Thursday, January 22, 2009

For Kira -- Who Just Built Me a Poetry Corner to Play In !!!!!

I can write a limerick!
I can write a sonnet.
I can write a song of love
And put a new spin on it.

I can Haiku Japanese.
I can psalter Hebrew.
I can Frost a two-forked road
And Shakespeare thee till ye do.

I can play with words all day,
Till Doctor Seuss eats french fries.
I can make my muse skip rope
Until "Hot Peppers!" he cries.

I can hang with logophiles.
Now we'll amuse each other!
"Get your nose out of that book!
Go play outside!" said mother.

Okay, I'll swing and sing me songs
And dream in words that rhyme.
Some day there's gonna be a place
To play with words on line!

-- Poem by Rani Kaye -- All rights reserved.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

1979

I need a savior
Who is stronger
Than the troubles of this life.

I need an anchor
That pulls tighter
Than the tumult and the strife.

I need a master
Who is bolder
Than the ones who hold me slave.

And when someone comes up to me
And says "gimme"
He says,
"I already gave."

-- Poem by Rani Kaye -- All Rights Reserved

Particularly Prolific

Poems I wrote on June 17, 1989, in order:

Five or six people in each age of men 
Express something true with the brush or the pen
And others repeat it, again and again.

And falsehood, if clothed in a nice-enough rhyme
Is also inscribed in the marble of time.

On Generations:

At seven, we wonder, and move things about.
At seventeen, we just try to get out.
At twenty-one, we begin to pursue.
At twenty-five through fifty, we do.
At fifty-one we begin to rule.

And after we've built and we've ruled, we rest
And decide that the days long gone by were the best
When our parents were building, and their parents ruled.
This we determine at seventy-two.

Now which perspective is actually true?
I think it's the one that we own while we do.
While we grapple with present necessities,
And our children store up memories.

Random musings:

#1
A flower from the nursery,
Meant to thrive in fertile soil,
Will sometimes bloom in rambling wood
If someone puts forth toil.

#2
Is the essence of a thought
With no meter and no rhyme
A poem in its infancy,
Or just a piece of time?

#3
At seventy-four, my mother-in-law
Remembers fondly and says it,
That people in old times would walk where they went,
Thinking nothing of it.

"The world's gotten wider ... and smaller," I told her,
And she agreed, then she said,
"The stores would close early at night and on Sunday."

"The world's gotten different," I said.

 

When we wait safely in the grave,
And our own sons are old and gray,
What will they think of longingly
About this unremarkable day?

---- Poems by Rani Kaye ---- All rights reserved.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

For I Have Loved, Not as I Should, a Creature Made of Clay ...

On Raglan Road on an autumn day,
I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might one day rue.

I saw the danger, and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And I said let grief be a falling leaf
At the dawning of the day.

On Grafton Street in November,
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passions pledged.

The queen of hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay,
Oh I loved too much; and by such and such
Is happiness thrown away.

I gave her gifts of the mind.
I gave her the secret sign
That's known to artists who have known
The true gods of sound and time.

And words and tint I did not stint.
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her long dark hair
Like the clouds over fields of May.

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet,
I see her walking now
Away from me, so hurriedly,
My reason must allow,

That I have loved , not as I should
A creature made of clay.
When the angel woos the clay, he'll lose
His wings at the dawn of day.

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America Does This Really Well

"... and you know what? 
America does this really well -- the transfer of power."

-- David Gregory, on NBC Nightly News


Sunday, January 18, 2009

I Will Choose the Picture

This is the photo for Writer's Block Challenge #54.

When I downloaded the photo, the title of it turned out to be "train-station-trey-ratclif."  Whatever that means.

To the right of the photo are possibly windows.  I think I see the hint of trees.

A long way distant from those trees ... a long way distant from the hour when I write, is another world.  Very real.  That is the picture I will write about.

It is quiet in the woods tonight.  The snow is knee-deep, but the wind has stopped howling.

The fire inside my cabin is warm.  It is warmer in a cabin made of logs and heated by wood, than it can ever be in a frame house heated by natural gas and forced air.  A wood stove's fire burns constant.  Twelve-inch logs keep the cabin snug.  Sometimes, in the deepest winter, you need to open the windows to let out some of the warmth.

It is quiet in the woods tonight.  The birds are bedded down, the deer have withdrawn to the swamp, and the moon is high in the sky.

The pines are draped in new snow.  The stars are beginning to glint from afar.  The light from the wood stove is all that I want.  For it is quiet in my soul tonight, as well.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

If a dog was the teacher (snagged from Kira)

If a dog was the teacher you would learn stuff like:

* When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

* Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

* When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.

*Let others know when they've invaded your territory.

* Take naps. Stretch before rising.  Run, romp, and play daily!

* Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

* Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

* On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

* On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

* When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

* No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.

* Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

* Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.

* Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you're not.

* If what you want what lies buried, dig until you find it.

* When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.