Dateless Saturday Night
Her face an apparition
in the mirror of
her window,
she sits alone, apart from the
cool crowd,
plucking petals.
“He loves me. He loves me not.”
Her hand holds one more piece
too many,
the whole world
plucked nodes
on an empty
stem.
The prompt word for the dVerse Poets quadrille challenge is: petal.
Gamefish
See how the mighty fisherman holds me in his hand
as he drags me from the ocean to set me in the sand.
For twenty years, I’ve moved myself in freedom through the sea,
but by tonight it seems I’ll merely be somebody’s tea.
The dVerse Poets Quadrille pompt today is “fish.”
Within
Although they stand stiffly at attention,
these walls reach out
and hold me safe within their middle.
They stand guardian,
cushioning sound,
deflecting sharp edges.
Lucky me to have their protection.
Foolish me to leave their arms.
Yet the butterfly
soars over and away.
for dVerse Poets, the Quadrille Challenge prompt is “With.”
Click on photos to enlarge.
Lampmakers
My husband
trapped light.
Sculpted it.
Forced it to his will.
Made art of it.
Made me
complicit in making it
more than something to see by.
We surrounded light
and channeled it.
Held light before releasing it
in the directions
of our dreams
For dVersePoets Quadrille Light Challenge.
See how others responded HERE.
Bent to My Will
Sometimes I feel it’s absurd
how I imprison every word––
take it from its family
to serve me on bended knee,
do my bidding, tell my tale,
imprisoned here in each poem’s jail
‘til other writers come along
purloining words in book or song.
For dVerse Poets Quadrille Challenge, the prompt is “Bend.”
The rainy season runoff shoots from the drain that pierces a high stone wall.
Summer Rain
The rain falls
fresh as cucumbers
on cobblestones and tiles,
the dust of another summer
washed from crevasses
and curves of stone and clay.
The air is cleansed
of the scent of primavera,
jacaranda
and flamboyant trees
and the whole world
breathes easily again.
For the dVerse Poets Quadrille prompt: Summer
In a Pinch
A pinch of this, a pinch of that.
A pinch of salt or pinch of fat.
What is held between one’s fingers,
the thought of it most surely lingers—
those grains of salt to lick off you
or thoughts of belly fat to rue.
The dVerse Quadrille prompt today is pinch.
To see how others have responded to the prompt, go HERE.
Image by Ksenia Makagono on Unsplash.
Morning Chorus
Morning opens one eyelid,
casting eyelash shadows
across the terraza.
The small dog whines a greeting
as the dogwalker opens the garden gate.
Tap tap of woodpecker in the tallest palm.
Echo of church bells.
Only the first sunrays
silent in this early morn.
For dVerse Poets
HERE is the prompt.
Picky Eater
I can’t stand mushrooms, abhor liver.
To dine on brains just makes me shiver.
Drinking milk’s against my wishes.
Fish is simply for the fishes.
Raw tomatoes? I’d rather die.
And one more mouthful I won’t try?
I have no taste for humble pie!
Fatal Wonder
Where’s that naughty kitty been?
Even though it’s nearly ten,
she’s not had a single nibble
of the tuna and the kibble
that I put outside the door
long ago—two hours or more.
If dead from curiosity,
she’s passed her illness onto me!
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 