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.

September Senryū 2014

September Senryū

 for re-unions of hope 

✿⊱╮

at a loss for words | my tongue was cut out | I dream in my mothers' tongues

coyote dreams | sirens in crescent moonlight | prairie’s promises

upside down science | creates destruction | instead of saving life

sea of sunflowers | seeing with the Mothers' heart | a thousand suns

portrait of a heart | on fire from a full life | of eternal love

laguna verde-azul | pequeño océano | color de cielo puro |
para los que sueñan mar | los que aman madre agua

dried copper colored | cornfields in the turning sun | Fall has arrived

first time sailboat | sea legs wobbly but hold on | majestic Lake Michigan

memories illusive | as butterflies' wings | on a cloudy morning

here full-throated trains | shake sleepy neighborhoods awake | stop their dreaming

colibri | medicine for what ails you | can heal a broken heart

before the fall | came start and stumble | came where do I go from here

his breath next to hers | breathing both into dreams | of years that didn't exist |
that never did and will not | only in another dream

a last stand of trees | knowing all too well the end | is nearer than thought |
before people didn't think | there'd ever be an end

conqueror’s children | will be awoken from sleep | and returned home |
it's just a matter of time | before their kind's obsolete

 in the place she grew | to know borders exist | even invisible 

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ The big drought of 2014
┊ ┊ 
┊ ┊ ┊ 
┊ ┊ 
┊
despite drip drip drip ┊ the crops know to go to seed ┊ 
 there's a frightening drought ┊

and irrigation's not rain ┊ 
 plant's roots touch earth's source ┊┊┊ ┊┊┊┊┊ ┊┊┊┊┊┊┊ ┊┊
┊┊┊┊┊┊┊ SHE telegraphs - no rain ┊ on the dry horizon ┊
 better to prepare ┊
 for more water scarcity ┊ frogs must sing storms back our way ┊┊┊ ┊┊┊┊┊ ┊┊┊┊┊┊┊ ┊┊
┊┊┊┊┊┊┊

a canto to the night | smoky mirror shows little | light in shadows

understands silences | soul mates not what they seem | they shapeshift in dreams

in the land of the free| people should be | allowed to be

they collect hearts | like beads on necklace | then all beat as one

they give thanks for life | in words as invocations | heart-spirit made flesh

wanting to honor | present generations | ancestors returned |
she asks please don't take spirit | with machines that shoot like guns

colibri | medicine for what ails you | can heal a broken

does her whisper in your ear | embrace all of you | charm your voice away

earthquake shifts her plates | autumn moon takes to shape shift | Napa expects more | daily they pray to the clouds | singing sacred water songs

corn moon comes to end | summer daylight starts to wane | another season

sowing redearth new | sun seeds fall from hungry mouths | say adieu summer

summer shouts I'm still here | hot as jalapeños | no time to fall yet |
with teeth bitter as winter | the greedy tear at her body

mean you love her | with something other than your voice | say it in your walk |
live it as if it matters | love is not convenience

home's a returning | swallows sing in foreign tongues | its meaning not lost |
there is a time for standing | still as a tree in winter

stopped in her tracks | her heart welling up like then | waxing nostalgic

he a slippery fish | one she could never quite hook | keeps on swimming'


copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.  All Rights Reserved.

August Senryū 2014

✿⊱╮

for love not war

his voice smooth as smoke | wafts its way around souls | engulfs her in flames

born an island girl | she needs alone time | and sunrise that smiles hello

if today she doesn't wake | she gives thanks for all | the loves of this life

sometimes dancing is a spell | or ceremony | to heal what ails you

in love with words | I am the mothers' daughter | hers only on loan

tight like teeth | only shares the necessary | smile for the truth

no power back when | they tried to take all her grace | she learned to cherish 

turnkey lockdown | heart that can only open | to the owner of the key | 

so it be | now and forever

you the greatest gift | a son to love always | proud as all mothers

they suggest beauty | as a way to combat stress | butterflies flowers |

all of it part of life | in the shadows and in grace

we put our hands up | now surrender could mean death | we are sacrificed

collateral damage | people no longer trust | in their government

weary of the war | before more horrors manifest | here at home

divorce is a death | this special person you've loved | is no longer there

don't apologize | you can't help who you love | love is a great thing

the best of life | is in the growing of it | you don't grow you go

moonbathes under satellite | super-sized shine | wishes on a star

beautiful to know | your love’s unconditional | that you're still here

let love break through | all those walls built in fear | its light will shine true

after shock | possibly fatal mishap | a near miss in slow motion

every name precious | lights blown out before their time | all of our children

seemingly sane | she goes on with life | tries not to weep at the rain |

not to hear slain voices |spirits amid the rubble

silence is complicity | next they come for you | who will speak then

forbidden love | timeless deep affection | enchanted entanglement

in her sleep she hears | bombs falling and she can't wake | people are trapped

you say I'm breaking | your heart it's not mine | while I continue to bend

blue spirit horses | brought a foretelling of peace | galloped through their dreams

it is our first drum | mother's heart that resonates | its beat into cells

love at first sight | seen through rose colored glasses | the blooms never leaves

she builds rooms with books | piled high are hopes and dreams | to be realized

hexagram heaven | what do the signs say today | listen to the wind

particles of change | miraculously give voice | to those with no tongue 

poems copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. 

All Rights Reserved.

December Senryū 2013

December Senryū  2013

there are no borders | for butterflies know freedom | ignore barriers

a better world | possible with faith and love | struggle for freedom

you who brought laughter | your leaving left tears | will always be remembered

creativity | bring beauty into the world | for the joy of all

a sense of purpose | caring for more than ourselves | for the greater good

support our own | vendors and businesses | cooperate to win

responsibility | for self and community | collective love

from the whispering basket | spirit-saints whispered | truths from the other side

listen to your heart | think with your own mind | for self-determination

in unity | we are stronger than enemies | we hold together

she believes in angels | that show themselves in many | forms of love

winter's day and sun | stands still waiting to reverse | in its celestial tracks

the place of lost voice | memories claw at her throat | tears form a knot there

ancient sea stars melt | into oceans on fire | we bury our heads

if we save the earth | we save ourselves and future | generations

I remember | my first love a smiling man | tender as a sapling

my love north wind | leans on me to show love | unruly and tussled

Butterfly Virgin | you patron saint of dreamers | who fly for freedom

US adores zombies | vampires their obsession too | those living dead

icy cold whispers | winter sweeps in through the house | on a sunny day

she dreams in all blues | frozen mid-sleep wishing | for early Spring

nights have grown endless | she only sleeps during days | napping at the edge

all mother's souls | melt into their children's  | growing into their own |
persons full and realized | pass love along in their blood

arctic cold fingers | grip the Bay in its grey fists | refuse to let go

a rock of a man | always loved more than hated | beacon for freedom

I give thanks for grief, which teaches me gratitude for life, and always for love...

the day born gray skies | sun elbowed its way out | smiling in triumph

grey fog stretches | arms around hills I live on | today sun sleeps in

petals fall to earth | they turn into fragrant clay | sweet-scented our cups

crows no longer caw | warnings about her at you | now that she's at peace

winter the inward | time of introspection | reflection on life’s pond

Copyright © 2013 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. All Rights Reserved.