Critical Mass

I have been incredibly busy recently, home a lot fewer hours and, as often seems to happen at such times, the clutter has been secretly reproducing.  I only wish that clutter was less inclined to give birth to whole litters at a time!  I wrote this some time ago, but it seems so appropriate to post it today.

Clutter Critical Mass

Chaos and clutter, pushing and pressing

In on me.  Drowning me

Filling my eyes and ears, until I cannot breathe

Under the weight of it.  I close my eyes,

And though I long to shake free from it and

Fly away.  I know I can’t. 

My place is here and so I sigh and pray for time

To halt.  To freeze.

And in the moments outside of time, within this space

To begin.  Perhaps

If I focus on just one space, I can bring peace

And order.  And air.

Perhaps that space will claw its way through

The clutter. Spread and grow

Until chaos subsides and I can breathe again.

Train of Thought

For Gooseberry Garden this week, we are exploring the cosmos (and other things).  When I saw the topic, I was sure I would write about the natural beauty around me, but on a train ride a few days ago, I was struck by the isolation of the passengers.  It did, indeed, seem like we were in our own little world, trapped by the rain and the train.  In a 30 minute ride, not one person made eye contact with me.  But despite their silence and blank faces, I had a wonderful time looking at their shoes - so much variety! I felt as though their shoes opened the gateway to their own individual orbits within the cosmos.  I didn't, unfortunately, get around to many poets this last week but do, please join me in reading other poets' contributions for the Garden this week!

Unmasked train

duduh, duduh

we sway in silence

duduh, duduh

borne along

duduh, duduh

in a bright-lit carriage

duduh, duduh

to the rail’s song

Blurs of colour

Flash outside

windows fogged

on this rain-seeped ride

the universe narrows

the world grows dim

whirring wheels

trap souls within

a flickering orbit

each featureless face

eyes slip from this moment

of suspended space

blank eyes show no clue

souls masked from view

but each waiting shoe

unveils worlds about you

Never Again...

There comes a point in a one-sided friendship where, despite the castle you tried to build, something dies.  We've probably all been on both sides of this poem... Sharing for Olive Garden this week. Please check out the other poems there today too!

never again

never again
she sighs
dousing fitfully
the smouldering
ruin
of friendship's false fortress

were there not others?
was she the only
one
 trying to stem
the ravenous mauling -
towering flames
watching the inferno
rage
helplessly out  of  control

Or did she feed those fires?

the question
drips
     from
her empty bucket
sizzling
dissipates
 on the grey ash
of something
precious 

The Seeker

What do you seek?  I see so many, often women, seeking to find something to make them special, or beautiful.  We so often feel 'too much' and 'not enough' all at the same time... Real Toads this week is a challenge to celebrate the feminine, and whilst it is true that many of us struggle with the concepts in my poem, regardless of gender, I do wish to speak particularly to the ladies amongst us with this one... Please read here and then check out the other poets at Real Toadshttp://withrealtoads.blogspot.ca/ too.
Linking to dVerse to share my take on those concepts, so please read here and then read more at my favourite pub.  :D

The Seeker

She sees herself as a complex web of contradictions
desperate to dance beyond the mundane
seeing deeper, hearing whispered rhythms
woven through life’s song

She longs to walk the fringe of an aurora
Lit with their fire, wordlessly enraptured,
until she becomes sheer colour
woven beyond sight’s spectrum

She fears to share her most intricate thoughts
holding them close, cradled like newborn heads
as though they would snap-
woven on words’ unsteadiness,

If only she knew
the precious light she’s looking for
is not hidden in the moon’s insipid blotches
woven in the world’s earthbound echoes

It is shimmering there, unfurling in her heart.

On the Street

I have missed my weekly visits to the pub at dVerse - I always enjoy the company there and the excellent verse. This is my drink of choice for this evening - but don't stop here:  there are many excellent brews waiting in the cool, comfortable interior of the bar.  Thanks, Hedgewitch, for hosting this evening!

