30 Poems in 30 Days (Redux)

[4degrees]

4
Before I say again
Those many words to you
Before I lose a friend
Who’s always tried and true
Before settling on my innocents
And believing all my lies
Watch me turning every little heart
To ice with just my eyes

 

[butters]

#3-1

once more unto the breach

thick mists lingered
in a twilight mind
as a body fought a low-key war
in incremental skirmishes
no D-Day, no V-Day
no ticker tape parade
just a gradual brightening of a brain
still a little overclouded
synaptic lightning
a connecting
once again
thoughts
to fingers
to screen

a prelude

 

[HarryHill]

Nineteen, Windfall

In a yard full of trees, through all the years,
many have come and gone.
No matter how tall or sturdy,
no matter how timeless they seem,
all will fall, the tough and the small,
the worm eaten and the green.

She looks a proper woodsman,
chain saw in her hand,
logging up the latest one that gave it's all.
I watch her, blessing the day she fell into my arms.

 

[butters]

#3-2

afloat

on my back
in an ocean of ideas
ideals
watching skies
reflecting on reflections

bearing witness
to the sinking of a star
with faith it will rise again
soon enough

and that time and tides
will change skylines
slo-mo fluidity
something to think on
in the darkest hours

 

[4degrees]

1
Seriously,

These days to and fro
East to west and
Back again
Everything blends together
But there’s the change in weather
Reminds me that seasons
Blend but never end

 

[HarryHill]

Twenty/Twenty

You pick a subject; toss a line.
How do you see this?
Speak your mind.
If you had a dollar for every random thought,
Would you be richer,
or poorer,
against all the things you've bought.
:skipthisline:
Now.
Sometimes there's a loss for words,
often times not the case.
Time is limited.
Running out of space.
:skipthisline:
Stick tights on the derby.
A leaf swimming in hair.
Autumn evenings.
Feel that air.
We'll be back tomorrow, just you wait and see.
The pumpkin's in the pie, scarecrow out to tea.

 

[butters]

#3-3

when riding a dragon...

you'd think losing an eye
might pose a hindrance
especially in conflict

getting blindsided
would be
unfortunate...
a potential game-changer

rely, instead
on your scaly mount's vision
—don't get distracted
by mumbled seer-sight
dragon-dreamer's prophesies

and when your ride's wisdom
is a long page in history

when their advanced years
lends a querulous impatience

say pre-flight prayers to your gods
get dragon-eyes tested
once a year

 

[butters]

#3-4

location, location, location

spoilt for choice
the chooks split time
their feathered reality
(from egg to their final goodnight)
between 2 prime pieces
of real-estate
complete
with their own fenced-in land

overnight
they roost
beneath tin roof
in a hay-lined multi-storied
open-concept dwelling
not exactly built
to the latest specs
but offering misty landscape views
via the history of old church window-panes

they greet the day
their opened doors
with gleeful mass exodus
excited gossips
headed for the dawn-warmed opacity
of the 20 by 10 greenhouse
with its bounty of bugs
that slip in overnight
through that state-of-the-art tunnel built for hens

they're partial
to open-aired couplings
downy feathers scatter
the larger, south-faced yard
where docile encounters
and the noisier protests
when a rougher
usurper to the crown
takes advantage
disturb those gathered at the water bowl
sipping in the sunlight
or taking obligatory dust-bath

when the hours climb
these pampered chooks
wander north in a stately parade
to shady stretch beneath the second fig
hop up into trough composter
examine thermic rotting veg for worms
other assorted crawlies
or—perched on its lip—
peruse open, tree-dotted views
for dog/cats/hawks... things...
or to simply enjoy contemplate
the fathomless blueness of skies

from one-roomed, cramped shed
to sprawling commune
chicken hearts embrace the concept:
Have Space, Will Travel

 

[HarryHill]

Twenty-one

Let's make this hard and fast.
Ace in the hole.
Now deal; okay, Jack?

 

[4degrees]

2 haiku

I am the scooper
Always picking up your poop
You are the pooper

I know you love me
I am the feeder as well
And the endless pets

You have me heart now
I wish you’d never leave me
My furry sweetheart

 

[butters]

#3-5

let's steer this analogy

here is a car

let's call it haiku

it has subtle tints
two-seater with clean lines
a purr under the bonnet

here is another car

it has a hood and trunk
two doors, four wheels
—an EV
with a candy finish
dash-cam and GPS
bells, whistles,
seat and carpet protectors
for the inevitable bodily fluids

both are vehicles
drive a narrative
only one is haiku

 

[HarryHill]

Twenty-two Skidoo

<rem 20/20>
Dawn comes too damn early,
breakfast is never late.
Frozen burrito.
Paper plate.
Coffee blurts and yawns.

Yard patrol out, it's a nice day.
Rosie spots me, common let's play.
Sits beside me, raises a paw.
Hold hands.
Hold hands.
Then brush and fuss until
she walks away.
No kiss goodbye, gone for a nap.
It's a dog's life and she's going to live it

 

[butters]

#3-6

kiss me, he said

from another, cold and strangely odd dimension
that interface where coffee must not spill

existing in that space, defying tension
sent kisses, coffee cup, and all good will

and as they flew through space—a wild extension
i landed real lip smooches right until

the notion for this missive, comprehension,
determined this poor poem's over kill

 

[HarryHill]

Twenty-three, Propensity

I always been what you see,
country boy from Tennessee,
raised a little hell when I was younger,
then more as I wandered beyond the hills,
journeys that were epic as I recall them,
vehicles that were exceptional in themselves.
Remembered for the joy they gave.

