twinkles stellar gas in living cell
mayhap justly order elements to quell

are all creatures formed from some primordial goop
changing when some DNA breaks on a loop?
or did God's hand form us into who we are
i have no remembrance that goes back that far

did the prophets known as wise men in days yore
denizens who ancient tablets were to pore
believe maker whose name one must not mention
forging dust to people in earth's dimension

​


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## California Girl

The Undersigned

For many years, the undersigned
Has struggled to improve her mind.
She is now fair greatly moved,
To find it has not much improved.

To teenager, from tiny tot
To make her seem what she is not,
She went through many a tedious drill,
Developing both mind and will.

Her unremitting efforts were
To build a sterling character,
But the sum of her memory
is roughly what it used to be.

Alas, what this means is plain
That education is all in vein.
For at the end of her endeavor
CG is still as dumb as ever.

*Bows*


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## freedombecki

Thank you, California Girl.


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## California Girl

freedombecki said:


> Thank you, California Girl.



Poetry is not my comfort zone, as you can see.


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## freedombecki

California Girl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you, California Girl.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Poetry is not my comfort zone, as you can see.
Click to expand...

Nor mine, but it gives me an incentive to review the tenets of language and ergo enables me to develop an ear to the best strengths of many wise hearts. They're phenomenal here at USMB. Absolutely.

imvho


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## freedombecki

she waits by the shore
catching unknown morsels of food
for powering her large wingspan and flight
before rendezvous with other
great egrets

great blue heron flies on harlequin wings
to shallows where she has frightened frightened minnows
she paces southeast and northwest
he flies away over the berm
she heaves a sigh of relief and resumes fishing​


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## freedombecki

xylography

pretty primitive print
to which investment was spent
for to soon be built
into a log cabin  quilt

in a small long strips
it will be cut into tips
triangle or square
to be placed here and there




​


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## freedombecki

hidden glances

red rooster proudly stares at me
i see him 'neath the wild oak tree
but upon closer inspection
i give the thought just rejection
as under the spread of branches
is a salt lick found on ranches
hanging from invisible wire
blurred dry eyes make me quite the liar

the other day i saw a deer
though he was far away from here
grabbing glasses with stiffened joints,
i'd be counting the antler points
but much to my amused surprise
dear deer was dead tree in disguise
disbelieve ergo i surmise
if things are seen with naked eyes​


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## freedombecki

she raises her glass and lowers her chin
and mutters "may the best team win."
she has no pony in the show
so there will be no afterglow
nor thought about what might have been​


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## freedombecki

precious small lake drained by drought
recent rains washed shorelines out
black trains belch 'cross charcoal sky
cresting bass drums roaring by
oceans spilt from clouds above
gushing as in arms of love
  sweetness bears the fury's throes
shard of lightning comes and goes
suddenly the sweetness dropped
daybreak came and rainfall stopped
small lake now is to the wire
broadened by rainstorms on fire​


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## freedombecki

love comes calling look away
for someone is in dismay
unfair illness took a mind
who cannot a past life find
sympathies for dear lost soul
love for one with no control
illness once came meant one died
before tv now they bide
watching flicks time after time
forgotten their loves sublime
maybe someday comes a cure
no dementia then to _fleur_


​


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## freedombecki

vespers
04.06.11
rev. 02.20.12

O thank Thee for this beauteous day
Of warm spring sun and purple flow'r
And great egret and blue heron
Who come and go most ev'ry hour

For colored sky at early light
For every field of green so bright
For every friend I ever knew
And for a lifelong love so true

We ask Thine help in troubled world
Where war abounds and hate runs red
O'er little more than selfishness
Where murders, greed yield maimed and dead

And help us do the thing so right
Rewarding good and ending wrong
With courage and no thought of gain
Accepting all with cheerful song

We ask Thy strength when nature's rage
Wounds hapless souls with quakes and cold
Extend Thy hand to heal and help
By lending us both young and old

That we may send a loaf and staff
For weary ones support in need
Be endless in our earnest love
In thought and word and humble deed

Restore in us a spirit right
Renew in us bright countenance
And heal all human wounds and pride
Give us clear mind both day and night.

Again we thank Thee for this day
For happy pal that comes to play
For music, food, and cover warm
Protect and keep our souls from harm​


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## freedombecki

wearing blue check pinafore
making things her friends adore
putting everyone before
herself

gentle, kind and good was she
cleaning rooms from a to z
held her Lord in reverie
always

singing songs by open door
ironing shirts that daddy wore
kissing hurts to heal and more
she tried

worked to do all that she could
helping hand for others' good
asked to pitch in, sure she would
comply

if a bully put us down
she would wear a wrinkled frown
love for fam'ly was her crown
and law

when her soul the living left
leaving everyone bereft
yet still seems the warp and weft
of me​


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## freedombecki

"unknown caller" is calling me
in fact he's on a regular calling spree
never do i answer when his name i see
a friends is not ashamed of his identity

too many unknowns want anonymity
but your information is their very cup of tea
and if you deal with them you can get a wallet whack
but you'll probably never get for errors any money back

they can leave a message if of great import
but they never do as they're a secret sort
so i can look south while the telephone rings
life is too short to get scammed in stings​


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## freedombecki

i host riposte
to bad legislation
and loath its grossed
financial predation
milquetoasts who boast
its false adulation
i roast them most
with keen-edged elation​


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## Ropey

freedombecki said:


> i host riposte
> to bad legislation
> and loath its grossed
> financial predation
> milquetoasts who boast
> its false adulation
> i roast them most
> with keen-edged elation​



Now that be a right fine little bit 'o word wrapping there freedombecki.


