Challenge: Write me a postcard

[vampiredust]

I know there are lots of users from around the world here and this inspired my idea for this. I want you to write me a postcard in a poem form from where you live. You can include an image if you want and it can be about anywhere, but it must be about a place. That is the only rule here.

I'll start:

The riverboats near Westminster Bridge

We were moored near here once
and felt them pass us by, shaking
everything on our shelves. Bottles
became liquid rockets as they sat

hammering their poetry. Crockery
fell and smashed, Father rolling to
and fro like the waves being pushed
by their wake. I stood still and felt

only the liquid in my head slosh,
remembering to focus on the horizon.
I was not sick that day. But months
later, I was still giddy.

 

[bluerains]

lagoon was flat and crystal clear
this evening..
lot of bait fish for the pelicans
I watch them dive and feed
while fishing for mutton snapper
and mangrove too...this time of year
is snapper season..I caught 3 muttons
and a croaker...
The price of bait has gone up
as well as gas for the boat...
sunset was mundane but ..
the dolphin didn't notice as they
fed from the chum let loose...
the night was beautiful and the
air was calm..wish you were here...

 

[EriAliSaa]

A sleepy city lay cradled,
Betwixt the bosom of the glorious peaks,
Drapers lightly with the gaze of vevety snow,
Thrusting up from the flat belly of the plains.

Skyscrapers stand erect,
Against the majestic mountains,
In none to subtle appreciation,
Of their massive and encompassing presense.

The spirit of the west awakes here.

 

[EriAliSaa]

Might have done better but the dancing banana was making me crazy.

 

[Dingus Guy]

Suburbs

From an island in New York
To the west of the President
I have lived a mall away
Outside the city I am a resident

There is nature in the mix
Yet rural boy I will never be
Suburbia always been my roots
Where houses replaced the tree

There is traffic all around me
Takes some time to see the sights
But if you like historical views
At night the capitol is filled with lights

Entertainment is all around here
There are so many choices to make
You can go fishing if you like
Any direction there is a lake

If you like shows or music
Perhaps a comedian to enjoy
You can head to DC or Baltimore
But Virginia I always feel like a boy

 

[Tzara]

Seattle

One city's pretty much like another
unless you live in Venice,
and I don't. We have
the water and the mountains
and our market's flying fish.
Two floating bridges and one
sunken one. Freeways
that are crowded and are crumbling
and, yes, we rarely see the sun.

But we just own the color green.

 

[champagne1982]

Have you ever seen a sky that doesn't stop
at the edge of the horizon clouds
top mountains that you cannot see
but only imagine there to the west?

On the other side facing the dawn rolls
a sea of gold and green with brilliant
sparks of yellow growing fields threaded
onto the blue string of ox bow lakes.

Nothing interrupts the sky and no man
can break the rolling prairie that crashes
over reefs of forests and washes
up on the beaches at the toes of giants.

 

[wildsweetone]

Today it's a Helms Deep winter

The ground is a rail
of green, the sky gunmetal
grey and in between is joy,
house lights glowing like fireflies
happy to escape the gloom.
I've decided to write
at my desk, to write
of summer, black sand
and Muriwai's wild beach
as even now the sea
pounds ground, punctuates
the air, waves its heavy
flag inviting the city
to board its surf.

 

[bluerains]

Slouched in dust of a tired day,
I pause along the estuary
and surrender to rain bubbles
falling from the leaves of Australian pine.
They are not native to here...but lovely just the same.
A great white egret knee deep in mud
catching bugs makes me smile.
I'm hoping to stay on these sunny
shores by the bird sanctuary forever.
You should see the multitude of
species here...white pelicans ,
wood storks..I call them stogies
because the head looks like a
cigar....weather is hot ,,but breezy
on the water as the rain beats down...
another day in the land of sunshine...
turns in the rainy season...

 

[champagne1982]

Hi everyone. There are some great poems here and they make me want to shake the dust from my feet and get out there to see where you all live. Thanks for sharing your homes.

 

[lindiana]

Boonton, west of Manhattan

I remember that day
The billowing smoke poured over the horizon
And even though I am miles from the city
I could smell the scent of death

I remember how I used to love
That I could see the WTC out my kitchen window
While I washed dishes in suburban New Jersey
Then to watch the horror on television

And to be able to see the billowing plumes of smoke all the way in Boonton
And smell the ashes of death for days after

So many innocents died
I will never forget
Never forget

 

[wildsweetone]

A season's change

Yesterday there were rosellas
in the weeping cherry,
eating leaf buds and wiping beaks
on naked boughs. Today

finches are fannying about
tempting me out
into late winter, bouncing
on branches wringing raindrops
to the ground. I'll go out there

and sure as eggs is eggs
the sun will kiss my cheek,
the wind will gift me bed hair
and puddle-mud will ooze
between my toes.

 

[RhymeFairy]

I wish you could have seen
the rain. Falling like popcorn down
down, splat upon the ground ...

So many days here without rain,
every gardner wishing. Soil so dry
a gallon of water made no difference.

Pavement was frying like griddle
cakes to toes and feet. Yes
my friend, crack an egg.

In the morning mist of humid
air would suck every drop
of water up, making our Smokey
Mountains look even smokier.

No one could breath for the air
was dry as sand. Gritty and muggy
instead of giving us air, it would take
your breath.

