Could I be an eagle today and fly so high these truances would fall away Could I be an eagle tonight and fly so far out of reach out of sight You would remember the good I gave and all the bad would soar away Could I be an eagle tomorrow and rise with the sun not burning not yearning No tears of sorrow If I were an eagle would you let me leave And welcome me back when these grievances freed Can I be an eagle one time and leave these mortal trials behind?Continue reading
Category Archives: Sunday Night Sonnet
Flight of Me
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
Love, Surrounding
Sometimes calling in the dead of night
or on a lonely street at dusk
just there
just ever so there
Warming bones like a cup of tea
sweet overriding bitter
Stolen moments on a sandy beach
Twisting round weathered branches
of my heart
Sometimes calling at midday
taking hold of my hand
Cradled in my arms
Singing a song
like the prettiest a songbird sings
There is love all around
From within it breathes
and emanates from my skin
Through that sparkle in the eyes
And the smile given to perfect strangers
It never leaves
even if sometimes I'd wish it
You are there, love
growing inside
evolving, unfolding
flapping your wings
but never flying far away.
Written as an ode to Valentine’s Day, an ode to love.
Love has many forms, phases, spirits.
It surrounds me. Enlightening, fulfilling,
gut-wrenching, cosmic, glorious.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
Lost in the Fog
It rolls in unannounced
looming just beyond
yet all around
It cannot be touched
these cascading droplets of mist
dampening the skin
soaking leaves into puddles
blinding us from within
We could get lost in the fog
hiding from the edges
searching
floating
giggling against
the softened silence.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
La Veranda
You welcomed me
in the middle of a city street
tucked away among the palms and live oaks
As soon as my feet climbed your staircase
I was full
There was no worry
only solace
I could have stayed for days
weeks perhaps
The aqua sea glass chimes
danced in the slight winter breeze
Your cushions and lamps
and pillows and books about architecture
encased me like a warm blanket
And JackJack the cat
nipped at the corners
as I wished I could pet him without sneezing
A pedestal tub I didn't have time to soak in
The doorway as short as the people in 1849
Silk coasters to place the glass of wine
at night as I inhaled the smell of antique wood
A vintage coffee cup on the veranda
filled with the nutty flavor of morning happiness
Come and relax
the walls and veranda seem to say
creativity will abound
You are always welcome to leave
but you will never want to.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
Australian Sky
There is nothing more beautiful
than the Australian sky,
with its midnight blue hue
and its diamond eye--
a lonely star searching
for its band of brothers,
the Southern Cross light
and a sea of others
The Milky Way, broad and blinding
The desert tree hiding
behind a silhouette of red rock
at sunset once shining
A dark branch against a lighter sky
A rustle in the grass
A nocturnal animal's cry
Red turns blue turns grey turns black
and there is no turning back
For the sky of Australia
will always be burned
into the eyes of the onlooker,
remembered and yearned.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
January, at its Best
How many cold, winter nights
have we sat by the window of some smoky place
and contemplated the state of things
or nothing at all
And how such a winter's night
could be so mild
'tis a strange thing but all the same
Fine by me for bitter winds
only add to the shame of man
For no man has not a care in the world
lest he have not a mind or soul
Would that I could take things like
that soulless man
My existence would not have reason
And my mind would think silly thoughts
through the window of murky winter.
Written when the Tennessee winter was more than I could bear.
The endless days and weeks of cloudy skies, barren tree limbs, and freezing temperatures took its toll.
It robbed the best of me, leaving a fallen, desperate shell.
Now my Floridian January is a celebration.
The cool winds keep the warmth from stagnating.
And I am smiling as the vivid colors of a blue sky backdrop promise me sunshine and breezes
and greenery.
