Tuesday, April 12, 2011

National Poetry Month ~ Write a Poem a Day for 30! Poems 7-11

Poem 7 - A tribute to sun


morning
sun shoos off clouds
no room for shade or rains
cool air ribbons slip in slyly
surprise

















sun rays


Poem 8 ~ grief
deep grief
sadness, a lake
place swampy with tendrils
a specific coordinate
you touch





















Poem 9 ~ downfall

great roads
left in ruin
while thieves fan dancing
to tunes of billions pillfered while
poor - wait



Poem 10 ~ Power of Earth

we knelt
in your fields yet
we were not your slaves
we knew earth's power at the root
and prayed







Poem 11 ~ Sin Pistas (Clueless)


She leaves
Him a new kiss
under rumpled pillows ~
faeries leave no clues to future
questions


Tuesday, April 05, 2011

National Poetry Month ~ Write a Poem a Day for 30!

Here are my Poems 1-6! If you haven't taken up the NaPoWriMo challenge there is still time to catch up.


Poem 1 ~ The Women In My Life

the women in my life
are forces of nature

with words, paint and drums
they know how to run out the liars

they are poets, musicians, painters
dancers, singers and drummers

activists

bringing the world more life
through their vibrant colors

their melodies and music
their words and dances

their medicine

chances are you've seen them
on stages, or scaffolding and maybe

even street corners with signs
talkin about injustice, about peace

or how they don't believe in hate
its great how they envision

the world a better place
for the whole human race

the women in my life
are my muses of future


Poem 2 ~ Ruby Slippers

trying to ride

the tides of reality

as presented by this material world

that has no hold on it

but merely presents a plausible view

it's nice to know that this is not it,

that there is something else that lives

on the edge of this technologic world

chock full of strip malls and strip clubs-

doesn't every new movie show one -

women taking off their clothes for money

or out of boredom,

or to show a truth not told

it gets old this wanting

to see what's behind

door number one or the iron curtain

or is it the great computer

the greatest wizard

of the Outer Zone that still lurks

waiting for us to ask

the right riddle to his answer and

Dorothys everywhere wake

with that urge to click their

ruby heels together

to go who knows where

but we are not in Kansas anymore and

more than Toto know this

though many piss on the knowledge of that and

continue to be contented

with their Iphones and Ipads instead

of realizing that the world as we've known it

IS really coming to and end

it's okay, the r/evolution really won't be televised

or even tweeted

whatever that means

who knows,

we thought we did

we were wrong

now we only know we are not buying the bullshit

of being happy with the latest toy

we are merely waiting for a sign and

we look for them daily

in purple skies and unusual weather patterns -

that have become more normal than not

We await 2012 and hope

it is not the letdown of Y2K

Hooray!

did we forget that farce fast? ...

alas, we forget how gullible we are,

just waiting for a sign

of a new beginning or ending

we could start ourselves.


















ruby slippers



Poem 3 ~ Destiny


embracing your destiny

should be painless

as morning being birthed

through the aperture

of consecutive indigo

nights that pass through

the sieve of sky and amber

stars rolling on low boil

it is not a TV drama

or the nightly done rightly

news though it may be stranger

than any writ down fiction

because most modern day

humans act so hastily

yes, so often times stupidly

thinking tomorrows won't

catch up to them in an eye-

blink and disaster has struck

people wail and weep but keep on

doing the same unquestioning

things over and over again

just like our sunrise blooms

into another day

we expect to live just fine but

A Nation can't sleep knowing

that Japan is going down and

no one in power ever said

let's stop the obvious threat

while daily we spend billions

on war

more people are dying

from tech-no-logic insanity

can't we help fix this now

In California we swim

the same sea that washes up

thousands of miles away

from the radiated shores

just off of Fukushima and

our nuclear power plants

San Onofre and Diablo Canyon

- the Saint and Devil twins -

sit waiting on the fault line

for a destruction sure and

all we hear is tongue wagging

the same lies of yesteryear

it will never happen here...
