I had told friends, neighbors
and colleagues alike. I need rain.
I need to feel it run down
over and through me. My body
aches ... for rain.

When the rain began to fall
I was driving home from work.
I swear I pulled over, jumped
out and just stood there, letting it
soak me through and through. Still,
I stood. Grateful and so humbled.

I sincerely wish
you could have been here ...

 

[EriAliSaa]

A season's change

Yesterday there were rosellas
in the weeping cherry,
eating leaf buds and wiping beaks
on naked boughs. Today

finches are fannying about
tempting me out
into late winter, bouncing
on branches wringing raindrops
to the ground. I'll go out there

and sure as eggs is eggs
the sun will kiss my cheek,
the wind will gift me bed hair
and puddle-mud will ooze
between my toes.

I really like your imagry. I do have a question though. In and sure as eggs is eggs is the is intentional?

 

[Maria2394]

glad you aren't here ( to suffer the heat with me)

the heat has settled with it's life
partner, humidity, upon the fertile
land. Once covered by cane then rice
then cotton. Now drenched by longing
for an early fall. No luck, it is only August
and today we embrace the century mark
yet again. I wish we could lie like turtles
covere our faces in mud, but even small pools
are dry now, the cooters migrating Northward.

 

[wildsweetone]

I really like your imagry. I do have a question though. In and sure as eggs is eggs is the is intentional?

yes it is intentional. quirky eh? *smile*

 

[The_Fool]

It is not all about hot, dry and dusty
Sometimes it is so cold it makes you cry
But the wind blows
It always blows
Except when you wish it would
And you are looking to the southeast
For green skies and wall clouds
And funnels that can change your life forever
But Dorothy said there is no place like home
And even though the weather may at times be implacable
The people offer a warmth and caring
A sense of sharing
And doing things right.
Welcome to the Great American Desert.

 

[HotKittySpank]

Between two thrusting
Ranges, green and gold
On the shaking flat
Once the ancient sea
In 'The Valley of
Heart's Delight' I
Stroll in my garden
Watering tiny trees
My fence keeping
The world at bay

 

[clutching_calliope]

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Late Summer

.....

 

[champagne1982]

I come from a city originally named
Pile’o’Bones
for the buffalo run
nearby in the Qu-Appelle Valley. Think on that.

Being born into the spirit of the dead. I opened
my eyes into history
and saw the bleached carcasses of those eaten
moments

before I arrived.
They were drummed into the walls,
painted on the rocks. Survival

here is nothing but a moving target
of spotting the soft spot, exposing skin,
baring teeth. You low and moan saying

I can’t be the pemmican
of your saddled journey, the torn bannock
across the late afternoon sky of daydreams,
the blind headlong fall, the writhing,

the kicking. I put my palms to the earth
and say it’s my intrinsic nature
to herd you toward that cliff,
to tell this story,
to paint these walls. Jump.

I love the bluffs and hills in that region. at least they didn't call it Head-Smashed-In...

 

[BooMerengue]

I come from a city originally named
Pile’o’Bones
for the buffalo run
nearby in the Qu-Appelle Valley. Think on that.

Being born into the spirit of the dead. I opened
my eyes into history
and saw the bleached carcasses of those eaten
moments

before I arrived.
They were drummed into the walls,
painted on the rocks. Survival

here is nothing but a moving target
of spotting the soft spot, exposing skin,
baring teeth. You low and moan saying

I can’t be the pemmican
of your saddled journey, the torn bannock
across the late afternoon sky of daydreams,
the blind headlong fall, the writhing,

the kicking. I put my palms to the earth
and say it’s my intrinsic nature
to herd you toward that cliff,
to tell this story,
to paint these walls. Jump.

I don't love too many poems but I love this one. I felt like I was there and I don't even know where and it didn't matter. Thank you.

 

[clutching_calliope]

.....

 

[champagne1982]

Thank you both Champagne and Boo. I haven't been to Head-Smashed-In....yet! Hopefully next summer. I've taken their virtual tour a few times, it's pretty boring. You can find it here .

I'm going home to good ol' Pile'O'Bones next week where I'll be good ol' pile'o'bored to tears. I'm hoping I might see some bison on the drive. I know I'll see cows, blech.

Them ain't cows darlin'... they be beef, barbecue on the hoof... (Can you tell I'm Albertan?)

 

[cherries_on_snow]

Moon River

The Raritan is wide and regal
winding round the university town
where half my boxes are stacked.

Reluctantly the others were unpacked,
the summer clothes, the books
the family photos: these anchors
hold me at the river's edge even as I buy
monthly passes on New Jersey Transit
to destination 000.

Every day my heart beats faster
like an infatuated child
when I reach the city. New York
feels more like home than Jersey.
I never get lost on those wide boulevards.
A quick look right or left or at one of any
million maps sets right any question.
The city itself beats in various rhythms
but increasingly mine beats in the melody
of the Bronx: slickened by corner sold ices
in coconut, sizzled on wide pavement,
sidestepping messes and guards of Bodegas.
I feel fine here. When I smile, as often as not
brown faces smile back and the heart floats.

I wonder how long the anchors will keep me moored
to the Raritan, to my lover there
and then his arms surround me, hands pull softly
through my hair like water over reeds
and I sigh wistful for the city that he rejects.
Will the Bronx be my home? Or will he?