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## freedombecki

Ropey said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> i host riposte
> to bad legislation
> and loath its grossed
> financial predation
> milquetoasts who boast
> its false adulation
> i roast them most
> with keen-edged elation​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now that be a right fine little bit 'o word wrapping there freedombecki.
Click to expand...


​


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## freedombecki

Anyone who's written Haiku on a regular basis, I wonder if a specific rhythm is felt while composing?

Silly practice stuff showing a beat (not serious Haiku, btw) small letters represent one beat, not syllables. Sometimes I do, i.e.:


time to do laundry

*1* 2 *3 4 5 6* 7 8

washing shirts and folding socks
*1 2 3 4 5 6 7* 8 

for little children
*1* 2 *3 4 5 6* 7 8 

^^In my head this particular rhythm comes out in somewhat of a singsongy minor key^^
​


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## freedombecki

More practice haiku with a different "beat" (in my head)

listening to bird

*1 2 3 4 5* 6 7 8

trill a song and catch his breath

*1 2 3 4 5 6 7* 8 

will hot chick answer?

*1* 2 *3 4 5 6* 7 8

^^different minor key song, but still minor key^^
​


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## freedombecki

when betting on cards

1* 2 3 4 5 6* 7 8

should kibitzer be on hand

*1 2 3 4 5 6 7* 8 9 10

best to be alert

1 2 3 *4 5 6 7 8*

^^not like the others, very light-hearted, though still 17 syllables^^​


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## midcan5

learn the simple way
count each finger as I do
that makes it easy


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## Ropey

midcan5 said:


> learn the simple way
> count each finger as i do
> that makes it easy


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## freedombecki

midcan5 said:


> learn the simple way
> count each finger as I do
> that makes it easy



ha, that works for you
unfortunately after ten,
i'd be wearing shoes

​


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## freedombecki

of a quiet morning's glory
missive appeared writ in neatness
like a simply stated story
few words said but of such sweetness
violin's reverberation
swelling slow as inspiration
touching strings not played for ever
senses silent sans quip clever
to word said with no pride on it
far more dulcet than a sonnet
just like birds inside a cage
hearts can be jailed by one page 
what could ever be more fine
friend delivering sunshine
decent and short words of boldness
 healing pain and leaving wholeness​


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## gordonkessler

Wow, Fredombecki! You really are quite the poet. Fun stuff!


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## freedombecki

hearing laughter in the room
pushes out most nagging gloom
one may need not know its cause
to know it's a helpful pause
other times, joy quietly
claims a better space to be
granting spirit boundless cheer
gentle silence has no peer
​


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## freedombecki

fibro

while others pray together
no matter through all weather
when bound to four walls ringing
with cheerful angels singing

a friend should have no dismay
it is just bad dna
but i would not risk giving
such sickness to the living

so will bind myself to here
knowing God is always near
therein folding contrite hands
believing He understands

so bright the cross is calling
in spite of clumsy falling
quilting pieced red white and blue
comforting God's poor ones true

Deuteronomy confess
warm the sad and fatherless
i regret it took much pain
this knowledge in wisdom gain​


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## freedombecki

thought there was a cure for the light he always brings into the room
tried to turn away to avoid putting heartstrings near anybody's loom
but when he tapped me on the shoulder
i no longer felt much older as i danced around the floor
as i close my eyes and reel in the warmness that i feel 
as i run for any open door
hoping that the ground will hold me 
as my paradigm unfolds me 
like wings on a small bird lifting and flying
whose melancholy song is barely heard
for thinking there's a cure for the light he always brings into the room
what is it of delight that brings on terror and fright?
separation anxiety seems to have a hold of me and i cannot fight
think i'll just pick up my stuff realizing it's enough and have face to save
going back to the safety of my woman's cave
the only trouble is i can only say, gee whiz,
i love the light he brings into the room​


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## freedombecki

More from 1982 files:

tat, tat, tat, tat, tennies toe-tapping out rhythms on gravel roadsides,
jogging past plum groves aflower in rose-pink shades
toc, toc, toc, toc, even-tempered measure on asphalt shoulder
now among floral roadsides in small whites tufts, yellows, and violet tones of spring
tat, tat, tat, miles of old wood and wire fences, unkempt fields, rotting sheds, trees scattered as though planted by a dice-roll.
tik. tik, tik, tik, tik, tik, skipping past bicycle rack pipes, faded paint chipping away
schi, schi, schi, hm? schi, schi, rain drops starting to fall
up concrete stairs encased in flat rocks into dry-dock campus lobby, long hair dripping and huffing deeply the clean air
back out again as sun peeks out and tik, tik, tik, tik, tac, tac, tac, tac, tat, tat, tat, tat, all things glistening as they do after rainfall​


