Perspective

From which side are you looking at the mountain?
Are you drinking water from a different fountain?
Because you and I do not quite see eye to eye,
But we both cry that we’re right (in our own sight)
And this causes quite a plight that might lead us
To fisticuffs if we persist in insisting on our way
Day after day, chiefly when there’s no diplomacy
As we boastfully continue raving to hopefully win
An argument not even worth the victory,
Which is contradictory to our deeply felt feelings,
Especially as we’re reeling from the latest punch!
Might it be possible for us to change perspective?
Just for one moment, irrespective of our feelings?
Might it be possible for us to see a different point
Of view in lieu of our own, to see the other side
Of the mountain? To drink of the other fountain?
Then we might find out it was all a matter of . . .
Perspective

Advertisement

My Own Ars Poetica

Poetry may be a masterpiece of the heart torn apart,
Or the disconsolate word flow from a hole in the soul,
Or may be the sudden eruption of happy presumption;
She may be the lover’s cover in nearly numinous hover,
Or the sad ‘goodbye’ without really explaining why . . .
Poetry may come from the gut of a man caught in a rut,
Or the revelation of feelings long held in captivation,
Or may be exaltation of the contemplation of nature,
Or she may raise the hymn of otherwise silent praise;
Poetry may be sitting at a bar or wishing upon a star,
But above all, and with whatever else might be said,
She is testimony to the elasticity of the human psyche,
And in the end, poetry simply is . . .

---

Note: Inspired by an article written by Ken Craft kindly shared by Robert Okaji

Seven Day Poem (Day Five)

On November 29th I began a seven-day poem with one stanza, and committed to adding one each day thereafter for seven days. This is Day Five. (For more info on why I’m doing this, please read my previous article.) So in the end I should have one whole poem with seven stanzas, each one having been written on a different day…

Seven-Day Poem

You intrigued me by being intrigued by me
As I wondered, ‘how can this possibly be?’
Am I to have another ‘she’ in my poor life
And will it be but another knife to my soul?

Now part of my heart feels young once again
As I begin to ponder all of the possibilities
But reality attacks and smacks me in the face
Reminding me of my actual place in this life

I am not really old but I am growing old
And though my heart is warm, my body is cold;
And I have not the strength to chase rabbits,
Or to form new habits or weather the storm

But you, you would shove all else aside for love,
To drink deeply from the rich cream of full life,
To fulfill your most cherished childhood dreams,
And no team of strong stallions can tear you away!

You deny reality staring you straight in the face
As you pace back and forth considering the worth
Of a bond newly birthed in raw desire unearthed
Never thinking we’ve nothing to give for this to live

---

---

Note: Thank you to Maja at  Business in Rhyme for inspiring me to take up this challenge! By the way, her own 31-day poem is progressing very nicely, so if you haven’t done so, you should check it out! Blessings!

Seven-Day Poem

Today, November 29th, I am beginning a seven-day poem. I will begin with one stanza and add one each day thereafter for seven days. (For more info on why I’m doing this, please read my previous article.) So in the end I should have one whole poem with seven stanzas, each one having been written on a different day… We’ll see how this goes! Oh, and if you want to pick up on this ongoing poem at any point and begin adding your own stanzas (maybe because you have a better idea for the direction the poem ought to take), then by all means do so! Now … here we go:

Seven-Day Poem

You intrigued me by being intrigued by me
As I wondered, ‘how can this possibly be?’
Am I to have another ‘she’ in my poor life
And will it be but another knife to my soul?

---

---

Note: Thank you again to Maja at  Business in Rhyme for inspiring me to take up this challenge!

Maybe Not Quite 31 Days, But …

Okay, so Maja over at Business in Rhyme has taken up a 31-day Poem Challenge in which she will literally write a 31-day poem, adding about three stanzas to the existing poem each day through the month of December. She has also invited her readers to do the same. In her words:

. . . in the next 31 days, in the coming December I intent to write 31 day long poem. Sounds strange? Well, what I actually want to do is to write ONE poem for 31 days. The goal is to add at least three stanzas each day . . . In this way, I think I will practice more my focus and attention, because as the time progresses I will have to each time read my poem from the beginning in order to continue it. So after couple of days, it will really require to keep up my concentration and follow the thinking pattern.

Well, I for one, found this very intriguing. Maja gives some other good reasons for doing this, and then invites her readers to participate. (If you think you’d like to do this, then please visit her blog and read the whole article. That would be helpful, and you can courteously let her know that you also are participating!) 

To be honest, though, 31 days sounds and feels a bit daunting, soooo . . . I’ve decided to challenge myself a bit less. I’m going to give this idea a “go” for seven days. (Okay! Call me a whimp! LOL) And, well, I will be doing this for basically the same reasons; I just don’t know that I’m quite up to 31 days… But you know what? If at the end of seven days I think I want to continue, then I’ll just do that! At any rate, this should be interesting and fun!

Waking Thoughts

Will you be there when I arrive?
Please don’t deprive me of you;
After driving so far from home,
Tell me I’ll be arriving in yours

Crazy thoughts flow in and out of mind
Still in bind of sleep, eyes keep closing;
Repair something, you say? But what?
With tender, loving care . . . But what?

Heavy heart vacant as an empty lot;
Except for you, so much is changing
And I strain to see how, where and why
But I don’t know where the train is going!

And what am I to fix in this mix?
There’re no tricks up my sleeve!
Anyway I didn’t break it!
Then how can I remake it?

I feel like crying after trying so hard,
But I just wanna know if you’ll show
What’s up ahead? Will I have a bed?
I tread lightly . . . now I’m so afraid!

What will I do? I don’t have a clue!
I just know I didn’t expect the blow,
And now . . . my heart feels ready
To explode; completely unsteady

Will you be there when I arrive?
Please don’t deprive me of you;
After driving so far from home,
Tell me I’ll be arriving in yours

Tell me I’ll be arriving in your arms!

Underside: Another Look at Peace

Peace comes at an awfully high premium
But the stadium is filled with customers
And the very effort can crack the cranium

Peace is allusive and illusive . . .
Some would say even delusive
And the fight for peace abusive

Peace, you see, is often individual perception
Or group conception that allows no exception
And arises from an apperception that chokes
Off the inception of any ideas however ideal

Peace may even be a double-edged sword
Read ‘n available on the diplomatic board
To slice both ways at the roll of the dice
Making men into mice not so really nice

And peace at any cost means freedom lost
So frost covers agreements never ratified
In this variegated, stratified world of ours
For, after all, it’s much easier to make war

And sometimes peace can be a prostitute
Quite astute in her charmed dealings
Creating piercing ‘n poignant feelings
While blood is spilled, more coffins filled

Peace, you say? Whose peace?
And how reads the high lease
To make all wars finally cease?

No, peace begins within where we are able,
Not at the negotiating table of fancy fables

Think of this as people cry, ‘Peace! Peace!’
Release idyllic visions
And begin with the better part of the heart
Saturated in genuine love from up above . . .

---

---

Note: This poem was indirectly inspired by my friend and fellow-blogger, Sheldon Kleeman

Haiku Greeting for New Day

So the sun rises
On some few new ideas
Full of surprises.

********

My dear readers (and friends!), most of you already know about Haiku, but to be honest, I didn’t … not really. Well, learn something new each day, right? Anyway, just in case any of you are like me ~ LOL ~ Haiku is (or comes from) a Japanese poem-style of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. There are, of course, obviously English imitations of this. So this is my very first venture into Haiku! It was honestly harder than I expected … at least for me! But fun!