Driving North on I-395 in Early Morning

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Driving North on I-395 in Early Morning

Behind me, to the East,
(as I crest a summit)
sun opens his eyes,
stretches, reaches out,
grazes snow-graced peaks
of Mt. Whitney,
gilds her breasts in bronze.

Before me, in the valley,
fog spills into a bowl of milk.
I inch forward,
into a cloud of unknowing.

Earth shimmers behind
her gauzy silence,
till once again
she rips her veil
and wraps me in light.
Going home.

Joined to Gooseberry Garden where we’re invited to write about something for which we are grateful and to dVerse Poets’ Pub Open Link Night where you can write about whatever you want. For those of us who celebrate Thanksgiving, here’s a chance to gorge on poetry and friendship before the big day. Maybe then we won’t be so tempted to over-indulge when the day arrives. Happy Thanksgiving all, wherever you are. I am grateful you are a part of my life.

Of Dying–A Ghazal

Image by Grumpy-Puddin via Flickr

That pain surrounds our birth, there’s no denying,
though worse, the fear that comes with thoughts of dying.

For life’s sojourn is pierced by sounds of crying,
as day-by-day we creep unto our dying.

Absorbed by fear of loss, we turn to buying
mere toys to mask remembrance of our dying.

And as our days grow long we know dark sighing
of friends and those we love. We watch their dying.

Perhaps, at length, we will eschew defying,
instead, embracing death: Victorious dying.

Re-posted for Gooseberry Garden’s where today’s theme is loss and longing. http://gooseberrygoespoetic.blogspot.com/ Thank you Shashi for this prompt and your dedication in the past in hosting.

Temptation–Gooseberry Garden

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Temptation
An Acrostic

(Eve)

Try not to think of how you’ll feel tomorrow,
E’en God can’t know the wonder of this fruit.

(Adam)

My dear, don’t you remember words of warning?

(Eve)

Perhaps God’s trying to keep us from the truth.
Take this; come on. Just try a morsel.
A snake told me that we would be just fine.
The Tree of Life has nothing like this apple.
Indeed, it offers neither food nor wine.

(Adam)

Only a tiny bite, only this one time.
No one will ever know. HEY, this one’s mine!

The story of Adam and Eve expresses many truths that dog our human nature, not the least of which is our relationship with temptation. From my own experience, I find it so easy to rationalize choices that are not consistent with my higher good or the good of others. Given a bit a distance, however, when I can see the results of my decisions with clarity, I’m confronted with the reality of my egoism. Selfishness is at the heart of our problems. My definition of “original sin” is egoism. This is what impairs the perfection of creation.

Shared with Gooseberry Garden,hosted by the talented Sashi, where the prompt for this week is Adam and Eve. http://gooseberrygoespoetic.blogspot.com/

The Summer of 1948

Image by Randy Son Of Robert via Flickr

The Summer of 1948

I perch in my pepper tree.
Pungent scents, fingered
leaves embrace me.
A lady bug, dressed in red
with black polka dots
climbs my arm, tickles.

Ocean sand, white as the rind
of a watermelon, clings to my
bare toes.
Only hours ago I ran through it,
reaching out, stretching to catch
sapphires.

The smell of hot concrete
dampened by rain showers
lingers along with DDT
sprayed from a can with a
plunger like a bicycle pump.

I slip down the gnarly trunk,
enter the house by the
screen door near the
Bendix with the ringer where
Mama found a black widow
yesterday.

She’s melting a blue cube
of laundry starch
in hot water.

“Did you know I’m four
and a half today?”
I ask. She nods, smiles.
The black fan whirrs
in the background.

“Go on over to Stewie’s,” she says.
“It’s almost time for
Kukla, Fran and Ollie.”

Cross-legged on the floor
I watch the 12” screen,
and understand.

Linked to Gooseberry Garden’s prompt (November 13, 2011) that invites us back into childhood reverie …a poem written many years ago! If you feel like it’s deja-vu all over again, don’t be concerned. This was initially posted last summer. (Guess I’m giving away my age here!)