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## freedombecki

wildflowers dance upon a grave in deepest forest cover
as spirits of a fallen past they dazzle like no other
they blossom forth a day or two becoming fruit and seeds
that bring into another life so rooted in good deeds

o bury me close to a tree its sustenance to be
for cemeteries are so full and lose their memory
but plants keep giving o'er and o'er
a bit of food or beauty
please place my body in dirt poor
for enriched soil duty
​


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## freedombecki

pleasure point is where green fields
shake with butterflies, flowers
rising sun and berry yields
playful birds sing for hours

breezes carry fresh pine glow
bunnies escape their mother
calling world and thither go
scrapping, chasing each other

male frog croaks a hasty song
a female watchfully hears
if he sings a note that's wrong
she intently disappears

clouds release raindrops too big
mellifluous dragonflies
buzz beneath the budding twig
where security sure lies​


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## Mr. H.

*I'll be the judge of that*

I give you room, you take my hat
You give me little
I stand aback.

I give
you take
my thirst
unslake

Denied, defied
Prejudged with grudge
No tit for tat

This jugde of that.


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## Nosmo King

None of us spoke.  We just grunted 'hellos' as we passed beneath the old Consol Energy sign at the end of the parking lot.  The rain filled West Virginia sky swirled with grays and whites as I shuffled into the locker room.  It's funny, but when I think of it, five days a week I see the sky for no more than fifteen or twenty minutes a day.  The drive to and from the parking lot.

Squeezing into the same elevator that lowered two previous generations of miners, we all seem to light our helmet lamps simultaneously.  It's not rehearsed, but it always happens that way.  The rusty cable lengthened above us as we started our decent.

Our helmet lights now glistened off the walls of the shaft.  We appeared as diamond eyed Cyclopes as the air grew cooler and damper and staler.  Jostling forward and back and side to side the elevator car creaked and squealed and finally shuddered to a stop.  We had reached the floor of the mine.

Most people have a work day.  I never thought of my routine as having anything at all to do with day.  It could be high noon yet the darkness never changes, other than a glimpse of a headlight on the loader or the occasional flicker of a cigarette lighter in the safe zone.  

I know what I'm supposed to know.  I hear what I'm supposed to hear.  And that is all that I will ever know or hear so long as I work two hundred fathoms beneath the surface of the earth.  Neither light nor knowledge, the things most cherished by some, ever get to me and my comrades underground.


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## freedombecki

who would e'er be mean to you
when you've more skill than lash larue?
some _fem fatale _with rubber band
she pulls to snap your kindly hand?
an office friend who wants to be
your boss whose loss would make you free?
some of us here are not so hep
and so i'm sending you a rep
in hopes that such a tiny balm
might bring a bit of caring calm​


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## freedombecki

Nosmo King said:


> None of us spoke.  We just grunted 'hellos' as we passed beneath the old Consol Energy sign at the end of the parking lot.  The rain filled West Virginia sky swirled with grays and whites as I shuffled into the locker room.  It's funny, but when I think of it, five days a week I see the sky for no more than fifteen or twenty minutes a day.  The drive to and from the parking lot.
> 
> Squeezing into the same elevator that lowered two previous generations of miners, we all seem to light our helmet lamps simultaneously.  It's not rehearsed, but it always happens that way.  The rusty cable lengthened above us as we started our decent.
> 
> Our helmet lights now glistened off the walls of the shaft.  We appeared as diamond eyed Cyclopes as the air grew cooler and damper and staler.  Jostling forward and back and side to side the elevator car creaked and squealed and finally shuddered to a stop.  We had reached the floor of the mine.
> 
> Most people have a work day.  I never thought of my routine as having anything at all to do with day.  It could be high noon yet the darkness never changes, other than a glimpse of a headlight on the loader or the occasional flicker of a cigarette lighter in the safe zone.
> 
> I know what I'm supposed to know.  I hear what I'm supposed to hear.  And that is all that I will ever know or hear so long as I work two hundred fathoms beneath the surface of the earth.  Neither light nor knowledge, the things most cherished by some, ever get to me and my comrades underground.


Cool. That's like something out of a Gustave Flaubert's novel. _Bravo!_


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## Nosmo King

freedombecki said:


> Nosmo King said:
> 
> 
> 
> None of us spoke.  We just grunted 'hellos' as we passed beneath the old Consol Energy sign at the end of the parking lot.  The rain filled West Virginia sky swirled with grays and whites as I shuffled into the locker room.  It's funny, but when I think of it, five days a week I see the sky for no more than fifteen or twenty minutes a day.  The drive to and from the parking lot.
> 
> Squeezing into the same elevator that lowered two previous generations of miners, we all seem to light our helmet lamps simultaneously.  It's not rehearsed, but it always happens that way.  The rusty cable lengthened above us as we started our decent.
> 
> Our helmet lights now glistened off the walls of the shaft.  We appeared as diamond eyed Cyclopes as the air grew cooler and damper and staler.  Jostling forward and back and side to side the elevator car creaked and squealed and finally shuddered to a stop.  We had reached the floor of the mine.
> 
> Most people have a work day.  I never thought of my routine as having anything at all to do with day.  It could be high noon yet the darkness never changes, other than a glimpse of a headlight on the loader or the occasional flicker of a cigarette lighter in the safe zone.
> 
> I know what I'm supposed to know.  I hear what I'm supposed to hear.  And that is all that I will ever know or hear so long as I work two hundred fathoms beneath the surface of the earth.  Neither light nor knowledge, the things most cherished by some, ever get to me and my comrades underground.
> 
> 
> 
> Cool. That's like something out of a Gustave Flaubert's novel. _Bravo!_
Click to expand...

