Darkness Goes
DARKNESS GOES
This I know. The sun
penetrates the deepest snow.
Slowly, darkness melts.
Category Archives: POETRY
PATIENCE
Patience calls Americans
to become paragons
of those willing to wait
and take their place in lines
where none had ever defined
our supplies, nor our desires.
We had no need of patience
in a nation beyond the expectation
of delays and empty shelves.
Deeper now we must delve
to discover if we can recover
a sense of community.
Covid shines light through a prism
of rugged individualism
once thought the best of our virtues.
Now, consideration of others colors our quest
to be first and best, and heads above the rest
of those with greater needs.
Patience now becomes the seed
to plant a garden where all can feed
and none go hungry.
We never knew we could be patient.
Until now we had no need.
Could it be that patience
has always been our hidden strength?
The thing that stretches our
breadth and length to reach
beyond the depth of greed.
Filed under POETRY
SOLSTICE
Oh, Sun!
You have reappeared.
Yes, I flirt with clouds.
I love their changing shape,
the shadows they cast
across the landscape.
But, it is you I hold most dear.
My heart begins to race
seeing your warm and loving face,
as every day you draw more near,
and stay longer in my embrace.
Ah, Sun, your hot touch thrills
until my heart stills
then beats along with yours.
Oh, Sun, my Sun, my love!
Filed under POETRY
BREAKING NEWS
Consistency, complacency
share a history
we underestimate
to keep the peace.
There is no “breaking news”
for such as these.
Chaos theory is more sexy,
a more golden fleece.
“Breaking news” breaks us, too.
It is meant to raise the hackles
and disclose the jackals
on the prowl again.
It breaks the calm.
It destroys the peace.
It steals the breath
until fear is all that is left.
We yearn for consistency
to shape our days,
and for complacency
to calm our nights.
We remember and remake history
of calmer, safer days
when heartbeats steadied.
“Breaking news” keeps us ready
for the next assault
and coils of thought and fault
to drag us down below the sea
where our heart rate pounds ceaselessly.
How can we survive this way,
when every single moment
of every single day
we await in repetitive agony
for ‘breaking news”.
“Breaking news”breaks us, too.
It breaks cities, states and whole countries.
Its persistence destroys real news, too.
Now, we need “talking heads” to explain
news reported, so inane,
we doubt its authenticity.
Smiling faces fill in gaps between the breaks
with stories of good Samaritans
then swing back quickly at the sound
of news breaking and shaking the ground
upon which we stand and hold hands.
Hands now trembling so hard they fall apart,
unable to hold together the bonds we have built,
to overcome guilt and build something new.
“Breaking news” breaks progress, too.
Perhaps, that is the point.
The point of no return to better ways and better days
when people felt free of fear
and were learning to hold one another dear.
Filed under POETRY
FLASHPOINT IN THE DARK
There is no in.
There is no out.
There is no round-about.
There is only here.
There is only now.
There is no you.
There is no me.
There is no whomever-they-may-be.
There is only us, if we could only see.
There is only One being you and me.
Incarnation guided by a star
reminds us who we really are.
Alpha-Omega lights our way
through the shoals of eternity.
There is no path to anywhere
but everywhere we be.
There is only here.
‘There is only now.
Make the most of the moment
we are allowed.
Filed under POETRY
NOTHING TO SEE HERE
Nothing to see here!
Nothing at all!
Something bubbles and foams
and won’t leave me alone
though everyone else is gone.
I awaken much shaken
and must sit with pen firmly in hand.
I do not understand
where words are seeded
until thoughts much needed
grow on a page
like a personal sage.
Nor why words loosen each
finger, each joint, each thought
until they dance together to teach
in a meaningless display
before I can begin another lonely day.
Some days, this is all I have to say
and say, and say and say.
So don’t bother reading
such drivel, I am pleading.
Just go on your way.
Nothing to see here today!
If you’ve seen one crash
you’ve seen them all.
So, dash away. Dash away. Dash
away all.
Nothing to see here!
Nothing at all.
WINTER’S COLD
The wind still blows
yet not so bold
as yesterday’s blast of cold.
As cold as your eyes
and as remote the skies
which steal my breath,
gasping for any touch of warmth.
Forcing me to remove my mask.
I wish you could remove your mask.
Not the one which protects you
from Covid, flu, and RSV.
The one which protects you from me.
The mask which blocks the kiss
of mingled breath and souls
connected in our private safe place.
The sun will some day warm the earth,
her touch allowing flowers to bloom.
Your touch could make me bloom,
if you could warm to me.
Come in from the cold, my love.
Remove your mask of invulnerability
and embrace love’s possibility.
Filed under POETRY
PASSION
Where does passion go?
Why does it flee before it is spent?
Has it no sense of time, nor pace?
What does one do with a heart rent
by passion’s too swift flow?
How empty is a life bereft of passion.
How lonely is a passionless soul.
Time stands still and lingers in empty space
covered in ash from burned-out coal.
The need to re-light passion is out of fashion.
Where does passion go?
I, certainly, do not know.
Filed under POETRY
COLD BREW
I understand the pleasure of cold brew, now.
The stainless steel bowl
of coffee grounds steeping in filtered cold water
calms my soul.
I brew a drink which sends distaste reeling
having placed my anger amid the grounds.
All harsh thoughts and bitter feelings
now steep for two days
washing all bitterness away.
I finally drink the gentled drink.
The wait has given me time to think.
I understand cold brew better, now.
Filed under POETRY
PUBLISH OR PERISH
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
Each morning, I awaken and write before my mind loses its irrationality and becomes reasonable, blocking out all creativity with the fear of not being perfect. I also face each new morning dreading what I will hear about Ukraine and its people. Recently, my niece has been pushing me to organize the stacks of poetry on the kitchen table and publish a book. She nags so well that I eventually agreed. Having no interest in, nor understanding of, how to format and upload a book I began exploring but was not self-motivated enough to accomplish much until I realized I could maybe help Ukrainians by publishing a book of poetry about the ongoing war with Russia. The photo above is of the book I recently published titled SLAVA UKRAINI, Poems forPeace. It is available for purchase on Amazon at $14.99. All profits from the sale of the book will go to World Food Kitchen Ukrainian effort.
My father and his 3 brothers operated a restaurant called The Center Cafe for 38 years. Returning home to small town Ohio after WWII, they realized no one would hire Italian immigrant men. So, like all immigrants and their children before them and after, they started their own business. Like any Italian worthy of the title they started a food business. The first and last thing visitors to our home had to do was “sit and eat.” So, I chose World Food Kitchen as the donee because I understand the healing power of food served with love and compassion.
I am now determined to improve my publishing skills and make more books. My niece is happy. And I hope I am able to help Ukrainians in my own small way. I hope it means fewer Ukrainians will perish under Russian onslaught. I encourage you to help Ukraine in whichever way you choose to do so. Slava Ukraini !
Filed under POETRY
