Doña Amate

Have you seen the Amate tree?

Her roots flow like lava over the rocks that would cut you like razors.

Her home is harsh and she thrives.

Her branches stretch against the sun that would bleach your very bones.

She lives on nothing and rises up.

She possesses the crags, the rocks, the deserts. She makes them her own.

She cannot be missed.                                                 

She will not be cast aside.

She reminds me of you.

Too bad the picture can't come with it...you realize, right, that the amate tree is white...

okay we gotta get that picture in here. why can't we get it in here?????

i have it, you have it. why can't we get it in here???

do i need to get zakk do do it? oH! i just did!  :)

we're gonna go stick it right in the poem.....hope that's okay.

actually....HE's gonna do that........

Betrayal

There is a bridge

You know it. I know you do.

You crossed over in the tender years.

Lured up the easy slope, distracted.

Driven down the other side, absent.

I tried not to care. I tried not to follow.

But then that was not the choice.

I am on that other side.

Knowing there is no way back.

Believing there is a way forward.

Hoping there is meaning in all of this.

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oh how my heart is hurting

so very deep inside

the tears they won't stop falling

and my breath i cannot find

i know that this will pass

but i can't see the light

so for now i'll sit in sadness

and let myself just be

and pray that soon

this pain will set me free....

Time

a time to dance
the time is now
dance, dance, dance away
quickly before you forget how

a time to sing
time to be heard
sing, sing, sing from your heart
it won't let you forget the words

a time to laugh
with joyous jubilee
laugh, laugh, laugh out loud
at life so funny and bittersweet

a time to cry
let tears flow free
cry, cry, cry from your soul
for all the things that cannot be

a time to heal
mending of a broken soul
heal, heal, heal the heart
though the scars will always show

a time to remember
for memories never die
remember, remember always
sweet moments of you and I

you're welcome. :)

Thanks for giving us a place to post.  I love this site.

Joy is not something that has to be found.

It is available in every moment, 

should we choose to look around.

A bird, a flower, a stranger's smile,

the completion of running that last eight of a mile.

A kiss, a gentle touch, a bite of your favorite cake,

the view in the morning of steam rising from a lake.

The sun that is rising, a big and bright full moon,

the calling of love from a beautiful loon.

A breath of clean air, the ability to walk, 

ears that hear and a mouth to talk.

A moment of silence and that all-knowing chill, 

the trust given us, our own free will.

Joy can come from complex things, 

or be discovered in the simplest of things;

 like a puddle left over from a cool spring rain...

Jymi,

Your photo is just too perfect...and oh! those pure white shoes and shorts in the mud puddle...the adult in me can't help but wince, while the joyful child goes "Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Right there. That's pure mud puddle joy."

Beehives Above Water

We played in the shallow end.

Mothers in sandals sipped martinis

Wearing cateye glasses that never saw too much

Taking a dip with their beehives above water.

And when everyone left for their barbeques

My body floated in the deep end

While I thought of ways to disappear.

Thanks, Terr.  It feels so good just to be heard.

Huckleberries in the Moonlight

When the sun slides into the Pacific

And the fog rolls inland

When the bars close down

And the tires roll into the gravel drive

Then I know

It’s time to go

Huckleberry picking in the moonlight.

Baroque Recorder

What kind of tree was it

With smooth and sturdy branches

That wrapped around me while I played

The lonely music for her?

And as the nighttime fog

Soaked through my flannel gown

She said she loved to listen

To my baroque recorder.

Nature has that, right? That thing it does to make us feel grounded and safe. Thank You, Lissa!

So healing, normalizing, to hear you guys smiling and getting the images. In some weird way, I'm accessing memories through these little poemy things. Never wrote like this before...thanks for a place to post my stuff...it makes these new memories somehow more real, multi-faceted. There was some beauty in my life back then.

And Laurel - I love that: Tree Hugs!

Summer's Song

We sang and danced down Sherwood Road

The summer sun pure gold.

A group of friends just out of school

And into rock and roll.

Just act as if you’re one of them

And hope that no one knows

Your smile holds a broken soul

A broken home

A lie

Oh, Jymi! This poem talks about a place i bet we have all been in, or are still in. This so totally nails that process of leaving...or not. My emotions were right there with you.

And thank you for the compliments. I'm really enjoying sharing each other's poems.

Sunflowerwoman -

I like the funky formatting...reminds me of pine branches swaying in the breeze. The image of branches reaching up evokes this kind of attitude of celebration. What a beautiful remembrance of Earth Day.