illustrated by Alexander Jasins
James Wright
The girls let stitches out, dress after dress,
To free some swinging body’s riding space
And form the new child’s unimagined face.
from his poem: “Complaint”
Stitches
17 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in Poetry, Stitches Tags: Alexander Jasins, dress after dress, form the new child's imagined face, let stitches out, stitches, to free some body's swinging space
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
16 Dec 2015 1 Comment
in Gifts of the Spirit, Poetry Tags: discerning spirits, faith, Fruits of the Spirit, gift of tongues, Gifts of the Spirit, healing, interpretation of tongues, knowledge, list poem, prophecy, wisdom
knowledge
wisdom
prophecy
faith
healings
miracles
discerning spirits
gift of tongues
interpretation of tongues
Fruits of the Spirit
charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long- suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity
Chain Saws
15 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in Chain Saws, Poetry Tags: bridge, chain saws, hero's rumps, Oliver, paths for bikes to jump, stream, to grind and pump
Who’s that watching trunks in woods?
What bridge stands firm where stream once stood?
Men break path for bikes to jump
For hero’s rumps to grind and pump!
Brain Grease
14 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in Brain Grease, Poetry Tags: Brain Grease, Hay Rouleaux, Jean Jaques Rousseau, JFK, Kareem Tayyar, Song of Myself, Walt Whitman
illustrator: Hay Rouleaux
Brain Grease
Go back to sleep.
Let the brain grease work.
Like Whitman, Rousseau, and JFK:
From grandfather politics come dreams and youth;
indelible images of Africa,
and a “Song of Myself”.
(see writersalmanac.org/December14,2015)
Ponies
13 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in Poetry, Ponies Tags: A Blessing, bow shyly, gladly out of the willows, hold the slenderer one in my arms, James Wright, no lonliness like theirs, Ponies, Salvinak Wong
A Blessing
Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
Manners
12 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in Poetry
December, 2015- in Brewster Greene in Cape Cod MA
The bushes defer to the 60 degree temperatures.
How polite they are; how civilized!
Praising Manners
We should ask God
To help us toward manners. Inner gifts
Do not find their way
To creatures without just respect.
If a man or woman flails about, he not only
Smashes his house,
He burns the whole world down.
Your depression is connected to your insolence
And your refusal to praise. If a man or woman is
On the path, and refuses to praise — that man or woman
Steals from others every day — in fact is a shoplifter!
The sun became full of light when it got hold of itself.
Angels began shining when they achieved discipline.
The sun goes out whenever the cloud of not-praising comes near.
The moment that foolish angel felt insolent, he heard the door close.
Imagination
11 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in Poetry
All I need today
is laughter at what’s real and
what is imagined!
imagination
anguishes
till born
in human—
The warm bodies
shine together
in the darkness,
the hand moves
to the center
of the flesh,
the skin trembles
in happiness
and the soul comes
joyful to the eye
written by Allen Ginsberg
A Natural God
10 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in Poetry
Some keep the Sabbath going to church
by Emily Dickinson
Some keep the Sabbath going to church —
I keep it, staying at Home —
With a Bobolink for a Chorister —
And an Orchard, for a Dome —
Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice —
I just wear my Wings —
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton — sings.
God preaches, a noted Clergyman —
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last —
I’m going, all along.
Her mother was famous in Amherst for her roses and fig trees
Her father had renovated the house, including — most importantly to Dickinson — the addition of a conservatory, where she could raise plants all year round. She was an avid and talented gardener, taught by her mother;
A Children’s Illustrator’s Christmas
09 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in Poetry Tags: A Children's Illustrator's Christmas, critter on the mantle with the crooked smile, crook, Facebook, like best, studio
illustrated by Walter Koessler
I like best the critter on the mantel with the crooked smile. Walter says he’s a crook! His German is translated for me on Facebook, where I enjoy illustrators from across the world each day in the studio.
The Vibrant Channeled Creator 