March Senryū 2017

for embracing new life with all its challenges

in one-hundred words | she writes him a love poem | an hasta luego
| maybe another forty | to say aloha again

dancing mid-street | not acting any age | trying to wake up 

unheard voices | speak to us in images | herstory muses

not an afterthought | who you think of while pruning | all of your roses

lonely people | in Japan they rent out cats | here spend days on-line

then she walked loveblind | into a new life chapter | it was much later
| she discovered his role | trivial to her story

an eclipse of light | you stand in the door | occulting the sun

dragons and snakes | soaring / seeking perspective | opposites attract

we won't say your name | you will forever be | just number 45

crow hitches a ride | posing as hood ornament | old time GPS

morning's afterbirth | rainbow rings around the sun | ice crystals bent light

she felt the bones break | before she ever got beat | she got so tired
| of a life dodging violence | before she could escape

trouble... the water | that needs healing like we do | pray for the answers
| sing the water whole again | if we believe we can

we don't grow old | our bodies wear and tear | there's no replacement parts

blood ties not always | as strong as those bonds we form | friends as familia

lugar mágico | donde fui concebida | entre mezquite
| y nopal brotando | flores de sol y sangre

World Poetry Day | let's all put down our weapons | unite in the word
| in flower and song offered | for peace and love to prevail

Spring is in motion | US climate glacial ice | waiting for the thaw

she cannot die | a person who creates | she was never born
| she transcends time and space | becoming and existence

what was hidden | heart in the present moment | brought into being

defrag your mind | fill in those gaps caused by hate | recall slows us down

easy amnesia | another word for denial | erase blasted pasts
| pretend we were all saints | we had no help sinning

can't lose everything | if you give it all away | sit in stillness

before time or space | lived dark where ego is killed | swirls unseen forces

her everyday eats | poems to calm a torment | non-monotonous

gap-toothed pain while ailing | from alien greed | craters in the head

a gypsy poet | with no birthplace monument | born on the road

a force to embrace | women who carry water | who know how to pray

you can pretend | you don't love me anymore | I know the truth

heading west for home | a piece of my heart lives there | on Pacific's shore
| a door to a future-past | one that will always last

rain is falling | in the garden plants lift heads | give thanks to the frogs

Copyright © 2017 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. All Rights Reserved.

April the Cruelest Month - Senryū and Cinquains

creative commons license 

for an understanding of men who have no clue about women

the April days move | slow in snow wanting to be | rain blessing the ground

she cries about corn | how now it's being monsterized | how it is her flesh

wears more 

than protective

vest, she wears a tough flesh

overcoat. Not bullet proof, no.

it serves

keeps men

away, you know

the kind that prey, and stalk

women slight of stature, or off

balance

wearing

stand 'em up shoes

those kind that make you lose.

ones that say come fuck me ~ pumps so

untrue

the coat's

gotten too long

she wants to give it up

donate it to Goodwill ~ it's ov-

er kill

when men's

eyes turn to her 

they slide over the hill

her latest disguise is close to 

salty

couldn't hug her | enough to leave her there | sun child in the land of snow

she thinks

his mouth on hers.

how good it makes her feel 

knowing that morning, she did brush ~

her teeth

your days are overcast skies | your heart bursts like clouds | it rains from your eyes

everyday we shake our heads | because we can't believe | you in body are gone | we search for you on shorelines | in the songs of spirit birds

used to jump at shadows | inclined to take flight | now never afraid | to take on a just struggle | a battle of ideas

all her hopes and dreams | born a reality | his life her salvation

she speaks oracle | no one knows how to feel it | a flower opened

slanderings scurry | up and down the shoreline sure | I think of your mouth

winter reminder | driving rain from the Valley | golfball sized hailstones | April when corn is greening | foggy storms turn turbulent

you = happy | at times my greatest sadness | it's an up - down thang

She says let's dream on it | she no longer thinks | thinking has no heart

we celebrate | national sibling day | mourn our lost ones | and our parents gone long to land | of ancestors they've become

sun broke through grey days | a walk in the snowmelt | April showers frozen

the hawk is wind | razor sharp its insistence | to stay the course

snow in April | winter holds spring in its grip | everyone looks for sun

Spring rain spills in ropes | hopes for another green day | tomorrow today

I could

write abuela's

hair braids, her bun~

but what fun would that be?

