Seven Poems, Or, Word Love II

A summer morning storm

Honeybee hugs her

Self Heal,

Keeps it

Safe

Her honeyed home, 

Geometric perfection

*

Afternoon sunshine spills,

Long.

Spider weaves her new home.

Ghost in red silk dress,

Reading Chandler,

Remembering

The Long Goodbye

*

Fruit falls from.

Still life,

Amaryllis, nectarine

Brush strokes

Replace.

A red rose, a tangerine.

Add bluebird,

In flight,

Life not still.

*

Commas,

On purpose.

Periods grow legs,

Run On and

Off pages

Marks exclaim!

Interjections! whisper… Ssh!

Semicolons become

Whole

*

Whirl, twirl, swirl, curl,

Dance dress ribbon music

Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Berlioz, Bach

Dahlias, delphinium, daisies, dandelions

Birds in blue,

Nestled in yew

Zyzzyva!

*

Seeds dropped by birds,

Flying.

Flowers grow by bees,

Working

Pines grow by their flowers’,

Heating

Animals thrive with humans’

Caring

Love, steadfast.

*

At midnight.

Stars are

Loud.

Lupine dance disco

Moon above

Sparkles, revolves to Donna Summer

Daisy in bell-bottoms says,

Take a Chance On Me!

Lily wants to be

Dancing Queen!

Petunia is

Hot Child in the City

You Better Shop Around!

*

When You’re Change Averse

When you (I) must change your diet and you know you’re going to hate it

The fun scale will go down so you’ll never ever rate it

Counting the carbs makes you roll your eyes

You can never again let your weight rise

It’s better to acknowledge and out loud state it

*

When you know a place where doughnuts are hot

Where the cannoli serving is delicious and a lot

A restaurant where there’s yummy marinara sauce

But of your diet you must be the boss

Partake of pasta carbs you must not

*

It’s likely a good thing you like the kale

But you’ve no desire to be skinny as a rail

A happy medium you must find

Then you’ll not be in an anxiety bind

But on this quest you shall not fail

*

Alas there are many good books to read

Stories give you pleasure and to faraway places can lead

You love words and good tales told

Powell’s is close so more books in the fold

Books have no calories yourself to feed

*

Best dessert ever!

Eight Micros, Or, When You Just Love Words

Eight little poems, or one long one, whichever you prefer.

*

Snow of a midwinter, moonlight tardy,

Bacchanale winds down –

Whirling woolen warmth, foxes dream, their tails they’ll keep

*

An old cellar. Alas,

Books, not wine

Antique parchment’s scent, a language in onyx, olden

*

Words in indigo, pages in ivory, stories in

Hidden limestone layers

Hills painted. Ochre, aubergine

*

Music in a pine chest, a spruce, hand carved

Quilts of old garments, calico. A leopard watches, closely. Kafka’s ghost

Pensive

*

Blueberries in a pie, an old fashioned in a

Tumbler

Gifts wrapped in brown paper,

Cherry red string

*

Old Boston rocker, love’s initials on one arm

BR + LN,

Century old ivory lace, a tiny hole in the train

Add mothballs

*

House on a hill, pink, not haunted

Storm,

Preparing

Maple leaves falling

*

Atop a little knoll,

The Count of Monte Cristo

In

The Cherry Orchard

Thinks about

Crime and Punishment

And finds

The Body in the Library

*

Gifts

Monday morning in my

Mailbox, a strand of lovely

Pearls

Not wrapped

Placed on top of a blue envelope, addressed in

Cursive.

I recognize the hand.

Of my young sister.

But the pearls?

Who put them

There.

*

Also, in my garden,

Pink tulip adjacent,

An opal

Brooch

Half buried

Found by Fiona, my

Yorkie.

*

In my fridge

A pair of emerald

Earrings.

Found by me during my search for leftover

Cheese omelette.

*

Gifts from a stranger

Someone has

Infringed

Benevolent? Nefarious?

*

I sit with a cup of coffee

Ponder

I feel no fear, but tears in my coffee

Now flavored with

Salt.

After, I reapply my lipstick

Ballet pink

I will go out into the world today.