Madame Bovary and I thank you!  My teachers in college always compared my style to Salinger.  I must be maturing.


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## Nosmo King

Mama always said "Your memory is in your nose!".  I guess so.  A whiff of burnt oil, the aroma of sulfur or the stench of sweat always puts me back in the mill.  Noises can't compare.  Nothing sounds like a blast furnace when a heat is poured.  There are no sounds quite like those made by a fountain of molten steel hitting the base of a cauldron.  But the smells happen with a serendipity found almost anywhere.

There's an old house on the hill that still has a coal furnace.  Just about every other home is heated with natural gas.  In mid October, the residents fire it up to brace against the first frosts.  Coal smoke curls from the chimney just as it did from the old coke batteries.  Acrid and sulfurous, the smoke clings to my sinuses just to remind me that once I was a steelworker and the future was all laid out before me like a carpet.

On parent teacher night I met with Chuckie's science teacher.  The chemistry lab had an amber pallor and smelled of sulphuric acid.  "These ten lines produce 27% of the stainless steel used in the free world."  That's what my foreman told me my first day.  Steel that would one day become kitchen sinks and clarinet keys.  Window frames and linings for dishwashers.  Medic Alert charms and scalpels.  

All that steel was pickled and annealed before my very eyes.  Blasted with shot to remove scale, drenched in sulphuric acid to remove the carbon.  Dragged through a bath of oil and rolled to the thickness of a dime.  All that steel was processed and wrapped and shipped with my help.  And the aroma of the acid reminded me that it's all gone now.

My nose is not my friend.  My nose is a means to put me firmly in my place.  Mama used to wipe the soot from my upper lip.  The air was visible when the mills up and down the valley were working twenty four hours a day.  The snow would fall not virginal white, but burnt orange after being filtered through the Pittsburgh atmosphere.

Today the air is clear and clean and absent of the odor of steel and money.


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## midcan5

pieces of a day 

I am standing in line waiting to purchase non-fat milk at Wawa when I overhear an elderly man explain to the cashier his daughter married a Mexican - the girl exclaims rather loudly - why did she do that - somewhat nonplussed the man answers something about he has nothing against people of other... this was unclear and the girl asked another question - I wanted to say I was a bit mixed too and so are all of us but I went about paying as this was only about buying milk....


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## freedombecki

midcan5 said:


> pieces of a day
> 
> I am standing in line waiting to purchase non-fat milk at Wawa when I overhear an elderly man explain to the cashier his daughter married a Mexican - the girl exclaims rather loudly - why did she do that - somewhat nonplussed the man answers something about he has nothing against people of other... this was unclear and the girl asked another question - I wanted to say I was a bit mixed too and so are all of us but I went about paying as this was only about buying milk....


My grandmother had a saying "Some people say more than they think."


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## freedombecki

scattered footprints on dull green hills
walking away, walking back
sometimes they disappear then reappear miles later
each one has a purpose not known to anyone other
walking away, walking back
like a spirit breathing warm air on a longing neck
and about the time the good feeling is understood, 
it vanishes leaving
scattered footprints on dull green hills
​


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## freedombecki

there's a new day breaking on the lovely earth
there's a breath of fresh clean air about
there's a cooling on the surface of the lake
there's a dulcet song of bird on ear

there is no arising of a misted cloud
there is no grieved anger anywhere
there is calm reflection on mirrored surface
there is rustication pastoral

when exploring each face of the countryside
where spring flow'rs adorn a widened path
when ducks softly quack their sounds enchantingly
that's a morn revealing life is good​


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## freedombecki

o solemn tree of green leaf bearing
who at thy trunk with axe is tearing
thy sap flows slow like tears of wearing
stay strong of heart within this sharing

thy bark is thick but patterned rightly
thy fruit is sweet but also sprightly
ye shade the earth from sol so lightly
without a word ye talk politely


​


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## freedombecki

there seems to be no solace when you are blue
when the one you love no longer will be true
the betrayal and shock of pain 
downpouring on the heart like rain
as gloomy gray clouds gather and surround you

sing a song of cheerful things when feeling sad
think of lovely days and joys when things go bad
try to recall something witty
give your misery no pity
gather sweetness in your soul; you will be glad


