Huda, who works at the library, shared her tea with me. She told me that her children had looked at the typewriter I am using and said, “That’s the weirdest printer I’ve ever seen.” When a child brought her a broken book, she admired how well-used the book was and said, “It’s good when they have this much wear and tear.”
The Stranger: Huda
The Word: Shine
The poem I wrote:
Here is your village
(awake in the night’s
hungry middle):
it has not enough
bread to feed children
(or tea to offer
strangers.) But every
child of this village
is a traveler: they
and you (who were
once a child) roam
far into the world
and learn to shine
(bringing back fire
and tea); you, child,
hold the cure to seal
night’s hungry middle:
stories will be told
(once local, now myth)
that strangers walking by
will know by heart
(saying, I wish we had
that kind of magic.)
The Challenge: Do you have a poem in you on this word? Write one here.
October 4, 2018 at 3:52 pm
In honor of
Random Acts of Poetry Day
I pen this verse to celebrate
Strangers provide my dear friend
with prompts which are
dutifully provided to amateurs
each Wednesday
Each week I print the word
the image
the verse
faithfully
clipping on Vera’s board
They pile up
not happy to be
left alone
Words
highlighted in red
waiting to be transcribed in vox
delicious with humble meaning
waiting to be released into prose
I ignore them
week after week
Their spiritual aura surrounds me
on this special day to shine
finally penned in a non-rhyming verse
October 9, 2018 at 2:31 pm
Seven words in one blow. Nice! But what about peaceful Spanky in his home?
October 9, 2018 at 2:20 pm
Rocklahoma 2017
The ticket that I bought said it’d happen “rain or shine’
Did that mean the show would go on weather inclement or so fine?
Then, there came the thunder and jagged lightning in the skies.
Blowing winds were churning. They could not be denied.
Of course, I understood. The bands, they could not play.
All of us sought shelter, a place to safely stay.
It was supposed to be a festival lasting us three days.
Tickets in advance. The only way to pay.
They shut down Zakk Sabbath in the middle of their set
And told us we must leave as soon as we could get.
One third of my vacay, I spent sheltered from the storm.
One might expect shared redress. That should be the norm.
I not only missed my bands but, also my nightly meal.
I was at a loss. How else was I to feel?
Of course, you know what happened. Was not exactly funny.
It seems that “rain or shine’ means they’re keeping all your money.
October 9, 2018 at 3:09 pm
Doug and Barbara at Yachats
They say, “God is everywhere”
maybe so…
That is, if she wants to be.
All I know for sure is…
She loves the sea.
Breathes the tide out,
back in,
just in time for
tiny crabs in rock pools
to strut like monsters
because they know her.
Not only her rhythmic breath,
but the briny morning fog
that is her blanket ,
pulled up snug to say,
“no work today.”
Shorebirds too, understand
her abundance,
her sparkle/shine,
her every shade of blue.
They cry her name
like still hungry chicks
cruising the faithful sky.
You remembered God,
and came here for a taste
or whiff of her grace.
She poured you a drink of
Wine sky
and stared it
into your eyes.