rather write about her high tops

red dreams

she wore

them in the Spring

garden, planting her seeds ~

calabacitas born darkest

lime green

she grew

corn much taller

than her, barely five foot ~

sweet, abundant that tenderest

golden

green corn 

masa for best

tamales of the year

everyone helped shuck, newly born

heaven

because

it is April 

her almost birthday month

we sing her las mañanitas 

she cries

man gave her lemons | she made lemonade before | she bashed in his head | not really his head you know | but she visioned it in her own

women bleed so much | in so many ways | then become bad daughters | to mothers that don't mean them | no harm only the best good 

Copyright © 2016 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.  All Rights Reserved.

March Senryū 2016

"Crows in the Hood" by Comrade Foot. Creative Commons.

for the ability to live up to challenges

we visit you here | in this place we can't fathom | with beautiful flowers

grand love

fathers \ daughters.

some, almost perfect, no?

there are those who could tell you truths --

to shame.

when you're proud to know | the boy you raised who grew wise | way beyond his years

that kiss was kismet | some past life holdover | now to get over it

wild blackbird warning | then car's back door flies open | wallet on the ground | 

Good Samaritan noticed | comes to your rescue saves day

old Havana | has her secrets hidden deep | in layers of paint

mysticwoman | she who sees beyond eyes | who hears the longtime voices

there are don't ride trains | ones that are going down wrong | sidetracked forever

the eyes have it | true windows to the heart/soul | what do yours say

she works in the dark | hands need no light to create | smooth and soothe the lines

people block the hate | with their bodies and prayers | close down the clown's cars |

until the streets can be safe | once more from this war on us

ancestral knowledge | sure as sunshine and moon rise | we are all welcomed

my dream peeps | are keepers and are not me | have their own lives to live

in shackles and chained | no respect for human beings | illegal they're not

kindness of strangers | takes you by the arm | welcomes you like family

sad for that hurt feeling | don't know why people hate | ocean bottom deep

in the morning | she will give thanks for being | for one more day |

to become a better human | to pray for health and kindness

tongues for justice | will never be silenced | from ashes rises fire

we geography | the maps and myths of our lives | places and people

beauty of the blush | of new flower bud just born | of sacred promise

new flood warnings | morning woke late and foggy | turned off her alarm

thunder beings roar | gulf waters jump up the shore | downpour on the brink 

going inward | to reflect on no reflection | mirror the darkness |

seeking out those specks of stars | your love that's become so small

hair clip

on the sidewalk~

rusty as the years long,

held up some beautiful tresses

back when.

so we dis-agree | about presidents and such | aren't we family |

we're not that divided | we both want peace and justice

land where you were made | where ancestors lived and died | a full life circle |

you piece together the songs | the wrongs no longer matter

a book is a world | enter its doors and go | journeying the unknown

the mother in her | makes them feel comfortable | is what makes them talk |

they open up like windows | on a bright sunny day

so much love is soup | simmered steamy with good will | veggies and chicken

hunger food for thought | and a quiet place in woods | where the raven calls

denial does no good | in friendship one must see | their own shortcomings

Copyright © 2016 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.  All Rights Reserved.

January and February Senryū 2016

Super Moon, July 12, 2014, courtesy Marie-Marthe Gagnon, Flickr Creative Commons.