I'll always be what you see,
just an old man in Tennessee,
looking down hill.

 

[HarryHill]

Twenty-four, The Door

It was the rhyme as well as the cat,
not mine, Roberts. Searching always.
<rem 20/20>
The storyteller transported me,
then poetry beguiled.
It ended not in tragedy but in an opened mind.
Wishing lazy fingers could follow quick thoughts.
All lost, but then,
throughout all that searching,
I've always been looking,
for the backdoor, and I've heard,
when you find it and step through,
there's a whole other world.
Which makes me wonder.
Does the search begin again?

 

[butters]

#3-7

when he wanders the creative process

neither suitor nor minotaur
he navigates symbolic maze
pockets full of cookie crumbs, bent nails
memories
and hopes

and i wonder should i tie that thread
a spider with no prey in mind
an anchor should one day he find
himself
too deep, too lost, too
content
to remain
in darkened passageways
lit by his own imaginings

i refrain

opt instead to listen
to the water of his thoughts
as they ripple down the rock walls of his journey
enjoy the convoluted twists
the light and shade
know he has a thick rope of his own
it's tied secure
directly round my heart

 

[HarryHill]

Twenty-five, Jive

Man, I gotta tell ya,
it's been quite a hoot,
slinging lines to feed the Wa,
dressed up in my poetry suit.

Do you think the spats were a bit too much?
Maybe I should have brushed my hair.
In a rush to dance w/you, besides,
all's fair for the wild man of our pair.

Slip time.
A million years ago on an island, someone hit a rock,
it looked kind of interesting, so it got another shot.
Many years later, chips littered the ground
a face looked out from where there was once none.
The artist was pleased, glanced around, said,
I'ma do another.

 

[butters]

#3-8

no intuitive recipes

a whisper of rose
hint of mint in the snow

caramel cravings
sea salt & tangerine peaks

and i'm lost
enchanted by each—
poetic images
that float above the tree-line

nebulous desire to unite them
with meaning
muffled, muted
and ultimately
unfulfilled

 

[4degrees]

1

Distractions
Action packed faction
It uses me
It’s portal of energy
Sucked in
All ways, ripped
My limbs
The tires from
Their rims
The wind the hand
The doom and dark
Playing charades
With shadow people
Abstract visions
Become so clear

There is no real structure

 

[butters]

#3-8

black holes

life's enigmatic portals
that initial slow attraction
speeding up
to a crushing intensity
freeing us of everything
but essence

a matter of purification
spat out across horizon-less vistas
to go boldly
or
when there's a glitch in the process
it may take 3 years
to burp us out

 

[HarryHill]

Twenty-six, Postal

Down to the mailbox.
A long walk indeed.
Usually nothing to find there,
except politician's decrees.
That they are the one you need,
through these dark dismal days.
There's statements from the bank,
credit card reports, notices of all sorts
and the standard hue and cry,
of animal rights to life.
Please send cash.

 

[4degrees]

2
Anxiously wonder,
I do, about those
Mysteries, were
They ever true?
It doesn’t matter
Yet still I wonder
As I wander
This lonely planet
Packed with
Lonely souls

 

[HarryHill]

Twenty-seven, Unrelated

The titles are usually laid,
last in multi numeral games.
Not usually how these things are played,
but I'll do it just the same.

Iron rooster's talking shit.
I'ma cover all you ladies.
One at a time you'll get your bits,
fertilized baby.

Now there comes a time in everyone's life.
they're filled w/doubts, pain or strife.
How the hell can they get this fixed?
Just keep on trying 'til something clicks.

Don't you wish you were an alligator.
then you could say,
see you later.

 

[butters]

#3-9

it's all cheesecake and roses till injustice rears its head

self-aware
i know my own faults
failures, foibles
better than any

i'm only human
and have never
ever
claimed anything more

my own judge and jury
i am unblinkered
severe in my inner honesty
i can live with the decisions
learn from them
(sometimes)

when others choose
to point out what they see
as problematical
about me
list those traits
deemed undesirable
i'll listen
see if they get them right
weigh their cognizant ability
by their errors or successes

but accuse me
of having, being, doing
what i haven't, am not, would not
then you will feel the burn
of my judgement


-----------------------------------------------


okay, okay, i had to find something to put down

 

[4degrees]

Twenty-seven, Unrelated

The titles are usually laid,
last in multi numeral games.
Not usually how these things are played,
but I'll do it just the same.

Iron rooster's talking shit.
I'ma cover all you ladies.
One at a time you'll get your bits,
fertilized baby.

Now there comes a time in everyone's life.
they're filled w/doubts, pain or strife.
How the hell can they get this fixed?
Just keep on trying 'til something clicks.

Don't you wish you were an alligator.
then you could say,
see you later.

What, no chicks??