On the Street

Her very being offends
Cheap perfume mingles with the
poison snaking from sneering lips
hatred glittering from coal-dark eyes
there just isn’t enough material
in that skirt –
there just isn’t enough respect
in her life
Don’t stop, in your smugly manicured self-absorption
don’t stop to ask why
don’t try to hear past the heavy-lidded obscenities
to listen to the soul of what she’s saying
don’t try to see past the heavily painted surface
to see the creature caged within

You might see someone you know -
You might see yourself.

Just a Fence

 This, my latest poem, is inspired by a gorgeous photo by a very talented and very dear friend, Shanyn Silinski, linked to Toads for their prompt this week.  The photo is after the poem (you will see why when you read it).  So, I hope you enjoy and then please skip back to Toads for some more great poems inspired by more of Shanyn's incredible photography.

I have also decided to link this to dVerse ONL this week - because this is quite different from my usual style and I would really appreciate some constructive feedback.  Thank you, fellow poets at dVerse! 

Just a fence

It’s just an old fence
Once straight posts
Leaning under the weight
Of time’s cold shoulder

Weeds straggling through
Carelessly
Unhurriedly
Knowing that eventually
They’ll smother
Once-taut wires

Does anyone see it?
Who cares as it rusts and loosens?
Do the cows thank it?

It encircles them tirelessly
Guarding them gently
From unnamed terrors in
Darkened forest paths
Sure, it has its uses,
But isn’t it ugly?
No.  Not at all.
Catch the Light
Gleaming on its faithful tresses
And its quiet beauty will ease your tired eyes
Its peace will speak comfort to your heart.

Poem Copyright Zoe Beringer

 

Photo Copyright Shanyn Silinski 

Reflections

This is a poem I wrote before and have just tidied up.  I want to share this for a small group of close friends - because I think they will know this place. :)  I am linking to dVerse  for this one - because I think any time we get the chance to read many good poets, we should. :)   So grab your favourite beverage and come with me to somewhere rather special...

Reflections

Through the woods

Into the night

Ghosting along in the pale moonlight

Silently stepping, calm and alone

Reaching a place only I can call home

Sighing soft breeze

Trees cleanse the air

Tall stately trunks of giants live here

My presence expected but calmly received

Greeted with murmurs of moon silvered leaves

Conversing caressing

Streams wander by

Dancing from translucent trees to the sky

Constantly moving, unchangingly still

Revealing, unearthing, my senses they fill

Purposefully wading

Unhurriedly deep

Aching intensity cool waters seep

Peering, awaiting soft surface flow

Searching, exploring reflections below

 

Communing softly

In watery bliss

Galaxies hidden in lake's soothing kiss

Eternal delights gently unfold

Sing in the moonlight of treasures untold

Complexities soothing

Untangling vines

Truth slowly sifting through layers of time

Alone in the starlight clasped in His hand

Lost in the soil of this pale silent land

With You

I want to share this for dVerse ONL.  It isn't one of my best poems, but it is one of my most earnest and deeply felt.  I have been blessed with an amazing friend - someone I can talk to about anything, but who also understands because of similar experiences and ways of thinking.  I wrote this for her...

With You

“There is a friend closer than a brother”

With my friend I have run on silken feet

Through the moonlit gaze of snow-kissed trees

Followed scents, winter’s stillness to greet

Together, loosed the coral of our hair

Swaying with the ocean’s lullaby

Dived as one to drink of untouched depths

Sung with joy the whale’s timeless cry

We’ve broken bonds that chained us to the earth

Communing through the silent stratosphere

Clung to understanding’s feathered vanes

Dared to seek the sun’s refining sear

And as we’ve wept from dark and twisted paths

Mingled tears have drawn us to the Light

So we wash the grime in rivers of Truth

See - her soul, like an opal, shimmers bright.

Streams of Thought

Do you ever have those moments of thought, perception and harmony that take you outside yourself?  This is how I describe them. :) I was reminded of this by the contrast of colours in this week's Magpie (Thanks Tess - I needed that reminder!). 

 This is something I also want to share for Open Link Night at dVerse.  I would love some constructive feedback, but I also have a desire to give this one a voice, so thank you, Natasha, for the encouragement to do just that! 