My husband passed away five years ago.

He was here.

Birthday gifts.

*

Yesterday I looked for him in the garden

Shed

How does someone come back from

Ash?

But he was here.  He knew I was looking,

And he came.

*

I put on his gift of pearls.

Fiona and I take a walk.

*

Eyes of Forest

A copse of birches

A fox watches me

I watch her

I continue to walk

Snow dusts the firs, fragile

A hare, love starts, the sky, sees

A wolf

An oak

Eyes

Snow sugar

No snowballs

Swish swish

A cardinal

A winter tune

A raven, also

A bobcat

Quiet hunts

Feet, stealthy

A stonewall

Time worn

Lichen, hiding

Steel sky

Cold stillness

Daydreaming oaks

*

Woods think, imagine.

Beauty, a few tears,

            Solitude

**

Micros, A Dozen

The palest blush cashmere

Sweater

A lovely pair of freshwater pearl and gold

Earrings,

Persuasion

A pair of black onyx and gold

Cufflinks

A black cat curled up on a red velvet

Love seat,

Lovers under

Mistletoe

A walk on a misty

Morning

A sweet Bichon Frise with you on that

Walk,

A stylish chartreuse rain

Slicker

A pair of red patent leather mary jane’s with

Two inch heels

A necklace of

Rubies,

A Leos Janacek flute

Concerto

A single lotus on a little

Pond

A bouquet of pink snapdragons and red roses

In a tall silver vase,

A waxing crescent

Moon

A pair of red

Dragonflies

A hive of

Honeybees,

Love Story

Three Calico

Cats

Little red jackets for all three to wear

In rainy weather,

Twelve tiny black

Wellies

A vintage

Bookstore

A classic mysteries

Section,

The High Window

A lilac scented

Bubble bath

A little

Candlelight,

Blue velvet

Mischief

A bowl of perfectly ripe, juicy

Cherries

Champagne for

Two,

It Happened One Night

A raucous

Murder of Crows

A scarecrow-less

Corn field,

A Coffin For Dimitrios

A full moon

Midnight

A just out of the oven pumpernickel

Loaf,

A bottle of

Malbec

Four Doors, Four Stories

Four doors,

All closed,

Locked.

All with stories to

Tell,

Inside.

One contains a waterfall, silent until I

Enter, if I choose

It. What tale does sparkling, falling water

Tell?

In another, red amaryllis abseils the walls.

A love story wrapped in deep floral

Red? Only if I unlock can I hear the petals

Speak.

Another contains a fir forest lighted by the

Moon. But only if I choose that door, will the

Light shine. Otherwise, darkness.

Should I open a darkened door?

In another room, Monarchs feast on

Milkweed.

If I choose that door, will I endanger

Them more?

If I open, I can hear stories.

Of their long journeys,

The perils they

Face.

Or should I let them

Be?

Keep their tales to themselves.

Remain unburdened by me.

A sometimes reckless

Human.

*

I’ve been given four keys.

But told I can only unlock one.

What is the consequence of trying all

Four?

There will definitely be

One,

Or many.

Which room do I want more?

Water, beautiful flowers, forest or butterflies?

I cannot have all.

Senses, Crocheted Lapis

A room painted pink

A vase wedgewood blue

A little silver locket

Lapis lazuli

Possibilities

A thicket of milkweed

Monarchs glorious

Feed.

Hummingbird chances

Ruby throated, rufous.

Larkspur luck

A blue linen blouse’s pocket, a hair bow

Satin lilac

*

Silken sight.

Touch, delicate crocheted.

Hearing knitted Chopin, Handel,

Purled Rachmaninoff, Berlioz.

Taste sewn,

Threaded organza silver

A scent,

Lavender parchment

Black ink,

A love letter touched

*

Tey’s To Love and Be Wise

Keats’ Ode To a Grecian Urn.

No happy ending for Romeo and Juliet,

Neither for MacBeth and his Lady.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Winter’s Tale.

Author Author, a vintage game.

Cards in a deck, jewels in a crown.

*

From locket, a tiny pink rose grows.

