Getting silly with those phrases

I assume you followed the butterfly link. If so you will understand this silliness... if not, well........




To Interest a Butterfly

The childish and the old alike 

may crave to consider a butterfly’s flight

Its very little lifespan among ceiling flowers,

the water and nectar, the light it devours

Cool types of gardens won’t offer such fun

as it finds in the chubby weight of the sun

With fanfare and flourish, these tiny insects

are drawn like a magnet to gorgeous effects

It loves sour fruit, it worships the heat

Does it make brains to pollute where they eat?

Whatever you cultivate, keep slightly wild

for the joy of a butterfly or delight of a child

What language is this???

I have been searching the internet for inspiration for garden poems and came on this article about gardening to attract butterflies. While there is good information the language is strange.... rather like someone fed it into an English translator. I especially love the phrases "magnetize butterflies", "brightly painted plants", "crave to consider", "ceiling flowers" and "the chubby weight of the sun."

Backyard Butterfly Garden

I'd Like to Be There at Sunset

Glass Garden

http://www.chihuly.com/I posted the art piece "Gardens of Glass" created from images taken in Phoenix a few years ago. 

This link will give you background on the glass artist Dale Chihuly whose work was exhibited there in the botanical gardens.

Glass Gardens

Jewel branches

ice rose, cold blue, rainbow ribbons

Chihuly’s blown flowers,

moving rivers,

iridescent spheres

It’s simply artful

in the sleepy desert sun

There among green-gray

spikes on yucca,

the perfect glass trail 

winds through pebbled paths

Always dry,the landscape 

dreams of grass, fantasizes gardens

as cool as water

even in India-hot swelter

But sunset and moonfall,

darkness rising,

twinkle lights awaken like fireflies

to a collective gasp of wonder

Imagination

It’s poetry for free

Reflection of Suspension Bridge

Worms

Flare off the sidewalk one day:
walk on forbidden grass,
risk your eggshell-tender toes
on rocks like colored glass

reflect on soil and compost,
stare in nature's gritty face
Look keenly at its darkness
to comprehend life's grace

isn't all daffodilly sweetness
but brown earthworms in the loam
tunneling with sure purpose
where rootlings make their home

A miracle of ugly:
wigglers fit for fishers' pails,
you'd never see without first
getting dirt under your nails

Challenge laughter's brittle edge,
press its border further south
Trumpet deeply from your gut
without covering your mouth

Toss head back like the flowers
and while kneeling at their feet
consider what's above
before,
beside,
behind,
beneath

Morning in my Garden

In the gentle light of morning
I wade through dew-wet grasses

dragging rake and trowel and clippers
over footstep-flattened passes

Across the frontier of my yard
I daringly pioneer forth,

scout out legions of garden pests
invading roses from the north

I forget awhile those challenges
that make me doubt my worth,

I kneel down on the rock hard ground,
change horizons with spades of earth

Undefeated by foes of weeds
where there is no strength to prove,

I bring to fruition some small dreams
and move the little mountains I can move

gardening

Summer brings thoughts of gardening.
I used to love working in the yard. As time goes by I love it less and less, detest the heat, the humidity; and my back and knees have rebelled. Still, I have a wealth of garden poems. I thought it might be fun to post a few...all old ones...and then see if I can come up with a new take on the old theme. Old ones to follow, then we'll see. :)

Garden of Glass

Birds in the Windy Sky

Quote from Kendall, age 6 :" Grammy, the birds are having trouble flying!"

Storm  arrives suddenly

 (moon sliver clutches blue corner of sky

birds are finding it’s hard to fly)

Trees fill with refugees

(robins and sparrows and jays unite

on limber branches, halted in flight)

Manic music shakes the air

(twittery,feathery protests abound,

crashing and barking and wind chimes resound)

Sky styles its head of hair

(pure white then gray and finally black,

puffy then choppy till wetly pulled back)

Thunder grumbles like a train  

(lightning licks darkness, shadows the ground

fright incites singing, a riot of sound)

Feather coats repel the rain

(braver birds battle the wind and move on

before the clouds rain out, ghost moon is gone)

Windy Sky

cycles

A Place Near Water: for my Captiva friends

A Place Near Water

I shared the desert’s dusty breath

all winter and into spring,

Now the air’s grown cirrus-thin,

without even the grit for tears

or smoke enough

to tease a cough from my lungs

I long for that place 

deep under the trees

where leopard light dances

on moist leaf beds,

where pavement-worn sandals

can sail the grass,

and rising fog rains rivers of mist

to catch like snowflakes on my tongue,

where moments before sunset

ruby refections spiral out

from a pebble toss 

and every sound is a whisper:

that  place.

Remember?

There was a river or a lake
or a sea

Workshopping and Rewrites

I mentioned in my email to Rus how much I miss NevadaChat. That was such a rich experience. There we were: none of us in Nevada, spread all over the world, speaking a variety of first-languages  and yet meeting up at least once a day to post and workshop and exchange news about our lives. I value all of your friendship so much and really miss that connection!!!

