National Poetry Month Celebration 2019 - Post Poems Here!

[ajduclos]

First of all, I thank everyone for their well-wishes and kind thoughts. 

April 20

One Word: Plastic

I vow to reduce my use of plastic
Dustin Hoffman's day is done.
Tupperware parties are no more,
no one takes their lunch to work.

Dustin Hoffman's day is done,
grads ignore elder advice,
no one takes their lunch to work,
youngsters eat in coffee shops.

Grads ignore elder advice,
this generation consults the cloud,
youngsters eat in coffee shops
and stream information on their phones.

This generation consults the cloud,
they are techno-savvy and up to date
they stream information on their phones,
we might learn a few things from them,

they are techno-savvy and up to date
and warn about islands of floating debris
we might learn a few things from them:
I vow to reduce my use of plastic.

Wonderful, Indar... and timely.  I recognize the format of repetition tho I cannot remember what it's called.
Aj
p.s. the well wishes and thoughts continue............  
 

[ajduclos]

Two thirds of the way through April.  Still lots of wonderful writing.

Day 20 
 

Doves
 
six mourning doves
pecking breakfast under feeders
at peace 

lord blue jay
strafes in at the brunch
finds no place at the table
his roared demands met with
disregard
nonchalance 

assertive, insistent, his forward stomps
trigger doves to turn in unison
 
the lion king faces a sudden wall
feathered water buffalo 

this brash dominating backyard denizen
flees
tail feathers tucked
these symbols of peace too strong 

best offense a good defense 

Peace and Security 

a lesson here

   

[Gyppo]

Love it, AJ.

I've seen it too.  Yeah, you don't mess with doves.

Gyppo

[Gyppo]

19

Hunger

causes smiles to turn inside themselves

open hangers of the mind to close

sharply, no room for thought,

nor charm, the sugar plummets

faster than bungee and ascends too

once the feeding hour begins.

Smiles turning inside themselves...

I have people in my family like this.  Normal, rational, and generally peaceful souls until 'feeding hour' is overdue.  When a 'soft answer' fails to turn away unexpected wrath a biscuit or Mars Bar usually does the trick.

Gyppo
 

[Gyppo]

30 ways to die.
#20

We walked bare-legged
through fields of barley
soft and dense,
palms facing forward
felt the awns' caress
and the sun's radiation
transmuted into gold.

Occasional rains left us 
untempered,                                                 
with thoughts only
of the harvests to come.

Winters are always soft
on hard bodies,
too young to sense 
the growing chill,
until one dawn 
the curtains reveal
what lies
beneath the barley.

Colm, really like the lines about winter being soft on hard bodies too young to sense the growing chill.

Also reminds me of the folk song about 'John Barleycorn'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NNgLqz89Z8

Although I prefer to hear it sung, or sing it myself, at a somewhat more rollicking pace than this version.  Echoes of ritual killing and annual rebirth

BTW, I've never come across the word awns before.

Gyppo

[Deb]

Hi Folks, been a hectic day so I must post and run.  


Trophies


Broken promises 
collect dust on the mantle

like cheap, 
golden colored trophies 

packed away in boxes
to be forgotten for a while 

until someone accidentally 
opens the lid and 

sees from the darkness,
a sparkle of despair.



~Deborah Manning-Galarza

[ajduclos]

Good lord, Deb - "Trophies" - poignant, painful...

Colm, Dave - Gyppo expressed my thoughts, only 20 times better and more rooted in reality.

Gyppo - "Food Chain"... you nailed it, nailed it !!!!  so much more true honesty in the non-human world.

Aj  

[binx]

4/21 poem

One Week Later

A cave opens
in a hillside

Another man
appears

holding a dried palm
branch

He is
weeping

[ajduclos]

4/21 poem

One Week Later

A cave opens
in a hillside

Another man
appears

holding a dried palm
branch

He is
weeping

Binx - yeah, an Easter greeting... all please take note
Aj
 

[ajduclos]

In keeping with the theme of doves and peace...

Day 21

Doves 

doves feed form a line
Sir Wolf blue jay kept at bay
winged musk ox at peace