Mind it well.

Possibility, fragile

But a worthy gamble

Love touched, felt in velvet, seen in embroidered blue lace.

Delphinium Descends

When I awaken early,

Delphinium descends

From the bedroom

Ceiling.

Zinnias, red and orange,

Grow up through the living room

Floor.

Lily, our cat, arises, stretches,

Peers through the viburnum that surrounds

My reading

Chair.

What’s this fresh mischief?

She

Thinks –

I can tell.

I say I don’t

Know.

But,

I don my red velvet dress in celebration.

Of something.

Some unknown

Happiness.

*

I return to our room

My husband still slumbers.

Red roses climb our antique wardrobe I refinished and painted vibrant

Orange.

A no no, I suppose, but I love it.

Husband snores.

He’ll not awaken soon

We had a late night-morning

Out our front picture window, I

See a mama sheep and two lambs

Grazing in our front yard.

Mama looks at me and seems to

Wink.

*

Out back a lion lounges on our patio.

She sees me and strikes a sphinx like pose

I take my book, Death on the Nile, outside to

Read.

Maybe I’ll read it to my feline

Guest?

*

On Marielle’s Birthday

On Marielle’s Birthday, she thinks she might look back on this day and think of it as The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted. Or not. She has to watch her blood sugar, after all.

Maybe it will be the day she purchases The Golden Bowl? Or perhaps a pewter one. A mercury glass vase? She needs something for cut flowers.

For a few reasons the whole day might be a real Catch-22.

Marielle’s Birthday could be the day she explores Bleak House. It’s kind of a gargantuan house, so she might have to carry on roaming it for a week or so. She might end up absorbed and really enjoy it.

On this day, she might try to find Ulysses on match dot com. She wonders about his profile. It could be long and complex; hard to read. But maybe he likes to explore places, talk about food? The date, if she finds him, could seem endless.

Marielle, on her birthday, could drink a few celebratory martinis, or not. She could possibly find The Thin Man on tinder. But he and Nora could still be pretty tight.

On her birthday, should Marielle show her hand and put her Cards on the Table? Or keep the Secret of the Chimneys?

But one thing is pretty certain. At least she hopes it is. And that’s that she sees no bodies, or cut up body parts, out her Rear Window. Plus these are the suburbs, and if there are any bodies, they can’t be seen through the fences. Anyway, it’s improper, to say the least, to peer at your neighbors through their windows.

On her birthday, or any other day, if Marielle witnesses a murder, she will surely dial M, for Murder, that is. If she contracts Vertigo, she’ll call her doctor right away, but she won’t drive to see him.

If nothing else, Marielle will spend some time in a park watching The Birds. She might count the varieties she sees, or just casually enjoy. She’s  quite the amateur expert. If one can be both an amateur and an expert on something at the same time. Marielle doesn’t know.

On her birthday, Marielle thinks she could head to Washington Square. She needs some more scented soaps, some new lingerie, maybe a new dress or two. It really is a great shopping mall. And she’ll want those things if she does find Ulysses and he turns out to be hot.)

There’s always the chance, at least in Marielle’s daydreams, that she could meet The Count of Monte Cristo, or some other count, prince or duke. No more doing windows or cleaning toilets for Marielle. No way. And her dishwasher is busted. So annoying. Many women don’t want to be rescued, so to speak, by a man. But Marielle’s old fashioned. It would be a-okay with her.

On Marielle’s Birthday, she would like for the sky to be blue. No clouds. Not one shade of grey, let alone Fifty Shades of Grey, thank you very much.

One thing is certain, when Marielle looks at all those dating sites, she will not look for Jude the Obscure, Harry the Unknown, or Clyde the Jailbird. Neither does she want Christopher the Famous or William the Well Known. She just wants a regular guy, unless of course, it’s the aforementioned prince, count, or duke. She’d make exceptions for them.

* Marielle knows there might need to be a Part 2 to this post. She’s nothing if not long winded. And right now, she really needs a shower. She’s lounged in bed a little too long. She will surely return soon. She just might be a little Rebellious Hazelnuts.