I have visited The Town and Babilu recently and have found a couple of old friends but others seem lost. Where are you, Shisa??? And Paula? How about Randy Adams? Rus, have you heard from Peter Desmond? Has anyone a clue where Chris Tozier is, or Barbara or Silva or Fei?

Over at Babilu, Brenda gave me some great thoughts on my clock-Watching poem . I am going to do some rewriting and repost in a couple of days. I need workshopping. My mind is as dry as the Nevada desert.

anonymous posters

Who are these people and what do they want????
 I don't speak Chinese and when they post in English their comments make no sense. (Judy looks around the room and wonders who is hiding in the closet)

Abstract Shell

Nautilus

Shelfari widget

I've added a widget for Shelfari where I am starting a reading list.

Sunset Fountain

Wind and Rain

Water weeping from the sky

settles dust 

and though newly cut,

blades lift up,

        gently blowing grass

Rain isn’t always storm

nor windy weather, hurricane

Sometimes a ghost moon

lingers into day, 

its shape a shadow 

against the sky

        just whispering

Darkness isn’t always blind

nor daylight empty of stars

The heart’s shaped chambers

open and close,

a living muscle

and muscle requires living,

        struggle not languor 

Not every seed becomes a fruit

nor every planter, a gardener

Wind and Rain : a poem to follow

Thought this was sort of interesting

204800/81200

Footprints

Drawing Blood

This won’t hurt a bit, they tell you

as they strangle your arm 

with a rubber tourniquet,

 begin slapping your flesh

to raise a vein.

The needle is small, as if to say 

Don’t fear my bite 

but I always look away at that point

I know it will burn, 

know they will likely withdraw,

stick again,

apologize

It’s like that

Don’t be fooled by cliche promises

Eat your vegetables and you’ll grow up tall.

study hard and you’ll succeed,

cheaters never win

Why can’t they tell you

you’ll be a pint low after this

but don’t worry

there’s more blood where this came from

Clock Watching

The clicking of time

            snapshots, thought

the mind unable,

the heart unwilling

water holds images upside down

desperate surrealism

skinny rain,

August’s hot shoulders

the reality of form

where I have paper to feel the lines

monkey ideas

moon-written,  always dry

wiry fences encircling

the great impossible

Blue abstract

girl with shell

Recovering

Well I am back from 6 back and hip injections and a full afternoon of napping.

Long Needles

Tomorrow morning I have to get back injections. Ouch! But perhaps it will get rid of this awful pain. I have PLANS for June!!!

Rhymes

I have been rereading some old poems. I rarely write in rhyme anymore. I guess I came to realize how difficult it is to  do it really well. But even some of the imperfect rhymes do have some musicality. At least I didn't give in to moon/june rhymes. I think I actually like this one. Enough to play with the line breaks and try to get a more interesting effect.

Seasons

Eyes the green of ferning summer
newly gladed, wetted deep

The look, a book for learning summer
hooded with the glaze of sleep

Beside me now, stealthy silence
sings more clearly than a lark

Remembered rain, in compliance
stays behind us in the dark

I wintered in your absent passion,
hibernated from the snow

surviving skinny on lean rations
waiting for the winds to blow

dandelions across green landscapes,
for ice to sparkle , melting slick

for leafless forests to display shapes
flagging from their branches thick

Good morning , Love

I think it's summer
Sunlight's set the room ablaze

Across the bed its long arms lumber,
tangle into our embrace

Summer eyes so greenly burning,
their angle falling to my breast,

arrest all thoughts

The day is turning
heavy with its heated breath

One more....

What was a cool building with some interesting architecture evolves into an abstract piece of art. I just love playing with lines and color!

line drawing 3

line drawing 2

line drawing 1

storm pattern

Work work work

I have been busy today putting slideshows and pictures up on YouTube and Goggle. Fishing for exposure for the studio. Whew!

abstract

Keeping up the flow.

It become harder and harder to manage a blog, to work, to Facebook . TO WRITE!
Right now I am nursing my bad back and realizing I will have to go back to Pain Mangement and get it injected again. Yuck!

For Mother's Day

Art

You try to fold serenity into each layer,
smooth out the wrinkles,
turn under the frayed edges

Housekeeping,
so maligned an occupation
its art invisible

But feel the strokes across the wood,
smell the laundry,
taste the stew

Sculptor
of biscuit dough,
painter
of  tiny fingernails,
composer
of gentle songs to quiet tears

Who decides what art is worth?
Who decides what is art?

2nd draft:its coming along

A sprawling circus tent of stars

one wide expanse to which there is no end

Is there life out  there?