​


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## freedombecki

vespers on a Sunday morning

heaven may be through sheer veil
through which the living must pass
some time or other, sister and brother
we would be wise not to fail

traditions taught to small child
sweetly his song swells the breeze
he sings for Jesus, if just to please us
who taught be kindly and mild

when times get rough on life's gales
sorrows come, winter cold, loss
oft when belongin' we maybe wrong him
his love for us never pales

do not forget lessons learned
we are much better for pain
when we feel weakened his word can strengthen
his caring on our hearts burned​


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## freedombecki

circle of life in plant is rife
after the drought, branches fall out
down with a crack drawn to the back,
in a straight file to the burn pile
in several days light up the blaze
along with trash, turn them to ash
heat warps the air with its hot flare
would it like time skip through space chyme
from here to there getting no wear
adding no age bending the page?
paleness in face praying for grace
of secret known albeit flown
in falling fruit seed may take root
growing again life cycle win


​


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## freedombecki

there was a small squirrel annoying​  whose hole-digging antics employing   
earth mounds here and there​  truth in fact: everywhere   
in the lawn he grows cheerful destroying
11.26.10​


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## freedombecki

summer envisioned on my rear view mirror glass 
gentle, warm rains falling and quenching verdant grass 
the blossom smiles facing the sun along its path 
in kindred with bird by brook vibrating its bath 
deep darkened plums on tree are sunned to sweetened batch 
ten thousand berries feed the visitors to patch 
birdsong is quick to fall upon aesthetic's ear 
fragrance ubiquitous surrounds the soul sincere 
and morning's dewdrop enlarges smallest leaf vein 
as nature sings her industry in sweet refrain 
a solstice night when starlight lightens darkened field 
and fireflies to imagination have appealed 
the cattle in the field a-lowing call to mind 
the sweetest incident bequested to mankind 
a love and freedom given to the soul of man 
eternal peace in warmth unfolding as to plan 
bestowed as gift like wisdom although set apart 
to bless the affable and loving human heart 
as snowflakes gather on the windowpane outside 
endearing words between good friends o pray abide

01.07.2009​


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## freedombecki

ode to carolyn

her singing voice was resonant
her legend kindness known
but at her celebration wake
dear harmony had flown

molten tears from loving eyes
dripped quickly from each face
for n'er again her precious sound
will be heard in earth's place

we should be joyful in our heart
she's in a better home
and will have restored thoughts return,
confusion set to roam

ten years have passed since last she knew
daughters from strangers far
may like an angel from above
she now, their guiding star

carolyn, 1938-2009

03.15.2009​


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## freedombecki

mists from the graying cirrus skies once blue
softly adorn the meadow's grass with dew
and quench the branch withered by drought and sol
as chary hawk drinks from the wellspring's bowl
refractions blurred mix sky with trunk and leaf
with paint-stroke waves so minuscule and brief
one might not guess this light-enhanced collage
be aggregate of life's fleeting mirage
human constructs by impressions naive
ergo compare to that one may believe

03.27.2011​


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## freedombecki

each day plays out a different hand
reflected on the pond
the new spring green shows cheerfulness
uniquely at the dawn

sometimes the cirrus clouds on high
convert the sun to white
but softens not the terrapins
when fear turns into fright

at dusk the purple streaks become
dark shades of magnitude
except when full moon light appears
with golden tones imbued

when winter comes refraction shows
branch lace against the sky
and duplicates of every bird
skim surfing on the fly

the gracious pond still welcomes me
with soft and winding path
i favor and i savor it
when working out life's math

04.17.2011​


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## freedombecki

ode to yellowstone park


o'er northwest tannish cliffs of old
yon amber sawtooth, yea behold
bubbling spirits boil't on high
escaping earth to seek the sky
making groves of aspens shake
quiv'ring till their shadows quake
bighorns scale orthog'nal walls
enigmas spritz the bride's veil falls
aspiring spruce and lowly sage
turn many a man's soul-weary page
reviving sons and daughters fair
inhaling bracing mountain air
to view the tawdry cauldron bowl
we might know need for saving soul
 and speaking thus of gratefulness
we mustn't swim old faithfulness
yet we might try two-ocean lake
averting bears with cow bell shake
avoid the bison cute and sweet
or you could quick thy maker meet
and moose abuse will get you grief
stay in the car, to make it brief
mosquitoes there have brutal stakes
as potent as the oil of snakes
yet cool and sleek jenny lake lays
below the peaks where sweet fawn plays
ah, yellowstone thy greatest worth
where tetons tower o'er the earth
is in refreshing, fragrant plant
and awesomeness as geysers rant

04.19.2011​


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## freedombecki

i
saw
today
a hundred
cattle egrets
of African descent
pondering my afternoon clearing
of weeds
on the fence line
at the neighbor's woods.
they well knew what i was doing
they knew fires were raging across the friendship state
they knew i was preventing our house, pond, buildings and fields
from any fires that could start here tomorrow
the caution danger level has been declared "extreme"
if the mowed fire line helps stop embers from falling to one of our tree,
we will have safety
but if the winds blow hot and harshly
a fire could roar past my feeble efforts
but the cattle egrets knew what was on my mind
maybe their flights presented them the facts of a million scorched acres
they knew and they didn't fly away like they usually do when they hear
the drumming of a riding mower for four consecutive hours
i thought of my stellar morning sewing sturdy quilted pillows for nursing home residents who need support
not
even
aware
of egrets

