This haiku was posted by Gary B. Dean at AllPoetry.com on 23rd July 2024.
Freefall
All leaves fall away
From the branches that lift them
For their only flight
I liked it and wanted to reply. So I did.
The Wonder Train – 25th December 2024
A whisper and a wonder
Will all the aunties be there?
Where will everyone sit?
Can I watch the fire faeries flit
As I fall asleep in the quiet comfy chair?
Adult breath whiffs of magic
Will I ever learn these ways?
Maybe I’ll sing a song
And the uncles will sing along
With my series of 20 short plays
Is that bird following me?
Better to be clear of the busy sky
Reindeer running through
Clickety-clack and choo-choo-choo
Where did he go and why?
The sparkle of new toys
The surprise of morning snow
Why all the rush
For the melt to the slush?
Enquiring minds want to know
Shared with What Do You See? #268 picture prompt (above)
Across The Continent – 24th December 2024
An entire life within the crashing waves
Hands held and shown what to do
Never stand with your back to the ocean
Ride the rips just passing through
Now the city is the best teacher
From drill bits to bureaucratic affairs
Those unflinching bureaucratic eyes
Offer little with their dead-eyed stares
These are days to tell about
Belonging everywhere ever been
Sick of these city shenanigans
You must choose one it seems
Continuing the theme from Across The Room. Inspired, borrowed and paraphrased from this post at Spinning Visions.
Bombs And Bread – 23rd December 2024
Can you name even one of the dead?
Whilst dropping both bombs and bread
You defend these actions instead
And defiantly nodding your head
But killing kids is not self-defence
Spreading peace through violence
This is no place for indifference
This is no time for your silence
Since when has questioning charred corpses
Been more offensive than actual charred corpses?
Erasing Metaphor – 22nd December 2024
plain and simple
hey symbolic metaphors
late night sleep
a bowl of your pretty little mind
a pair of red leaves fall
wine walking
this day is a week
you want good
not better
your cup now is September
how many I love have flown my kitchen
arranging a perfect child
I like to eat then, forgetting the ocean
a restlessness or
inhabiting quiet
some never talk again
and now to cut up a life
could I have chosen myself
An erasure poem adapted from this wonderful writing at tiny hearts (see below)
A Love Letter From Minas Gerais – 21st December 2024
Maturing in the still and humid air
On a steep Brazilian hillside
I deepen red as if blushing
Ready to be plucked and tested
Still sour before the procession
Dried on a dusty rack
Soon signed, sealed and delivered
My final journey nears conclusion
I’m roasted, stirred and blended
Slightly sweet and bitter
Cascading jets of steamy water
Extract my last juices
Remember me this fine morning
As you go about your day
It was my pleasure to serve you
To give you my get up and go
Written for an AllPoetry assignment about personification and returning to a favourite topic of mine!
My Backyard – 20th December 2024
Flowers bloom between my toes
Tamed all within this fence
The tree of life grows
Slaked by others’ expense
Beyond the hills and valleys
Where the earth is dry and hard
Adding to the deadly tallies
But never in my backyard
I’ll fight you off my flowers
Kill to keep my order
Raise up sentry towers
To keep you from my border
No, never in my backyard
Eyes shut tight to beyond
My garden must not be marred
No filth brought to my pond
The Play – 19th December 2024
Of course, I am the hero
This is my poem after all!
Well-intentioned and rational
Justice must be my call
So you must be the villain
A poet must have a foe!
Conjuring a dastardly plan
Laughing maniacally so
We take action as we believe
Ignorant of a better way
Both deceived by our duty
In this game of life we play
Christmas In Gaza – 18th December 2024
Love and peace to all men
Your silent night, broken again
Tidings of comfort and joy
Burst wide open as bombs deploy
A Christmas, warm and bright
Lit by a white phosphorus light
Celebrating the birth of hope
Where none is found under microscope
The platitudes of seasonal cheer
Have lost all their meaning here
Peace unto you, my brother
“All I want for Christmas is my mother”
Shared with Poets and Storytellers United – holiday anxieties
1994ever 