Ask the night that question 

and darkness answers back 

with the the rolling crunch of a railroad car

Unseen crickets screech, 

dogs bark, 

wind shakes the branches,

a barn owl complains 

of fireflies that flee his bite,

sodden grass breathes,

rising fog rains rivers of mist

and ponds come alive 

with the riotous music of frogs

Chronicle poem:1st draft

Sky-Watcher, Night-Listener

The sky is a sprawling circus tent of stars

Ask the night your questions 

and the darkness talks back:

unseen crickets screech,

the rolling crunch of a railroad car resounds, 

dogs bark, 

wind shakes the branches,

a barn owl complains of fireflies fleeing his bite,

the sodden grass breathes,

the rising fog rains rivers of mist

over ponds alive with the riotous music of frogs

April 17: stopped counting :(

Sleep Patterns

One corner folded back

in a neat triangle, I insert

myself snugly into one quarter

of the bed and sleep unmoved

In the morning

the sheets are smooth except

for a ripple roughly my shape

How different from the way

we populate the mattress

together 

Then no amount of space

 is enough to uncoil our nightly traffic,

the sweet sleepwalk of our limbs

ever-expanding like Hawking’s universe

I twist, you sprawl out

prospecting for new territory

The rails groan, call out for mercy

You lock me

in a sweaty embrace and snore 

blissfully into my neck

I’ve been known to kick, 

to disrobe my pillow

Now

alone

I simply fold the triangle back,

turn up the spread

already smooth across the foot of the bed
and my morning chore is done

I sleep unmoved

April 10: poem 4

I hate trying to be something,

trying to say something.

It’s like breaking the petals off all the roses

to try to rebuild a perfect rose.

Like trying to hold water

in your palms or smoke in your mouth.

I am not exceptional.

I can read a book in about six hours.

I know all the words of Hamlet’s soliloquy.

That’s about it.

What I am

is nothing I will ever be famous for.

History favors the brilliant and a surprising amount of rubbish 

lurks about the hollow spaces of my brain.

I could dramatize-

invent a few weird ancestors perhaps.

But I don’t think it is worth destroying

my blighted roses to create one that isn’t alive.

Most mornings you will find me

with my coffee at the computer

just tapping out the nonsense of my life.

april 10: poem 3

I promised myself

not to read more of your letters

until I wrote--

they had become

such a one-sided conversation.

There were efforts-

short words rubbing against other short words,

scrawled on paper,

piled in boxes,

saved in computer files.

The trouble is

what people write is

almost never what they really feel.

Humor can be deftly coupled

with the bleakest stuff in life

and who would ever know.

Even now I could tell you

twin kittens patter across the keyboard

chasing my fingers

and I must dust off a few keys

before I can continue.

You would laugh

and I would gain time

to backspace and delete.

Where is the  risk

that we accept in face to face

communication?

Of course I am making  lame excuses

I know that what you expect

is a simple  shopping list of my day 

and that I could easily deliver.

Only I want to say more,

only I can’t,

only I don’t know how,

only I’ve forgotten the words.

But you already know.

I should just commit and hit SEND.

April 8 : poem 2

I am getting father and farther behind. Oh well, at least I am trying. Here goes.

Petals fall like children
sleepily from the redbud trees-
Spring exhaling.
The next breath will be Summer,
a gasp past sultry,
wet with storms that never cool,
funnels of tears that split the sky.
Rain sizzles sidewalks, puddles on asphalt.
Rainbows in oil stains glisten like gems,
their color trapped in the depth of black,
so fragile it shatters with a footfall.
The bursting-forth is soon over,
the tender one-time blooms,
replaced by raucous zinnias
and dazzling displays of weeds
that lift their defiant heads to feast
on heat and hail alike.

Bend grass into baskets
and bring me bouquets of clover,
whose roots like fisted fingers
hold their ground long after
Spring's breath fails.

April 4 : poem 1

 It’s rather like this:

You learn to ride a bike with trainer wheels.

It’s just a larger version of a tricycle 

and you aren’t allowed

to take it into the street.

You peddle up and down the driveway

determined to master

the art of balance.

Some kids younger than you

have already learned

and now seek 

to undermine your confidence,

fill your ears with taunts and chants.

You must field their insults

with composure

while trying not to crash.

It is the stuff of childhood.

Someone said 

‘you must walk before you can run’

but more importantly

you must first sweep the drive

with the maddening clatter of trainers.

You must tread water in the shallow end of the pool

wearing water wings,

endure the embarrassment of  a booster chair.

No one jumps on their two-wheeler

and glides smoothly ‘round the block

on the first try. 

You scrape your knee,

you get back on,

you scrape your knee again.

The distress that arises from forgetting

that simple lesson

can steal your equilibrium.

make you fall flat.

It’s rather like this:

Trainers are there for a  reason.

You may not like it but pace yourself. 

Sooner or later

everyone learns to ride a bike.

Poem a day challenge

Well I am already behind since this is the 4th. But I will make an effort. Actually I have 2 titles that I just have to figure out what they mean. Guess that is sort of reverse writing but what the heck.