Category: poetry

Kidnapped

~ bookstrong ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes, I am

Kidnapped.

Likeliest, in

Summer

I have a thing for silks and slow dancing,

For snapdragons, and a song sparrow’s

Tune.

Stolen by my

Daydreams.

Words on pages, the laughter of a Murder

In black satin party dress.

They toast one another,

Salut.

Onward, they say,

Our flight leaves soon.

**

Sometimes, my heart, temporarily

Waylaid.

Also, likeliest on a summer

Day.

A dog walks with her

Person,

Tongue out,

Smiling.

All the smells.

My kind have passed here before,

Say they.

**

A strand of pearls.

I choose my day’s destination.

Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Peru

And I read my wishes.

I’ll land after the

Epilogue.

Home in time for dinner

And an excellent night’s

Rest.

**

Tomorrow.

Maybe to Colombia with Marquez,

France with Andre Gide.

Or best of all, England with Christie.

My favorite Murder might

Follow.

Dressed in black for

Adventure

**

Sometimes, I am

Kidnapped.

Wondering

~ bookstrong ~ 2 Comments

Sometimes I personify objects,

Chairs.

Do they have preferences about who sits in

Them?

On what does it

Depend?

What the sitter wears –

Soft leather pants.

A pinstriped designer suit.

A red velvet gown.

  — Do older ones age gracefully, or long for

Repair? What of wicker, oak, rockers, or recliners

Do they get tired of all the weight. Long for solitude. Dread the vintage indentations?

———-

Sometimes I anthropomorphize animals.

Bears. Do they count big trees instead of sheep to sleep at night? Do blue herons compare and gossip about the very best fishing

Holes?

Do raccoons give each other advice about which trash receptacles in the neighborhood contain the tastiest

Leftovers?

Does my cat judge my choice of TV shows, books I

Read?

I’m pretty sure she does. She likely does not think well of

Me.

**********

Things I will count on my journey to sleep tonight,

Other than sheep –

– Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting.

(a better way to enjoy them that doesn’t add calories to my weight)

*****

– Heart shaped things,

Pink sapphires

Salted chocolate caramel truffles

Tiny dollhouse size cookies

Individual plum blossoms in springtime

The pink hearts from a box of Lucky Charms

*****

– Cats,

Of all sizes and kinds,

Tigers

House panthers

Jaguars

Lions

Bobcats

Mountain Lions

Then I’ll wonder what they dream while they sleep.

*****

Uprooted

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I built a sandcastle

When I was four,

The tide took it, I watched it

Go

The moat didn’t protect it

Not the bailey,

Not the two

Towers.

********

I dreamt of where it went,

All broken like that.

Each grain, separated from its

Home,

I could build another if I chose.

One that looked just like

It.

Another day. Another beach. Other sand.

Alike, but

Different.

Different water, a deeper moat.

But the sea would encroach.

********

Wet sand. Built with

Water

Taken away by

Water.

Where do our castles go?

Moon pulls them away.

Sometimes as with

Lovers

********

A little Pine..

Transplanted.

Branches, trunk intact.

Not taken, but moved.

Still lost.

Home changed.

Fir a few feet away.

Similar terrain to former home,

But different ground. Unfamiliar arbor

Neighbors.

Alike, but different.

********

Same need for water, and to be cared for.

Its branches reach for new

Friends.

********

Transplanted or swept away.

Belonging finds a new

Place

********

Castles Fall

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Shore welcomes the sea’s waves

But – waterfront castles

Topple,

Castles of sand, mansions not

Invincible.

Dungeon’s prisoners escape to destinations

Unknown

————

Islands under water,

Worlds in bellies of whales,

Homes, mobile,

Seafaring.

No homesickness for dry

Land.

Terra Firma

Long

Forgotten.

They grow gills,

Fins,

Sleep in beds of coral,

Beautiful, but piercing

Discomfort.

Pursued by ever airborne

Albatross –

Prey for orcas, sharks.

They gather in schools,

Interrupted.

Old weapons useless now

————

Stories, different told

Ancestral tales, only truth-

No mermaids, no Neptune, no magical

History

More power for some than for

Others,

As it was on The Shore.

No embraces. No arms that reach for love.

————

No legs for long walks

Moon and tides carry, hold them

Fast.

Their schedules are tight.

Punctuality, constant.

Do they miss their castles of sand, wood, or stone?

Days at the beach? Fireplaces, good

Books?