04.22.2011​


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## freedombecki

clear dusky surface telling details seen
amidst the gray of sky and quiet green
when light wind rising pillaging top glass
sends myriad of wavelets to harass
serenity as gifted from above
spry spirits speed to move the heart of love
one started quiv'ring obscure fish below
'twas large, assertive, angry and did blow
a smaller winsome faerie came to add
her shorter version of the angst she had
o nostradamic mirror silver pond
why hast thou chosen waving sparkler wand
for my attention span has widened with thee near
whatever is it spectre i should hear
that ordinary senses tell me not
about a legend long i had forgot
o worry not dear spirits from the dead
i chalked it off as loss and put it from my head

05.01.2011​


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## freedombecki

expatiating thunder rips heaven
terrifying raising cain like leaven
sentinel of earth defeating drought plain
bringing desert bare benevolent rain
roaring, shaking rattle of sky's marrow
thrown behind the lightning's blinding arrow
plangent drums routing solace throughout town
filling park and alley with surround sound
wise men run for cover from the deluge
wasting nothing till they find a refuge
sycophant of dissonance tags along
demanding swift justice for ev'ry wrong
pretending the earth should e'er be mellow
can you say he is a naive fellow
whether you prefer to saunter or rush
thor's cacophony retreats and leaves hush
earth in quietude may ever respond
thunder rusticates by filling fish pond

05.12.11​


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## freedombecki

o dearest kindred carry me
whene'er i die to lone prairie
remote and wild where wind blows free
as i find cheer in reverie

sometimes when feeling so alone
i discoursed god on direct phone
no one else could soften moan
or comfort fibro's pricking bone

wandering's best away from fence
ah thinking thus should soften sense
remains rising in spite of rain
the here and now fracas of pain

too often crying from my bed
when hurt was thought to be in head
at least out there, the answers be
where freedom stays the last of me

05.16.2011

Note: new medical panacea instituted a few months ago eliminated all that. ^^^ Life is good. ​


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## freedombecki

You know you have friends here
You know you are missed.
I hope that your garden
Is by the Lord kissed
I hope that life brings you
The best ABCs
And a happy return soon
To USMB.​


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## freedombecki

first light of dawn

sky colors soft o'er black lace horizon
created by leaves on the trees
mirrored in neutrals upon small lake waters
as still and as quiet as eden
shapes wild imagining create this unique scene
upside-down figures blurred by little fish
swimming in little dish causing slight stir
weeds at the foreground of beautiful morning round
binding the traced lines reflecting the grace fine
of sky colors intensifying somber sweet there's no denying
while moths and dragonflies sleep in their dreams of deep
morning is breaking out everywhere else
nothing frenetic it's all enigmatic
and calm as a coffee cup calls
and first birds chirp quietly​


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## freedombecki

acrostic
thundering, thankless, theatrical threats
heated hyperbolic hate-speech and hounding
atrocious, acerbic articulations
nefarious, ninnyhammer's narratives
kindly kempt keystrokes, kinship's kith
serenity's sensible scion, sound sleep
​


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## freedombecki

the castle wall is lovely white
green gardens trim, tall spires
yet it was built with waste and spite
as peasants lives grew dire

the people kept it centuries
inhabited by none
to show vain wantonness brings spoil
when all is said and done​


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## freedombecki

o God give heart to pass Thy test
obedience's gold
let never any sophist's wrong
cross over my threshold

should Thy righteousness expose
sophists' cruel derision
give me the strength to hold Thy will
to be my light and vision

if I am burned in anger's heat
receiving friendly fire
please hold me firmly in Thine arms
to do as Thou require

if any calumny is thrown
please do deliver me
for living right is all i ask
in beauty's reverie​


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## sealadaigh

alan1 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MountainMan said:
> 
> 
> 
> I prefer the term "infamous".
> 
> 
> 
> I never thought you odious, MM. Mischievous, maybe.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The evil streak only comes out when I am sober.
Click to expand...



two horrible condditions.


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## freedombecki

_Quercus alba_ White Oak

tall tree, sculpted leaves
lumber - floors, casks, boatbuilding;
nuts ground into breads​


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## freedombecki

slaying the grass


following rainy days that slipped away
comes time to notice when grass turns to hay
the frittilary butterflies are pleased
landscape endowed with small flowers appeased

capricious nature has lubricious whims
under the wheel crunch heavy pine tree limbs
succumbed last year to drought's harsh wanderlust
as time returns the proud from life to dust

around the meadows, passing Queen Anne's lace
the cheerful image of a lov'd one's face
brings joy to heart and floods the soul with love
sweet tolerance of pearly clouds above
​


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## pbel

My neighbor

There is a man called Weddle,
On his bicycle he would always pedal
He lives off society

Never quite seeing sobriety
And he&#8217;s still looking 
For a place to settle.


