PAD 04/10/10

Poem a Day challenge, day 10.  Prompt:  horror poem

I'm going to withhold this one. I want to submit it for possible publication.  I was so happy with how it turned out!

Pad 04/09/10

Day 9 of the Poem a Day challenge.  Prompt:  a self portrait

SELF PORTRAIT

I had evil thoughts today
and shameful expectations

I told lies
and ate more calories
than I'm allowed

If I was famous
the public would storm
my castle with torches

I would pay my consultants
to find me a way out

They would advise me
to do a commercial
with the voice of my
dead father berating me
for my crimes 

and I would do it

PAD 04/08/10

Day 8, poem a day challenge.  Prompt:  a tool

IT'S A TOOL TO KEEP YOUR MIND


on the meditation practice

there are 108 beads with a summit
called a sumeru
that should keep you busy
for a long while
there are many online sources

to assist you on your path
choose your mala wisely
tulsi sandal rose rudraksh
ebony crystal navgraha
bodhiseed or lotus
each material has different properties
that affect the subconscious mind
why use a mala?

because the mind is a naughty child
jumping out of classroom windows
wandering off into the forest
beyond the playground
to get lost in the thick
of imagination
where live the wizards
princesses and kings
or wanting to throw a stick
for the loyal dog to fetch
or you might go to sleep

or be beset by fantasies
of espionage murder control
of never growing old
or failing the ones you love
move each bead in rhythm

with your breath
a mantra helps
unappropriate thoughts
are prevented by the action
upon the beads
what an accessory!

it's like a close friend
or those boots you
just can't throw away
because they know your feet
by heart
or like the shirt

the one you keep in the closet
because it still holds the smell
of your lover's body
count the beads
so you can forget all that

PAD 04/07/10

Day seven of the Poem a Day challenge.  Prompt:  "Until ________"


UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US

under that bridge
flows the Arkansas river
where my brother almost drowned
when he was seven

and I almost drowned saving him
under that bridge
I spent the night
sleeping on a piece of cardboard
I didn't know until morning

that the cardboard covered a dead dog
under that bridge that child is sleeping
dead  these thirty years
for better or worse
that's our life

until the light takes us
if it will take us

we will go home

PAD, day 6, revised

PAD, day 6, Revised

NOW THAT SHE'S FLED ME


I imagine her this way
Pocahontas in skins
lithe as the young doe
loping behind her
its tail risen like a flag

October leaves in browns and reds
the world turning toward
death and discovery
the fatal ship already on the horizon
etched on white clouds

the sky darkens
her hair blows back
as she runs