February

for staying in the present todays, and for those sweet yesterdays that will never come again

lazy day Sunday | breakfast with a new friend | end and beginning

cool evening | sleeps and wakes a windy day | with gulf waves raging 

descarrilado | en medio de su mundo | tiniebla duro

derailed | in the middle of his world | hard darkness

torrential rains one minute | then hot sun barking | loudly on the street 

full snow moon | this is not June it’s winter | the false Spring’s singing | 

songs of fireflies and ladybugs | it’s certainly not summer 

full hunger moon | a desire for flowers | ready to spread wings

what you could have had | but decided to pass up | took love for granted 

you know what’s missing | are torn apart by grief | can’t figure out why 

a warriors heart | bigger than their whole body | often full of ache | 

the force of convictions | motivated by deep love

your good face forward | there’s no place for grief | so lead with a smile | 

think of your tears as wings | that fly over the gulf searching 

your big sun smile | loves every minute of joy | this work has brought | 

and Spring’s wanting to be sprung | you in every flower

love not a one day affair | it’s three-hundred-sixty five | twenty-four-seven |  

like you crave sun in winter | cool water in the spring

you are a love | from time before time mattered | you will always be 

we are witnesses | to the injustice | world of greed and hate 

you’ve become a saint | a prophet to remember | your teachings humble

there are trees that speak | skin’s related to bark | you listen content | 

always knew they are relatives | guarding you since you were young

his skin on yours silk | your young bodies seamless | no begin or end just two

you are everywhere | in every living being | it does my heart good 

of ghosts and spirits | we dream each other’s stories | that ignore borders 

imagining | a better world to leave | for future

when all the stars stared | down to find you in the midst | there you were in trees | 

a wind song kissing leaves | you always wanting verde 

story of her life | the best ones choose others | her picker broken

she is leaking grief | leaving its blue trickle trail | everywhere she goes 

the road gives you time | to know you are from there | home is where you are

she shakes her head | knowing it’s not really true | you have not gone on

they hang out their shingle | sell pretty new age snake oil | so buyer beware 

only her medicine | words that can’t be spoken | but sung aloud | 

can save her from sadness | that place of despair 

speak in fiery tongues | from our mouths encantations | fly forth in love 

you here in the wind | in the trees where black birds sleep | in the deepest song

January 

when you love without | an agenda about you | thinking you are it

dark misty coastline | driving rain and loving it | missing the unseen

those who make medicine | with their good words no lies | with their good hearts

the imposters masks | shall be ripped from their faces | take no places | 

that do not belong to you | your lies become the crows call

we try to understand | what can never be | how to move on

with the snow moon full | you say your final goodbyes | fly into the light

rest in peace | sweetest Rose of the valley | mother to so many

worn out your machine | called a body a temple | and you want to dream

beyond borders | you fly home to ancestors | who wait with open arms

hermano mio | fly home to the ancestors | to their resplendent arms | 

In Xochitl In Cuicatl

we worry in vain | about much we can't control | better to have glee

it's a new year | a chance at beginnings | give thanks every day

Copyright © 2016 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.  All Rights Reserved.

July Senryū 2015

for the sweet circle of life


calabash of life | whisper your secrets in breath | of birth and of death

Clover turns over | summersaults in her belly | she’s getting ready

your son grows tired | of you moving on | without saying goodbye

now you dwell mainly there | just one foot in this world | here people wait

she is in between | worlds that call to her to wait | the seen and unseen

be-at-ti-tude | supremely blessed is she | with every heart-beat

in complex shedding | of bird's finery we see | the simplicity

he won't let her go | no matter how hard she tries | to pull away

citrus and terracotta | jasmine stars explode | their scent's earth and sky

she is still here | sometimes she opens her eyes | as if she’s only slept |
not in that way when one’s self | travels to the unseen

the nature of things | being in the moment | a dance between raindrops

preparing to live | parents make nests for their egg | swollen with pride

moving through the aperture | of life and death | a love labor

union in sound | drum voices thunder singers | spiral in motion

pastel skies that pass | days fly by fast flapping wings | as time moves on

sensuous pieces | that fit together | an elaborate puzzle

an almost baby | sleeps dreams and swims inside her | she prays for the best |
all life has to offer | a blue child being born green