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## freedombecki

when winter comes early and chilling winds blow
outside neither shelter nor warm place to go
with gratitude given for roof overhead
for bedclothes and pillow to rest weary head
glad heart for the morning and pieces to sew
to give quilts to children with no place to go
may god watch them over and give them true friends
at least they have comfort when brief childhood ends
when parents were rovers who could not retrieve
the names of old friends from ten moves taken leave,
the children moved often; each safe haven's loss
was knowing that rolling stones gather no moss
yet watching the wild birds in clear window view
there's solace for spirit of heart sliced in two​


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## freedombecki

Poem unfinished to date? I'm about to leave one in the next message box, and will be back to revise and rewrite (this thread is to be used as revisionist when you need to finish something later--just copy unfinished work and take it to the next level by adding on in a current message box at any later convenient time).

That way, others may be encouraged to start a piece in the short amount of time they may have momentarily, come back later, and finish up what they started a couple of weeks ago, day before yesterday, last year, or whenever. No expiration date!

This thread is a process thread until you get what you want as a finished work.

May your poetry be a happy process that brings you a lot of happiness and satisfaction.


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## freedombecki

My little scrap left to be done later, since I have impingements on my time today. Each line seems to have 13 beats, but it's not Friday, so it may have hope (or not)

It actually started as I was gazing out at the lake, thinking of the Black guillemots that visited in the past, and how I miss them, may never see them again since their breeding grounds are in the arctic circle, and they showed up here almost the entirety of the summer, go figure.. then of the year we visited Canada on the last Luxor Line train trip across the Canadian areas of the continent, seeing literally miles and miles of Canada geese lined up in the October fields to give their young flying lessons for their long annual migratory trek to warmer climates for wintering purposes:
(We moved back home to a small Texas acreage with a large pond 3 years back, to retire from long careers up north where all birds migrate in summer months and leave before the first snowstorms, usually)


In the dark new winter morning as the visions dozed
Were no darkened plots to further death to be disposed
Flocks of geese brave nightime passage where elders have flown
Using all their fat as fuel, keeping courses known 

Valiant spirits at the lead point guide the colony
Ever showing wisdom, courage, toward destiny
That grows jungle foods aplenty for the wasted flock
That in mind, they travel forward beating down the clock


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## freedombecki

fibromyalgia
cramps contort leg muscle pain
season of screaming


----------



## freedombecki

eyelids are leaden
feet swollen with fibro pain
mean spider bit me 


/attitude​


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## freedombecki

upon hard and frozen ground 
bare twigs a-breaking lay
where hoven creatures tippy-toed
in manner of field day

no tender herbie flow'rin'
except one bitter bloom
a pale and purple specimen
upon bare earthen tomb

where blew the sweet warm breezes
leaving empty bird's nest?
music's absence, tear flowing
and ears as well bereft

last week my soul was joyful
a-baskin' in the sun
today the clouds stroke cold to mind
spell-casting snub of one

o neither faint nor falter
brave snub and dour disparity
may heaven's angels lift thee
enfolded by love's clarity


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## freedombecki

though fingers stiffen
arctic winds coming from north
warmed by loving thoughts​


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## freedombecki

'tis raining

percussion pelts its droll enigma
pounding orders through the wind-torn roof
wrenching winds bringing helter-skelter
blowing reddish shingles puff and poof

now the soft ground in puddles growing
may wash health back to thirsty lake's shore
whenever drained pools perish creatures
nature's love comes to richly restore​


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## freedombecki

when night is dark and wind blows chill
i think of you and it is nil
it warms me up and fills my cup
to know you're sending prayers up

as morning breaks, rain rolling down
and soaking roots beneath the ground
your thought helps me to tolerate
summer's furor to hibernate

on heaven's violins so fine
with good comfort in sweetest whine
that gently falls on downy deep
resplendent rest, morpheus' sleep​


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## freedombecki

mirrored top of lake
shows sky and resplendant trees
apart from muddle
​


----------



## freedombecki

hail thee blinding sun
decimate hoary frost beard
of old man winter​


----------



## freedombecki

placid lake mirrors
blue sky hemmed by bare brown lace
where heaven meets earth​


----------



## Nosmo King

Quite the collection of Winter haikus!


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## freedombecki

Thank you, kind sir.


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## freedombecki

o glad spring morn of shining sun
that promises a day of fun
already one great egret haunts
the wading pool for hunger's wants
and clouds, frozen, above us fly
by bits of blue from morning sky
the golden grass shows signs of green
although closed flow'rs are yet unseen
resplendant males in colored ware
signal all girls that they are there
whose plumage dull to them is beauty
for showing off is innate duty
life's finest time on antic's wing
for lifelong pleasure sweet souls sing
though pairing off is thought the best
bringing forth life in tiny nest
so that in coming years their joys
will bless us all with cheerful noise​


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## freedombecki

warm sun through window
brings heat from chilly outdoors
miraculously​


----------



## freedombecki

unseen fish gather;
mirror lake takes a texture
of schmaltz-frosted fridge​


----------



## Nosmo King

freedombecki said:


> unseen fish gather;
> mirror lake takes a texture
> of schmaltz-frosted fridge​



schmaltz?!?  Chicken fat used as kosher 'butter'.  I'd like to think of the unseen fish as lox if my fridge is schmaltz frosted!