And birds gracefully gliding in their sunny winter dance.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
I Remember
I remember a September wind
the scent of cigarettes and mint
a green car
you took me far
away from a life spent
I still have the jagged limestone
thrown on my balcony
I was unaware you saw me there
I waited so patiently
I remember a January frost
a dark hallway
I was lost
the green car took me once again
and I felt the warm sun
on my skin
Many a freckle came to begin
darken then fade all over and then
I remember a May breeze
the green car traded
with the sway of the trees
and leaves grew back
and some did die
flitting swirling flailing
before their ultimate demise
And we watched them dance
in an orange cloudy sky
I remember a September wind
and the scent of cigarettes and mint
And it came to be from that moment
all that life has meant.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
Ode to JKF
Sing to me a song of sweet bitterness
love songs are not pitiful but fearless
parting is not such sorrow as the
waking hours of distance
Tomorrow our day will come
and happiness the smile of sunshine
as realization of always comfortable
will be in the heart, in the mind
Divine candles of burning flame
end night and torture
Through fantasies would come the conclusion
of laughter and holding hands.
---May 11, 1990
—Once again I am almost astonished at the amount of love I had in my fledgling high school body.
I did love this boy very much. We went to his senior prom together (I was just a sophomore).
In the after hours we came back to my house and my mother had set up the downstairs den with candles, music, and breakfast with roses on TV trays (she usually hated my boyfriends).
We never shared our bodies but did share a love of writing, poetry, Jethro Tull, and environmentalism.
I became a vegetarian (for quite some time) because of him.
I looked up to him and knew we had a kindred spirit, although he never let me in fully.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
Fadeaway Friend
Your subtle entry encased in smallish chit-chat similar musical interests and a love of photography my chilled white wine next to your pink Cosmopolitan The infancy of a grave friendship Oh, the concerts we attended! The lush green park that day when we photographed the crooked wooden fence and the giant knot on the oak You were never ready when I picked you up You asked which shoes looked best the tall leather boots or the black strappy heels? No longer matronly Oh, the dance floors we graced! I still have those dancing shoes the ones tossed on your living room floor on lazy days by the karaoke machine I remember that conversation on the phone tracing the rough edges of a stone wall while you cried for the twentieth time All the times I talked you down from the edge of darkness All the times you did the same The divorce, the deaths, the foreclosures, job losses My hands acquainted with your belongings in boxes more than once Your car full of my office supplies transporting them when the business failed Oh, the parties we hosted! Your famous macaroni you made sure to include a vegetarian dish I made sure there were no nuts in my famous slaw You never ran out of wine Afternoon movies sitting in the back row Five times we strolled the beach You never liked yourself in a bathing suit My confidant Then the wine became sour the Cosmo tainted I winced when the phone rang I couldn't talk you down anymore You didn't like who I'd become all of a sudden Jealousy, competition, disgust miscommunication, anger, judgement control, betrayal These are the wicked that turned it toxic Senility came to our friendship and it exited with harsh words and sobbing The waiter gave me a look as I was making a scene The dying plant you gave me is green as spring its vines entrenched in the ground and crawling up the slats of the picked fence Your photographs are still in my frames But I cannot listen to Blondie anymore.
–Some friends are meant to stay and some are meant to fly away.
I believe we are here to connect with each other.
But some connections are better off severed.
We can mourn this loss but we can also learn from it.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
One of Passion
Come, oh one of passion
of deep, mindful feeling
of trust and kindness
cleanliness and beauty
Wrap your arms around me
embrace me
relieve me
from the harsh chains which bind me
unto the darkness of the world of hate
Love me forever
Give me the feeling
of a million petals floating in a
clear blue sea
I long for you like life longs
for light
Too faraway are you oh one of passion
And I am not at ease until you are seen
within my distance.
--December 31, 1989
— To think I had such aching desire in my little high school freshman body.
The boy I wrote this for has flourished into a successful man yet still embodies those gifts and virtues included in the poem written so many years ago.
I guess you are never too young for yearning. And you are never too old, either.
Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet
Busted Flip Flops 