madrugada calls | sleep talk she thinks is a dream | it's him from afar

new moon intentions | a wish and invocation | your heart's desires

sun breaks through to find | brain fog that refuses to | burn off

baby overwhelm | a child trying to raise one | young woman alone

silly assumptions | about appearances | a game of all wrong

Clover dreams color | sees the world through mother’s eyes | visions the future

his mom's on her journey | he saw E on the corner | dressed in red and black |
sharp and dapper lookin' | all pied piperish | but he don't want her to go |
not even with E | who's showin' the road | no she was the first woman |
who ever loved him | though like BB say | she could be jivin' too

niño Fidencio | de agave espadín | medicina viva

the last was the first | on his mind he closed/opened | listened with his heart

watery spirit | now you see there now you don't | moving between worlds

a molehill sometimes | a mountain to be climbed | feelings magnified

another run | a chance at a different life | beginning again

Bree because you're free | you climb and tear down their hate | decry their limp rag |
symbol of supremacy | of cowards that have no hearts



Poems copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. All Rights Reserved.

June Senryū 2015

for another summer of love


when the moon is full | then we will go fishing in | love’s silvery pond

spiral movement | on a long path from ego | to enlightenment

a sure kind of death | to bludgeon a child’s spirit | snuff out their light

helichrysum oil | for sealing new scars | a blessing on a cracked head

what is a wild woman | if not one who knows | her nature is free

in a dark forest | shadows sigh to light the night | fireflies glitter

summer lightening strike | thunder beings not talking | spark a wildfire

let's tear them all down | useless pieces of colored cloth | soiled in hate and fear

they cut down mountains | damn up clear flowing streams | poison all the air | we mourn the mounting deaths | pray for a better future

sharp shards of glass | shimmery in moon’s glimmer | alley diamonds

spirit of iron | divides a river in two | feeds on firewood | fights against injustices | protects with a blood oath

full moon seppuku | chance meet in a body jump | pot meets the kettle

soars over treetops | circles front of her window | waves her a blessing

she sleeps protected | with leaves of trees shading her | journeys in seconds

the whole world’s tilted | fate brought them together then | again they collide

grandmother runes speak | points of light illuminate | from sparkling star sand

sometimes you get it | right the first time | it defines your whole life |
gets you strength and independence | then you're alone for life

another day missing | you loving me | your voice saying it's alright

how can words describe | the deep in my chest | you who are the beat of me

she cannot just want | every one a destiny | what can not be had

the moon a sliver | lends its light to the stars | a moonlit slide

imminent storm | clouds gather to discuss it | sky waits expectant

she is whirlwind | stirs it up into the air | sees what will land standing

cracked her egg | they put her back together | humpty dumpty style

he her first and last | the kind of love that surpasses | all time and space

he stopped looking | when he found her there she was | for all the others

to free ourselves | our bond must be broken | to be forged in love

our long memories | a love so familiar | easy like summer

wobbly hatchlings | all wide eyed and hungry mouthed | lemon-yellow fuzz

let's gather ripening fruit | under the rose | our strawberry moon


poems copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

May Senryū 2015

for peace on this beautiful planet


relationships | we land on this blue planet | covered in sweet mother

always has new hats | always with the this and that | but can’t pay the rent

cooling heals the head | dreams a slash of blue lake | wakes up refreshed

with the sunrise | smile it's a new day | on the edge of yesterday

believes in future | wraps herself around the past | stays in the moment

how can one break | their own heart by being | in love with love

there would be blood | she always feared bullets | then a deafening quiet

so much love her heart | hurts as though compressed in his | fist clenched

partly disheveled | then skin muscle bone | but no sinew can hold them | no matter the pretty words | no matter night shivering

when those we love | disappear without a word | there's no explanation | then we blame ourselves for all | we might've done differently

complete sadness | is the passing of parents | to that other place | where we can only feel them | wish them light and progress