Streams of Thought

Floating

Silent stillness

Quiescent phrenic balm

Beneath the surface chatter

All is calm

Unfurling

Colours flicker

Swirling streams align

Auroral dance of consciousness

Shimmers beyond time

Wordless

Complex laminae

Resounding from afar

Atomic vibrant thought-pulse

Streaming to the stars.

Sparking

Strands entwining

Lightning static flash

Voltage shocks photonic fuse

Glorious cosmic lash.

Reality

I should probably call this poem a Reality Check.  I have needed one recently, and this poem, though I wrote it over a year ago, was exactly that reality check for me.  I am sharing this for Gooseberry Garden free (okay, I know that wasn't what you meant by free, but if we are free linking we might as well talk about freedom in the ultimate sense.... )  linking this week and I hope that you are uplifted by it too.  Please link back there for other poems for the spirit and soul...

Reality

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them....   Eph 2:10

Churning uneasiness, swirling fatigue

Can't see the light of the woods for the trees

Sorrowful aching, so much to learn

Far from the tightrope of balance I yearn

So into the garden I flee to the night

Seeking and searching, longing for light

Knowing that only my Lord has the key

That opens the gate to humility

Kneeling at His feet, in tear stained awe

Blindness removed leaving feelings so raw

Praying for mercy to wash clean my soul

Praying for courage to take up my role

Praying for those He has charged to my care

For wings to grow strong and sweep through the air

To soar with them, urge them to freedom's pure cry

Discovery's journey to sing through their sky.

Praying for Sonrise to dawn in our land

Reaching enlightenment, daring to stand

Echoing praise, reflecting His Light

Drawing our souls, torn free with delight.

Free to explore, free to succeed,

Free to be honest, free to achieve

Living wholeheartedly, joyously free

Reverently, exquisitely, uniquely as me.

Ice Age

Undercurrents - often they speak louder than the surface, at least they do to me.  I had almost forgotten how big a role they play - So thank you, Karin, at dVerse for reminding me for this week's interesting prompt.

  Ice Age

I suppose I should say

It is good to see you

But I can’t.

Your arms surround me

But don’t touch my heart

The warmth of your skin

Forms ice in my soul

As the glaciers creep

Slowly southward

With each unlooked for caress

The sun wanes

It’s feeble light flees

The dark winter

Of your embrace

Night Rendezvous

A quick sketch of an idea for a painting of this experience

I love walking at night, particularly after it has been raining.  This night walk was particularly special and as such I really want to share it with the pub at dVerse open link night for this week, but it also seemed so appropriate for Gooseberry Garden's theme of 'new lives'.  Please, grab your favourite beverage, read here and  then head on over to the links for some wonderful poems and insights.

Night Rendezvous

Day’s tension fading, sure step will quicken

Farewell to the harsh glare of light

Rainstorm is passing, petrichor singing

Lemon gums perfume the night

Starlight is gleaming, a clean moon now waxing

The last clouds scurry away

Earth smiles, listening, timelessly soaking

Eve blooms from rain-cleansed day

Sheoaks are whistling, the path leading deeper

Away from the wide gravel drive

Lost leaves are sighing, caressing my footfall

Each sense intensely alive

A silhouette shimmers, forgotten oasis

Glimpsed on the night-darkened sand

Smiling, I greet him, with velvet he answers,

Blows softly and nuzzles my hand

He nibbles my sleeve, leans close in the darkness

My fingers melt into his mane

His scent fills my memory, echoes through decades

Sighing a timeless refrain

I am there, as a child, desperate for friendship

A subconscious search to be free

Strength, reassurance, gleams in his soft eye,

Waters the parched land I’d flee

I blink, pale moon pulls me back to the present

Her clarity pierces time’s hall

Risen as equal, grown from that lost child

Who died to that fierce inner call

In softening star glow, scented with damp soil

Companionable horse by my side

On moon’s bright ellipse my future seems poised

I am calm – no need now to hide

Communing in silence, horse satin, moon silver

The truth stands before me undressed

I see through those years, my loving Creator

Has wrought a new life that is blessed.