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## freedombecki

Nosmo King said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> unseen fish gather;
> mirror lake takes a texture
> of schmaltz-frosted fridge​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> schmaltz?!? Chicken fat used as kosher 'butter'. I'd like to think of the unseen fish as lox if my fridge is schmaltz frosted!
Click to expand...

 
when cast in concrete--
plaster hip boots overboard--
on the schmaltz express
​


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## freedombecki

pretty buttercups
opening in full sunlight
love is pink springtime​


----------



## freedombecki

two gaillardias
bright green, red-and-yellow-fringed
frivolous play suits


----------



## freedombecki

in springtime's green field
pink primroses carpet earth
beauties of sunshine


----------



## freedombecki

merlin's cup tilting
haloed eerily above
esoteric moon​


----------



## freedombecki

ink strata on peach
moving south at break of day
into upward lift​


----------



## freedombecki

plate-glass mirror pond
reflecting pink morning sky
schmoozing to azure​


----------



## freedombecki

oooo the morning light
may never know of heart's insight
into the bliss of thoughts surreal
that flutter past its valves of steel
that open slowly as the fog
creeps silently the flood plain's bog​


----------



## freedombecki

through thunder storm a songbird chat
trumpets tale of this and that
beneath the eaves on top-shelf perch
he sings a slightly scornful search
gray lake refills then overflows
as nature turns on heaven's hose
and drenches all the world with rains
as waters rise above flood drains
the lightning flicks repeatedly
and chastened streams flow to the sea
bearing mud and detritus
to abyss far away from us​


----------



## freedombecki

sly, pitiless sun
scorching evanescent earth 
farewell walden pond​


----------



## freedombecki

fragile cirrus nest
inhibits powerful sol
from tepefying​


----------



## freedombecki

tis time to put the empty cup back on the shelf
it cannot be my vessel when he hung himself
with thoughts of others put so far ahead of me
his lying eyes beheld no lasting reverie
so limping through my final journey that is trod
my only love shall be the great almighty God​


----------



## freedombecki

scalloped white puffs and grey mists soften heat of sun
they blend their colors rolling forces into one
and grass on burnt fields say farewell to verdant zest
a gold bird chastens mockingbird away from nest
trusting herself alone to guard her precious flock
from predators or busybodies' noisy squawk
a rustic scene reflected on the August lake
alleviating sore eyes from calescent bake​


----------



## freedombecki

o beauty of the egret's wing
o'er seashore or the slum
in pairs they beat the still warm air
like echoes of a drum

their peerless majesty aside
they nest the tall oak's height
and when instruction season comes
they test each newbie's flight

they test for gracious movement from
the compass point around
no silver streak was e'er so sleek
as landing sans a sound

though no surprise to anyone
a suitor with a crest
displayed his glacier featherings
this grey heron, his best

the black guillemots two years gone
have told of Freedom Lake
that nothing any bird has seen
equals our gentle rakes

to verify this mystery
grey heron flew from north
to see heralded beauty that
each great egret brings forth​Based on observations, Freedom Lake, Walker County, Texas, 5pm-7:15 pm 09.11.2013​


----------



## Ropey

Your avatar 

moth winged delight 
teasing air currents homeward
powder soft alight​


----------



## freedombecki

Ropey said:


> Your avatar
> 
> moth winged delight
> teasing air currents homeward
> 
> powder soft alight​


^^ Lovely, Ropey. ^^


----------



## freedombecki

seasonal nurture
reconciliation falls
in cleansing deluge​


----------



## freedombecki

blue skies grayed by clouds of night
still host starry lights
sparkling stars illumine bright
till the grays are whites​


----------



## freedombecki

indigo night sky​ hazy waters mirror dusk​ day is ushered west​


----------



## freedombecki

arise from slumber to greet morning's song​ of bluebirds and laughter and joy​ a twinkling blue eye wipes sleep from his eye​ and stretches with smile of a boy​ .​ collected, small pleasures,​ in all of life's treasures​ though cobwebs swept under the rug​ don't measure the warmth of a hug​


----------



## freedombecki

shining orange orb​ glowing lunar refraction​ moon in scorpio​ ​


----------



## Ropey

Water churns without a splash,
Whirlwinds blow in the deep still,
Lightening strikes a dark slash,
Storming blizzards without chill.

Sunflowers bloom without a bed,
Morning beams within the night,
Babes now born and never bred,
While planets soar without a flight.


----------



## Ropey

Wrapped, a voluminous visage,
in multi dimensional design.
A crystory, chronological,
heaves the heathen heavenward,
rapt within, enrapt without..

So if warp, woof & weird we weave,
does our fate fancy us forward,
improving on circumstances coded,
in a double-helix diced & decoded.
Impelling our ancestors inward,
propelled through heaven's door,
dare we leave?

Garbed in such celestial covering,
luminous pajamas pored & peeled,
a stellary, shimmered & sheered, 
from a light-born layer of legend,
of such streams sail our soul ride.


----------



## freedombecki

charcoal and gray cloud​ obfuscates dew sparkle bright​ orangesicle sunset​


----------