he wants to be sure | she knows who's the boss of whom | believes in free will

from this far away | I send you blessings and love | sana sana dear

a struggle for the land | a fight for our survival | earth must prevail

apart they do not shine | there is no fire | sometimes there's no hope

want to ring some necks | can't pinpoint exactly why | you got the feelin'

time for a chill pill | or a bottle of bourbon | she opts for yoga

ghost ranch belly dance | lay down color fields dry wheat | layers upon sound

iron eyes don't see | in their bellies carry us | feel their way down tracks

she must embrace it | Mercury's insistency | roll with the punches

if he were a bar | he'd be aqui me quedo | she would never leave

brown hands in red earth | a firm mother connection | one to another

everyday mothers | their days long for their children | even when they're grown ✿

winding roads take us | back to a past now future | of soul and spirit

you can love so much | where does all that love come from | a wish or prayer

a wee girl smiling | her entire life a dream | loved beyond belief | the way girls should be loved | by great mothers and fathers

imprecise magic | of defying gravity | no fear of falling

loneliness demon | hides in the blackout curtains | is uncertainty | let the light of this fine day | banish all the sad worry

pavement surfers | skateboarders soar like eagles | skilled to land on feet

full-flower moon | ready to bloom Spring showers | our mother of pearl

Black lives do matter | stop racial profiling | end all war for peace


Copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

photo Copyright © 2009 Derek Owens.
All Rights Reserved.

April Senryū 2015

for the promise of Spring

another Texas | morning that wakes in mystery | not knowing which way | the wind or politricks | will blow this bright - sunny day

salty ocean tears | her heart breaks so easily | never can she stop | loving those she was born to | their souls are braided to hers

what to do in answer | to the blind-eyed deaf mute world | for murdered children | ignored as disposables | who don't matter as much

on the far side in | familiar but divergent | time zone importance

she will always be | the love of his life | but not the life of his love | wanting other things | they went their separate ways

so far is too far | your voice over texts | a kind of torture

wildseeds sewn in wind | carries them off on wings | oh the things they bloom

a smile slice of moon | looks sad when you look at it | turned downward

she is the wind | belongs to herself no one else | she chooses freedom

the pacific light | illuminates pure darkness | poetry and love

she desires him | the way thirst wants water | a desert mirage

when we're older | no longer resemble | selves we see in the mirror

she hides everything | a long ago you can't hurt | steel can take its licks

her constant want | to live another fifty years | in his able arms | to feel his breath on her cheek | to listen to him sleep

yes she knows his soft | tender underbelly | a strong man always | intent on being aloof | never admitting he’s down

with his hands he can | soften her up like red clay | between his fingers

he didn’t comprehend | her wings were crushed so early | her only option was run | not into his arms gone far | distance

in her pie safe | she keeps secret recipes | to love herself

knows how she feels | even when months turned to years | it’s always been him

sometimes those who love | you must leave | you must find peace

calls him to her | alluring perfume | scent of a woman

what he did | didn’t replace those feelings | of love that won’t die

the long road to love | though detoured from the path | of a destiny

though often predictable | the future’s a puzzle | missing pieces

sends you peace | blessings and love | and prays for your ease

inward swan dive | her reach in line with her grasp | not still framed or frozen | she keeps moving to live | keeps living her dreams

they want us afraid | believing only their truths | telling only lies

sprouting grass moon | spring’s an eternal smile | when winter’s a memory

she always lives on | the sharp edge of desire | no fear of too much

even torn and ragged | lives can be darned into beauty | all lives matter

blocking the flow | don't want you but won't let you go | time to say so long


poems copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

March Senryū 2015

for belief in love even when it's imperfect 


old as mountains | their love across the ages | steady as beats of hearts

traveling with wings | fueled by waking-dream voices | on prayers and hope

sometimes dreams wiser | than waking up to the pain | of this everyday

seawater escapes | the beaches of her ocean | eyes and round her cheeks

blocking the flow | don't want you but won't let you go | time to say so long

ancient bones heavy | in the living my-story | that walk strong in him

the star he gave her | the fifth planet from the sun | brightest in the sky | left of the tympani moon | so she'll never forget him