————

Shore welcomes the sea’s

Waves

But waterfront’s castles

Topple

————

Touch, Taste, and Colors

~ bookstrong ~ 2 Comments

Pink velvet, a purple aster’s petals, and peach of sunset,

Vivid softness

———-

A quilt, baby blue and white, pastel ink in a quill pen, and bright sun quelled to starlight

Quiet comfort

———-

Ivory chenille bedspread, a pale green pressed cotton blouse, and printed poem on parchment pages

Summer champagne stories

———-

Deep red dahlias, raspberry sherbet, and merlot, burgundy, earthy

High summer celebration

———-

Beetle, blue, nostalgic, drive-in movie magic, and popcorn plenty

Top down night sky romance

———-

Country roads, hills winding, vintage Corvette, gleaming red, fast, and wind in your hair

Speed savored sunshine

———-

Kisses, cherry red, Saint-Saens’ Bacchanale, and a moonlight waltz

Love constant long lasting

———-

Crow, inky, raucous, towhee, singing, spotted, and a chickadee, charming and cheerful

Blue sky solstice morning

———-

Ice cream, pistachio or praline, cake, red velvet or lemon, and pie, blueberry or banana

Delicious birthday or anytime desserts

———-

Looking for love

Gems, Flavors, and Flowers

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Pearls, pines, and peridots

A lovely treehouse where one can doze

– Roses, roosters, and sweet light rain

A farmhouse brass bed where one has rested, lain

– Sourdough, sweetbreads, and sparrows singing

On a countryside summer morning, no school bells ringing

– Lobelia, larkspur, and valleys of lily

Floral, fun, festive, and frilly

– Onyx, obsidian, and orange pop

A soda fountain stop, and a jewelry shop

– Marzipan, moonlight, and marcasite

Couples wed when the timing is right

– Asters, amaryllis, and azurite

Lavender, cobalt, ink, some colors of night

– Sambuca, sangria, and Sauvignon wine

Choose your cocktail, and deliciously dine

– Rubies, roses, and romance galore

Love’s in the air, forever and more

Shelter

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Gleaming, obsidian, volcanic

Not shattered, still

Sharp

Love, at many

Years.

Moonstone moonflower moonlight

——-

How many houses shelter this

Love?

Also in colors.

Some chosen, some,

Not.

Delicate shell

Pink,

Sometimes,

Deep green of

Forest.

——-

Some mortgaged,

Some fleeting,

Never

Forgotten.

Remember the one bedroom

Walkup?

One chair one couch one bed?

The oak tree out front.

“Ours” for a

Time

——-

The quilt, red and white, that accompanies,

Us

Two.

An old fashioned paper

Map.

Towns, cities, red pins on

Plots.

Plots, character based.

Occasional suspense,

But high octane, rare.

Twists and turns.

——-

Close to the road or far from the

Mailbox.

Long walks and

Short.

Tall delphinium, deep blue

Roses, Tropicana

——-

Our tabby, Delilah,

Our black lab, Geoffrey,

After Chaucer.

——-

Gleaming, obsidian, not shattered,

Still sharp.

Stardust star flower star shine

——-

Tropicana Rose

Images II

~ bookstrong ~ Leave a comment

A few more word paintings. Images in threes.  🙂

Three is my lucky number. 

Cobalt silk, pink dahlias in a milk glass vase, and pearl earrings

Lime green stilettos, a diamond and gold bracelet, and Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye

A little blue shovel, a sandcastle, and white sand

A little origami bluebird, a young maple tree, and Vivaldi’s Summer

Red clover, honey bees working, and white linen

A brick second empire Victorian mansion, a dark, stormy night, and Agatha Christie’s The Sittaford Mystery

An orange velvet wingback chair, Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter, and Canterbury Bells in a mercury glass bowl

An Old Fashioned, a girl with a Louise Brooks bob, and Josephine Tey’s A Shilling For Candles rests on a maple side table

A straw sun hat, a croquet match, and many two olive martinis

A summer morning, a murder of cows, and storm clouds brewing

A red dragonfly, lilies of the valley, and a lapis lazuli bracelet

Celadon velvet, a Strauss waltz, and purple irises

A flute sonata, Cirrus clouds, and blueberry cake

White Canterbury Bells

Suburban Morning – Lune Ten Verses

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Late spring chill

Crow conversation

Robin song

Yard work start

A leaf blower’s tune

Mow a lawn

Humans’ walks

Glad wide smiling dogs

School ending

Delivery

Those Amazon vans

Packages

Yard sale prep

Things long forgotten

Wow old things

News avoid

Sun superlative

Cat happy

Morning lounge

Up and at ’em not

Failed attempt

Phone in hand

Perhaps a podcast

No doughnuts

Chickadees

From evergreens sing

Pines and firs

Mind working

No coffee required

Put down phone!

My suburban street

Light Reunites

~ bookstrong ~ 2 Comments

Moonlight sees her love, but at great

Distance.

It’s winter, and she is cold;

Longs for him.

Sunlight is absent,

His work,

Intense. He will

Return.

Alas, her patience dwindles.

He is a hemisphere

Away.

————

Moonlight envies other

Couples.

Comfortable, warm in their homes,

Sharing evening wine

Before

Fires.

Reading Joyce,

Yeats,

Wordsworth to

Each Other.

Some dine and dance in

Candlelight,

They miss her love too.

————

Candlelight is Moonlight’s

Familiar.

Her magic soothes,

Brings out

Affection in hesitant humans.

————

The Equinox.

If Moonlight can hold on,

Her lover returns.

Intimate embrace,

Starlight,

Ecstatic.

————

Van Gogh’s ghost celebrates with

Sunflowers.

Monet’s, with water

Lilies.

Moonlight’s silver

Merges with Sunlight’s

Golden

————

Time rewards

Those

Patient

Sunset in Wheeler, Oregon