Thursday, November 29, 2012

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!

Yesterday I received this award from a dear friend and a fine poet, Dr. Pearl Ketover Prilik http://www.drpkp.com/ (actually, she nominated me as one of 7 for the award - there are some stipulations to be completed which I am doing immediately so I am comfortable accepting the badge and putting it up on my page). This innovative award was created very recently (Nov.24/12) by another fine poet, Hannah Gosselin - so thanks to Hannah and to Pearl, and to the community of wonderful poets of which I am lucky enough to be part.

As part of the Sisterhood Bloggers Award, I am to list seven things about myself:


  1.  I probably have more blogs up and running than I should admit to (at last count, somewhere around ten).
  2. Writing has been a mainstay in my life for as long as I can remember.
  3. Not many people know this but I placed third in the Romance Writers of Edmonton contest a few years ago.
  4. Arthritis has been (so far) the worst part of getting older; it mostly bothers me because I haven't got much of a grip left and I like to shoot (at targets).
  5. If I was independently wealthy - I'd pay off family debt, give a large whack to charity and spend the rest of the time travelling the world (and probably still writing).
  6. Lately I find myself obsessed by certain computer games - only against myself - but still - I am surprised.
  7. If I couldn't write, read and be with family (Lord, I sound boring) - I don't know what I'd do. I find myself wondering about receiving this award as I write these seven things. I can't seem to think of much of interest to say. However, "interesting" wasn't one of the prerequisites ... so, I'm still going with honoured and grateful to Pearl and Hannah,

Sunday, November 18, 2012

This Just In

Beauty queen and actress found
Face down, lifeless
Never really did belong

(overheard)
"C'mon sweetheart - big smile, shoulders back
Bust out - show your assets - can't go wrong"

Just a pawn in the machine
Swallowed pills, pride, and words
Stayed silent like a good girl

(overheard)
 "Sorry, please, just one more take?"
"I'll be on time from now on, I promise"
"Fired?"

Never had a chance. Unless. No.
Never did.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Wherein the Greatest Advises the Science-Challenged


















“Imagination is more important that knowledge,” and
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s 
coming attractions,” Albert Einstein

 In the miasma that is quantum physics or mitochondrial DNA
As I struggle to come to understand the chemical mystery
That is my insanity; I rejoice to learn that even Einstein believed
There was more merit in brainstorming about possibilities
Then dwelling on what has already been proven – in fact, he
Once said “I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion”
A remark very similar to ones I myself make and, not infrequently

While admittedly, Einstein’s “what if’s” have resulted in some
Of the world’s truly great scientific finds and theories
It becomes apparent upon reading his biographies, and there
Are a plethora,   he had a superfluity of those questions –
Perhaps the staggering number alone, coupled with his passionate
Curiosity couldn't help but produce the theory of relativity
For instance – after all, there is certain logic to be considered
Here, and empirical data would suggest that – omigod – I am
Doing some scientific theorizing – am I out of my mind?
Well, yes – given my history, there’s a very good chance ...

It would appear that science and philosophy are growing
Closer together – some are even postulating that God
And Science are nearing a resolution previously thought
Unattainable, or even unthinkable; Albert Einstein must be
Chuckling or maybe just nodding, from wherever he is
After all, he did say, “All religions, arts and sciences are
branches of the same tree.” I could get behind that I think.

Every day, it seems that idea is becoming more accepted
As science embraces religion and vice-versa; Einstein also
Maintained that “God always takes the simplest way” and
“God may be subtle but he isn't plain mean”- a couple of notions
That might not sit well with some forms of the more traditional
Religions but for much of the world, made weary by chaos
Brought on by war and bitterness, the divisiveness that little
Understood factions on both sides have taken to exploiting,
This could be welcome news, especially those who are ready
To accept God and Science as partners in a changing world

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

THE UNBOUND WE


She sits quiet but seething
Taught what to think, not how
Her damaged psyche
Is just learning to seek
The company of women
Who, like her
Bear scars she wishes to excise

She knows she has the power
Within her to unravel the thread
That's kept her bound to men
Not a single one of whom
Has been any good for her

She is ready to become one
With the whole
She will be part of "we"
Yes.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Lupine Loveliness











Last night you howled me awake
The pair of you, serenading each other
Making music, or love, your voices ululating
Full of such terrible tenderness I found
Myself unable to return to slumber

Sweet but primitive yearning in your voices
Had me wondering, were you about to mate,
Or simply singing eternal love-songs to Luna
As she blessed you with her gibbous fullness
Showering silvery light on shadowy mountain peaks

Thank you for honouring me, oh ancient ones
Granting me your ghostly presence again this year
An affirmation of the circle of life, you surely are
Performing in the darkness as if in a dream;
Stopping by just long enough to grant me peace.                                                                                                                                                                             


Sunday, October 14, 2012

To Become Light
















I stand free
Ready to become
Light - no more
Excuses - I shift
The childhood
Inherited back beneath
Thunder's umbrella
Deeper than shadows
Of the past
I join to the present
And vow to remain
Here, now

Thursday, September 20, 2012

ALONE
















In the solitary moments of my separateness
I wonder why you occupy such space
And yet take up so little room
It’s as if you’re everywhere and nowhere all at once

My heart’s chambers on the other hand
Are scoured empty as old pails of lye
Rusting through now in its various weak spots

That comes as no great shock really
Since I’ve been scrubbing at the vestiges of caring for you
Long enough to diminish the thickness of the walls

And even though scars grow without my permission
Over damage we have inflicted simultaneously
I seem able to lessen their callous nature as the years go by

Until they too grow less able to sustain themselves
And eventually I sense them falling off
The way the last withered leaves depart the trees of autumn

I wonder, in my isolated soul, if when I am finally
Irrevocably emptied, without within, unoccupied of energy or life
Will I finally feel the peace of being one with all
Or will my aloneness be the peace I’ve sought all along