she will never raise | theirs who was sacrificed | a story not hers | to fashion in this lifetime | spirit tossed back to heaven

imagine-nation | a world without war and hate | dream it so

the day she was born | they planted one hundred trees | to flower into love

she made him feel | crazy and tender in ways | he’d not felt ever

we all have vicious |  it can snap and hurt someone | a small part of us

she feels heavy weight | stuck in a sadness deep place | where slow magma seeps | fills up all vacant spaces | all the path with shouts and wails

people like to talk | her name tastes good on their lips | tongues sharp as razors

we bring our hearts' strings | and all the tenderest parts | to your feet to be blessed

days that mark the end | times we thought would never | may we remember | original instructions | given to our peoples

you go on dreaming | despite all obstacles | wake up to your truth

right at dawn | when the air smells newly born | women sing children awake

poets of heart | tell truths that are lies only to | dream a new future

she is but a dream | breezes through your life from time | and like Spring thunderstorms | on occasions upsets | best just embrace gifts given

drive by King's Ranch | reminds how much was taken | a world that belonged | to itself free and alive | before towns and cities cloned

flying I go | flying I return | for as long as there are wings ✿

darkmoon woman | gifts invisibility | to the shape shifters | who know that time is nearer | than anyone ever thought

when we least expect | there is a way that our hope | can move obstacles | our activism makes change | our love changes us for better

nine months while she gestated her | she ate sardines | wee one was born fish | daughter of deepest ocean | blue child come to change the world

she learned the seed songs | sang these life-vine prayers | we are green shoots born | connected to the mother | her brown hands deep in red earth

shadows rise up | they dance around at the sound | of your sweet sweet voice

cawing of crows moon | signals the end of winter | o'er snow covered nests

his thick skin on hers | as if they were one | as if it were yesterday |
to hold them together | forever in a life grip

waxy moon lost | in fog-out gray flannel night | for hibernation

you go back home | to that place that still holds you | in that red womb that birthed all | place of mesquite's outstretched arms | forever you blue bonnets

trees speak quietly | they channel loved ones voices | whispers in the breeze

poems © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

February Senryū 2015

for being able to not only see, but to believe in the truth

✿

she worries he’ll fly | so fast his wings won’t carry | the weight of the past | but one can only live | the life they are assigned

family blood ties | land wind and trees that witnessed | births of our ancestors | whose hearts are buried here | deep down in this rich brown earth

we write our lives | in lines across years | on paper we set our sails

they wake from flying | poems that come through day dreams | then birth themselves whole

there’s nothing sexy | about trains going off rails | but clouds making rain | is natural as babies | being born blessed this morning

earth’s survival | is not dependent on us | our survival

love is a whole world | immense feelings filled with hope | of tremendous joy

a bright bud | of a new Rose bloomed | born brilliant

the way they fit | pieces of this puzzle lost | fine tuned enigma | put back together again | if she’s wrong just let her go

today’s road is peace | birds soar in the vast sky | on path partying

these ashes cross me | symbol ofa life’s circle | ever returning

yo canto rio | tu estas dentro | del agua yo grito amor | te quiero mas qu’el agua | que corre por mis venas

aún te quiero | despues de todo amor | siempre es siempre

she wants only love | pure simple and willing love | not convenience

she’s always prepared | with contingency plans | to win or lose

there’s no Valentine | but my heart is secure | Love is everywhere

hormonal blues | the do’s and don’ts of aging | how old are you

tremendous joy | followed by hollow sadness | of life’s ups and downs

contemplating | Spring and cleaning out clutter | the consequences

she got tired of being | a poem on lips of people | who did not know her

what do trees tell me | about life they’ve lived so long | standing ones so wise

our grapes deep purple | staring out from the clear cup | warming up the dark

a day of new beginnings | hatched in candle light | as winter lingers

you are the poem | not the words that fly from her | a brilliant starlight

there’s never a way | to undo past mistakes | just forgive yourself

troubled turbulence | she’s humbled in its belly | iron bird travels

plump with promise | of healing inner demons | full moon rises proud

bone moon rising | while winter beats at the door | sip the marrow soup

poems and photo copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.