fukushima #3 blacksmoke



Poem 4 ~ A blessing of blue corn


she plucks twelve kernels

of purple-blue corn from its husk

to have a future divined for her

she is nervous about the past

anxious for a future cast, yet

she is trying to decide

her path which seems to crash

down around her whenever she thinks

she knows all the answers

From each Direction

she asks for guidance

then enters inside and

opens herself up thirsting

for possibilities

wondering what will be foretold

in which direction

she will ultimately go




















Blue Corn



Poem 5 ~ Going Home

She's says she's going

home? her friend asks

because she's a gypsy and

spends time in many places


it only takes a beat

for her to form a response

home is not a place...

certainly not a house


with a collected life inside

even if they are beautiful

things, carefully selected

over lifetimes


she knows, most of her

worldly goods

have been given, sacrificed

or thrown to the four winds


home is people

who love her

when she's there or when

she's just a spark of memory


those whose heart beats

are syncopated with hers

locked in this back and forth

dance called a life


The Gypsy Woman



Poem 6 ~ Being A Border

I've been here all of my life

on the edge of this or that

a bridge between my people

crossing people

come to me

to enter more worlds

than I can even fathom

I am is a border

something of a fence sitter

except in my case I am not neutral

I take both sides, I am from and for

both sides, yes

I live the in-betwixt and in-between

I am the center and the balance

I see good and bad

at every turn

at every crossroads

and every crossing is a ritual

what do you offer to enter?

seven shiny dimes to the mother

of all mothers, of the salty waters

or nine pennies to the wind whisperer

the keeper of the last door we enter...

I've been here all of my life and

all I want to do is cross that line

myself, want to pass the torch

having been now totally scorched

by this playing at blind justice

is there really such a thing?

I think not.

someone always has to win

and someone loses

even if I know the secret

that losing you win

still, that's because I'm

a different kind of thinker

having the luxury or curse

of being from the middle

living on that fine line

between this or that

here or there

it's a fact

being a border is no fun

you have to let some in

and keep some out

and then all those

convoluted routes

people take to get there --

even when they know in their heart

it's not for them, and

they should've stayed put

they figure that out later

sometimes when it's too damn late

but wait, why'd I let them in

if it wasn't for them?

oh yes, because it was a lesson...

lofty this job of mediator

border deity

job seems too big

too pretentious

somehow playing god

when all I am is an idea


I am a border
a door
a hoarder of hopes
of injustices
tucked inside promises
of new lives,
lives really not new or better
simply different
I am a border
a line
a big lie.




"Wall of Crosses ..."

The Big Poetry Giveaway!


The Big Poetry Giveaway! 2011


Kelli Russell Agodon started this project where poetry bloggers get together and give away poetry books for National Poetry Month and in the spirit of the "give away" and poetry I decided to participate.



How this works:

I'm giving away two books. If you want to win these books, please leave a comment on this post with a link back to your blog/website OR leave your email address (if you don't have a blog/website). The giveaway runs from now until April 30. On May 1, 2, or 3, I will be randomly drawing one name from the list of people who commented and that person will be the winner! I will mail two poetry books to you for free!


Here are the two books I'm giving away, "Migratory Birds: New and Noted Poems," my first full-length collection of poetry, and Joy Harjo's wonderful collection, "In Mad Love and War."








































A little note about myself: I identify as poet/activist and educator. In my "day jobs" I've literally worked in many fields, from farm worker to labor organizer, cultural worker/teacher, Human Resources director to editor. I've been writing since my early teens and can say in all honesty that my favorite "work" has been facilitating creative writing workshops for people of all ages. I believe that we all came to this earth with a purpose and it is our responsibility to honor ourselves and our ancestors by being the best we can be at all we endeavor to do.


Good luck!


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

BIG POETRY GIVEAWAY!

Link to the List of Participating Blogs...

And the guidelines on how to participate further, via Kelli's site ~ Book of Kells ~

"The goal is to share our favorite poets with others as well as to visit different blogs and see who others are reading. There is also a benefit for those who participate as it will bring people to your blog and share your work and/or the work of a favorite poet with them."