Writing Wednesday: Moon

moon

silvery white
      spilling over
grass
trees
blanket on the lawn

air fresh
       sweetened by earlier rain
tugs the few loose curls
dances over the skin
       light
       feathery

maiden moon
        quartered
        glowing

reigning over
          songs and revelry

Writing Wednesday: 4th Street Feeling

Today is my birthday!!! Last night, I went to Wolf Trap to see the always amazing Melissa Etheridge on concert. It was spectacular and I had a blast, but it definitely inspired some poetry. So here's a little taste of last night for you, titled after the song that inspired it.

4th Street Feeling
pulsing
dancing
feeling
   the vibrations

in the ground
in the air
in my body

the thump
       resonating in
             my soul

the night sky
       open and wide
above my head

...eyes closed, head back
the sweet smell of summer….

sprawled on the blanket
     forgotten glass of wine
            to my right

eyes closed
    swaying

lost in the music

Writing Wednesday

Well, today was a bust.

I've decided I do not like the schedule function. My posts either don't post at all or they post on the wrong day. Or they just outright disappear, as in, no posting or saving.

The latter is responsible for today's lack of post. I think I'm going to have to go back to saving as a draft and going into blogger myself to post it. Grr.

Today's topic was, of course, beautifully written and deep. After an adventure filled day at the full time job, I got nothing for you people. Nada.

Instead, I leave you with this thought:

dappled, dancing
filtering through
     leaves fluttering
               ruffling
warm and golden
without the edge of
     noontime;'s glare
fading, softening
     end of the day

almost time to go home

V is for...

It's day twenty-two of the A to Z Challenge!

Today's topic is vehemence. Or rather, that's the title of the poem I'm sharing today. This poem is from Pieces of the Soul, so you're getting a rare glimpse inside the book today.

vehemence

there aredays
i just want to roll back over
submerge into fantasy
forgetting the banality
of day to day existence

my life isn't horror
it's not even all that interesting
most days

it's the scary little dark part
deep in me
that i wish to avoid
that makes me huddle
small and childlike
the mask, the defense,
the armor that kept me safe
through the early years
the tumultuous years

the fiery, raging fury
which swept over all
and left naught in its wake -
not even ashes -
for it was so hot and bright

that sword, still sharp,
still gleaming bright
has been sheathed.

i havelittle need for

it now           

from time to time
it comes, unbidden,
a habit, an addiction
a double edged sword that
scars us both, victim and me

it's part of me

but it frightens me all the same

L is for...

Hello, and welcome to day twelve of the A to Z Challenge!

Today's topic is Lughnasadh, or Lammas.

Well, that was the original plan for this post, anyway. Yesterday, I traveled to my alma mater, Roanoke College, for my ten year reunion. I didn't go to my ten year high school reunion; I didn't feel compelled to do so. Somehow, though, I found myself anxiously waiting to see who would be at 'dear old Roanoke,' who I might get to catch up with during the whirlwind of activities.

I spent the evening at FOTQ (Friday on the Quad, a cookout/picnic event with a band) and at my sorority house. Then I ate dinner with some good friends at my home away from dorm room, Macado's.

It left me thinking about the kinds of love we encounter in our lives: friends, sorority sisters (or, for some, fraternity brothers), family, spouses, nieces, nephews, children, and places. It's the latter that struck me the most today, seeing all the familiar haunts from four amazing years in my life.

So, I'll leave you with a moment from yesterday where I was reminded of the beauty of a place and the love it can hold.

standing on elizabeth campus feeling the warm breeze
a stillness
     not just deep within
     but carried on the wind

a peace
     so potent in the moment
     that all is right with the world and you

laughter and music drifting
lazily in the fading sunlight
scent of spring
     soft
          gentle
               tickling

juxtaposed

with memories
     of other days just like this
so long ago

face turned
     catching the last rays of twilight
that glint off the windows
that once shielded you

now...
looking in and seeing the past
     as the future looks backr

C is for...

Welcome to day three of the A to Z challenge!

Today's topic is change.  Or rather, a poem about change.

untitled

change

is not always so
beautiful
and elegant

as when the butterfly
emerges from
the
cocoon of the caterpillar

there is not always the
arresting new colors
or
fluttering of wings newly freed

at times it

is the popping and creaking
of old bones
trapped in the quotidian

is the quivering of muscles
from unfamiliar exertions

is pain
shredding through the
fabric of one’s being

change

is

the unrelenting pressure
of the
world stage

towards moving
in one direction
or
another

would that change
were easy as a
phoenix
rising from the ashes
of its own evolution

alas

change

is

rivers of sorrow
streaming
     down
        the face

cheeks flushed
     rosy with
        joy

clouds of dismay
     obscuring
        one’s personal
           truth

and finally

change

is

interminable

A is for...

Welcome to the first day of the A to Z challenge!

Today's topic is art. I consider myself an artist, not because I have immense talent, but because I love the process of creating and of using my imagination. I am an artist of the mind more than of paper or paint or clay.

I know amazing and talented artists (Kara DeCarlo) and photographers (Kym Davis). I know writers of great skill (Jennifer Wells) and sculptors. I know knitters and weavers, seamstresses and dancers. I even know a tarot reader who would knock your socks off. All of these are art. Art is simply an expression of the mind and the soul, a way to release thoughts, feelings, dreams, anything.

I do it with poetry a lot. I use words to take something inside me and let it free. Sometimes I knit, to soothe the soul and create something comforting to put into the world. Sometimes I paint, in a very abstract, play with color to see what happens kind of way.

How about you? How do you express yourself?

Don't forget to check out some of the other participants!