All Rights Reserved.

January Senryū 2015

for wings to fly above the bullshit  ✿⊱╮


she no longer knows | where she ends and he begins | it's a soul union

oh groove and rhythm | that marvelous soundtrack | of your crazy life

life is a dance | you can sit on the sidelines | get on up wallflowers

there's a difference | not forgetting or invoking | your name is not called | no summons to this hell | you left now rest in peace

we think the earth | a never ending resource | an oyster to scoop out

stuck with thinnest needles | to poke at what ails you | here's to our health

sometimes we just can't | there's no more of us to give | so we turn inward | take care of ourselves awhile | let other's figure it out

get out of your head | breathe into your navel | what does your gut say | what does your heart feel | forget the brain chatter

a beautiful remnant | a love lost | from a long ago past

your mind on deserts | on vast ancient ocean floors | where spirit waves flow

it's good medicine | half a forest in her cup | to heal winter ills

for all those who roam
those who have no home
even though there are plenty

for those who love the road
who are despised for this or
for being other

there are better days
for those who live free
stay brave within yourself

c/s


dirty laundry | should not be aired in public | wash your funk privately

she carries her own | heavy weight in a man’s world | takes care of business

honestly you were blind | now you see me | the one who’s no longer there

like beautiful flowers | we're born and don't understand | precious life is short

big wet kisses | from spirit-dog just passed | he's happy in his new home

flowers bloomed in snow | roots reached down into warm earth | delicate and strong

all souls are the same | no one's better than | the ones who we love

she races | erasure chases her | to overcome

ego knows no bounds | one must pull in on its reins | humble is better

what is in your heart | might not be what's on your mind | it's better to feel

to be held sure | where hearts do not doubt their love | to feel secure

when you thought you knew | who loved you and it turns out | it was never true

communication | breakdown no time for texting | find a real landline

when you begin to see | your faults as your own | instead of blame

full moon insomnia | full-wolf howling in the hills | chanting a story

when you’ve wished for | hurt and pain to disappear | stars to remind hearts | that without the bad no good | galaxies of joy to come

full-moon mood monsoon | a time to lie low | let it all go just relax

trees sang in their way | of silence is deafening | said don't ask believe



copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

December Senryū

For all the beauty that is this world
and all the joy and the anguish of being alive ~

✿⊱╮♥

store your hopes and dreams | shooting stars and giant redwoods |
in a bigger jar

tomorrow she's travelin' | to the trees to tell her | something 'bout next year | her heart hurts to see | images of relatives | unburied and frozen | spirits gone on home after | the merciless massacre

don't know how many | tears I can shed like this rain | that would be enough | to show you my sorrow | it will never be enough

I am my own tree | come from a tall and strong stand | not felled easily

billowy clouds | of corn masa mixed just right | grandmothers guiding |
first time hands spreading manna | from the heaven that formed us

she red dust in hand
blows it outward towards the sun
which refuses to shine
she a petite sorcerous
knows how to guide the wind

her heart fragile | because she despises hate | hurts for all humans

joy to the world | cease fire has come | all's quiet on the war front

from the darkness | a slight smile in the sky | she searches for the light

love has no color | but there's a kind of magic | we love who we love

what divides us | not just a stretch of blue | those 90 miles |
an abyss filled with stories | love and loss deep emotions

days get longer still | winter continues its dance | Spring's along way off

night throated train | singing down those cold tracks | reminds her she's alone

solstice longest night | days wax until they are long | again seasons change

a scratch the new moon | a slight shadow of itself | this winter solstice | as the year's shortest day | melts into the longest night