Rainbird

This prompt comes from Bluebell Books, whose kind invite to participate, I am thankful for.  I am also submitting this for dVerse.   Once you have read my offering, please link back to both these sites - there are some excellent works at both links.  So here, my first poem for 2012.
Image Credit: http://chance-of-sunshine.blogspot.com/2011/09/umbrella-season.html
  

Rainbird

Serenity curves her mouth softly

Joy whispers the rhythm to her feet

Rain chuckles as it kisses her eyelids

Traces the line of her nose

And brushes her lips

Glowing with sunlit promise

Thankfulness bursts from her heart in song

Making radiant her face, complete

unafraid

in a swirling sea of isolated hearts

Who hide beneath their umbrella’d wings

The refreshing coolness of the rain

Seeps tantalisingly past their silent solitude.

In time, will they unfurl to its gentle call?

Oops

Oops

Hesitantly, hold a precious moment frozen

in time, softly cupped by frigid hands

Hoping today, time’s sands will shift.

But eventually, slight tremors 

cascading in alarm

make tenuous

the grasp

“NO!”

gasping

urgently as

the fragility of the

moment spirals out of

cringing apologetic fingers

sailing admirably on its final flight

irrevocably smashing on the implacable floor.

Some folk's hands are just too jittery

to trust with the good stuff.

I am sharing this one for dVerse's open link night.  Thanks again, for a great evening at the bar!

A dream

I have been watching a favourite movie (Mamma Mia), listening to Abba's "I have a dream" and thinking about dreams.  Weaving waking and sleeping dreams together brought this, which I thought I would share for Poetry Palace's Poet's Rally Week 59, although it isn't Freeverse in form, it is somewhat free in subject. Enjoy, then hop on over to the rally for more fine verse.

A dream

I had a dream, a song to sing

A starving wolf who trusted me

Pursued by dogs to tear her throat

I lifted her to set her free

Safely borne by hidden breeze

On soul-taut strings in cool glade

Soaked in hues both rich and pure

Where thought could heal within the shade

Resting, growing in the warmth

Where each leaf shimmers in the sun

Kissed by clearest drops of hope

Alight with strength, soon she’ll run

Silken paws dance deftly through

Forgotten trails will heart's fire bring

Moonlight melts in the rainbow’d sun:

I have a dream, a song to sing.

Heartsong

This is  a piece I wrote a couple of years ago, but having had a really special Christmas this year, it called to mind the joy and thankfulness of this poem.  So, here is to everyone at  Gooseberry Garden, and dVerse, my two favourite poetic communities, as we stand poised on the brink of 2012....

Heartsong

Breeze sighing through golden wheat,

The paddock shimmering in the heat;

A horse's steady clop and the saddle's creak,

These are joyful whispers that I seek.

The sand's gentle squeak on my local shore,

The comforting tumble of the ocean's roar;

Laughter of my children as they splash and play,

These are joyful chants that warm my day.

The soothing tones of piano keys,

Caressing Celtic melodies;

Pure, clear voices in harmony,

All these, too, sing joy to me.

Magpie song, kookaburra's glee,

The call of the parrots in my gum tree;

The calming thrum of rain above,

Yet more of the joyful sounds I love.

My cat's purring warmth on my feet,

My husband's steady heart beat,

my sleepy children's goodnight calls,

These give me joy as each night falls.

But through each of these, in every note,

I hear the joy my Saviour wrote,

And deep within, I pause to sing

Reverent praise in awe to Him. 

Wonder

This is the first year that my children have been old enough to anticipate Christmas but still young enough to have that delightful sense of wonder.  My daughter (5) in particular, is in such a state of excitement about life as a whole at the moment, that Christmas almost pales in comparison.  

I appreciate Hedgewitch's comments on Christmas at dVerse this week, and so this poem seemed appropriate to share. 

Wonder

“Quick, come quickly!  Come and see! “

Joyfully, she calls to me,

Immersed in wonder, bathed in light,

Entwined in flutters of delight.

She scampers, dancing through the grass

Stooping,  laughing,  shooting past

And watching her, my heart expands

With love, as I reach for her hand.

Her smile lights up her face and eyes

As she unwraps each new surprise

Hidden in the earth and sky,

And catching clouds that pass her by.

I would love to hear your thoughts, and after you comment, please hop on over to dVerse to read some outstanding poetry.  Merry Christmas to you all - the kind of Christmas that is full of meaning, not just tinsel.