wind whipped mercilessly | with rain against windows | the people stayed home

she thinks of your lips | chafed from kissing her too much | makes her body blush

in amongst the trees | she hides secrets from prying | walls that have ears | like eyes that do not see | she's what they want her to be

river rushed in wide | races to reach overflow | its banks can not hold |
its force back to normal | after the bitter drought

abracadabra | my words have power | to create what I speak

wind is relentless | it speaks all through the night | tells of the coming |
solstice with its long night | while we rejoice the seasons

the storm's wet mouth | will not swallow us whole no | it brings relief |
from the dreaded drought that burns | that turns fields into dust storms

that young woman | in the photograph's a ghost | of who she once was | she is not her she's someone | whose lived many lives since then

she is in a dream | or just waking up from one | long ago one |
looks towards future sleepy eyed | in that instant a world changed

if it is wrong | for me to love you let me be | on the right path

the wind has claws and teeth |tries to shred up the roof | off of my house

let her love you | the way she wants to | with all her heart and soul

you wish that you'd met | again on this life's road | at least to say good-bye

we begin as seeds | sprout wild fly fast into being | unruffled our beauty | untangled innocence | mature into wisdom

full cold moon | your eye rimmedwith tears and shame | on what they have done

we witness | that without justice | there can be no peace
without justice | there can be no peace | no justice no peace
when we must raise our children | to be murdered anytime |
on these mean streets | by those whom we pay to protect us |
there is no justice | no justice
no peace


Copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

November Senryū

November Senryū

For the ancestors, whose shoulders we stand on ~

and for TM

what minds refuse | hearts can feel in their tendrils | and strive to reach for | 

that elusive connection | some call love and others doubt

a day to say no | to the buy buy buying | of things that don't matter

thanks for earth's bounty | in our lives grateful for all | she gives and takes

winter fires kindled | for nights long and cold | hold me in your arms of hearth

flying south for winter | she arrives with crescent moon | in jet night sky

he is but a youth | in the body of a man | she once loved on fire

nothing is promised | each moment a gift | a life must be lived fully

give me your heart | hold in it your palms | as if it were yours to give

you fear the risk of losing | but do not lose for fear | love fearlessly

you'll never be far | your heart's echo-steady beat | learned in the waters |

of your mother's loving womb | that cradled your journey here

fly into the arms | of your ancestors who wait | with abounding joy |

to hold you in that sparkling | place we all return too soon

give thanks every day | for each breath and each step | for our earth mother

she dreams you as twins | one loves the other aloof | and still she's alone

tulley fog blankets | the valley wrapped in cotton | batting for fruit trees

he is a nice day | a face that brightens shadows | all sunshine and smiles

we've all had our losses | can feel those of others | learn how to let go

she no longer sleeps | with fairy tales tucked under | her pillow sprouts wings

she has too many rules | keeps her in balance | then he comes along |

smashes through those walls of hers | says life is change go with it

for all those voices silenced | we shall continue | to call for justice

all children matter | all life is precious | no one is disposable

disappeared  youths | sacrificed for telling truths | your spirits still live |

we shall never forget you |  our hearts demand your return 

powerful women | voices often muted | in the bustle of life | 

the washing of clothes and floors | in the factories and fields

in our impatience | we forget old lessons learned | love becomes struggle

frost moon mirror | of winter waiting on wings | to blanket us in white

everyday flowers | bring color and light | to the shadowed just beyond

Frosty Moon pregnant | with promise of rain and cold | on the horizon

you vote your conscience | put your hope in a system | in need of repair

still high on spirits | sugary as November | moon's calabaza smile

Día De Muertos | our day of honoring | our ancestors |

who in our hearts never die | who are always there waiting

sky opened up | spilled out its precious liquid | blessed the town with rain

poems and photo copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. 

All Rights Reserved.