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.

October Senryū

October Senryū

  for all death that comes dancing

✿⊱╮

los muertos no se van | siempre son nuestros | vivos en corazones | 

en historias y cuentos | viven en los poemas de vida

Dia De Muertos | no es el Halloween | un día de ancestros

your voice travels through | I hear your don't forget me | this now without you

when she lives in her head | instead of her heart | that is when fear appears

coyote crossed her path | on a walk down the hills | breakfast in his mouth

bleeding lies to justify | their untruths and hate | what permeates here

blood as in hunters moon | as in ebb-flow | as in tides of desire

golden petals bright | guide their spirits in the night | a feast for the eyes

revolution | is not selfies of you | objectifying |

yourself and therefore all | womankind

testing truth in lies | the way you think words matter | and they do sister | 

they do if they’re authentic | if they help us all to rise… rise

Fall leaves scatter | a divine artist’s palette | ambrosia in color

life becomes cloudy | living in a bottle | with no way out

self medicates | to keep away the raw | everyday feelings brought on | 

by time-machine living | when things never change

save your country | where your ancestors hearts are | 

buried inred earth | aching to be free from hate

disbelieve borders | trying to tell you your worth | fly over the moon

we may well show you | a side you’d never know | otherwise

elixir of life | TV’s false fountains (of youth) | it could simply be a smile

racism kills | it hurts all us humans | keeps us divided |

divisions are devices | meant to keep hearts apart

Pintura : Palabra

palaver : platica

a talk between tribespeople

what artists : writers hear

with eyes and

respond with their hearts

they will pray the rain | they will sing and dance the rain | they will beg the rain | 

and when earth is respected | again the rain will come down

the way we witness | world events responding | with poetry

she won't obambulate no | today is to rest | contemplate the sky

in different orbits | a knot that can't be undone | a tie that binds us

minutos cuentan | y el tiempo semece | en una silla |

cuando uno espera | vivir para siempre

minutes count | and time rocks | in a chair |

when one expects | to live forever

when you are hurt so am I | this the nature of things | love and family

she refuses to live | on timetables that sigh | those empty head shakes

celestial fireworks | star showers zip across skies | happiness to behold

she sketches him | only memories to guide | blue in light's shadow

there is no instant  |replay on the children | we lose to hate

blood moon rising | eclipses truths in shadows | light always surfaces

Poems copyright © 2014 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.

Life, A Dream

✿

she has no idea
about being gone
or staying still
she knows she loves
flowers in bloom
real or imagined
what is life
if not a dream
you wake from
only to enter
another one
and so on
going from dream
to dream until
one solitary day
you become part
of the unseen and
dream with those
who've gone on
those on this side
dream you too
in the warp and weft
that is life's tapestry

poem copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

photo copyright © 2014 R. Loya.  All Rights Reserved.

July Senryū 2014

July Senryū 2014

for love and peace 

✿

if it were up to her | there would be no more war | no more suffering

no more obsessions | those writings about being | in love with love

she fell in love | with him at first sight | he's been her muse ever since

we belong to the land | we are her bounty | no-thing to war over

a time loop tangle | sticky as fly paper | charmed forever

she does simple things | laundry and roasting chiles | gets her mind off war |

 for awhile she doesn't think | of families being murdered

the worst of the barriers | is that of the mind | think for yourself

no real words left | to say how I feel about war | except NO MORE

The death toll rises, people are dying - genocide!

she feels him | missing her in away that hurts | both now and then

ella lo siente (a el) | extrañado la en esa manera que duele | entonces y ahora

we must not lose heart | everyday we pray and struggle | for peace

across the world | war rages and people die | all call cease fire

I love love | people think that's old fashioned | I know it's new

moon bled red | decried earth's blood shed | her children at constant war

the way of the world | cannot be heartless | we must teach our children well

simply knowing | he would do anything | for her is enough

we say no to war | not in our names do you kill | no more forever

misses the someones | who were something in her life | all deserving love

thunder moon rising | in your light we shine smiling | glad to be alive

he the blurry edge | an unrequited love | of full moons in July

personal greed | is fear based but not on need | rooted in evil

she cannot explain | rituals rote and quiet | ever changing same

she reinvents herself | at the core fire | she will not be moved

where is compassion | children must flee death squads | gone the way of true love

independence | does not rely on others | giving you freedom

independence | can not be celebrated | when people are not free

so quick to throw | women under the bus | someone else's rights

change yourself | in a flutter the world changes |just a bit

en los escombros | de su amor aprende | como amarse

verdure her love | growing lush and wide | across the world

eyes wide open | yet she dreams through her life | wishing she could love | 

that one special one | that is lost to her

with pockets full of shells | she leaves the seashore| flowers in her heart

up against thick walls | that keep hate and fear inside | that deter no-thing

she lets the nighthawks | fly away with her troubles | not obscure the moon

at the cross roads | she stands in the center |finding her way

shadow walker | between this world and the next | weaving connections

she lives with a piece of sea | deep inside her blues| maneuvers the rocks

poems copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. 

All Rights Reserved.

Palestinian flags flutter at Israel's border with Gaza

Split This Rock: Split This Rock Call for an End to the Attacks on ...

Split This Rock: Split This Rock Call for an End to the Attacks on ...: As an organization whose very existence was born from the global Poets Against the War movement, we at Split This Rock are grieved and outr...

June Senryū 2014

✿ 

for summer and for love

one place at a time | she stands center | the place of beginnings

the yard is full | of weeds and overgrown trees | everyday tomorrow

how can you love | so many beautiful people | and still feel alone

misses her daughters | ones she never birthed | those made by blood and spirit

little white dog barks | hello goodbye don’t leave me | a familiar voice

we miss the rain’s voice | joined with winds sweet symphony | we pray your return

our city has voice | sings in tires on pavement | sirens in distance

a voice that hurts | your ears cannot hear beauty | in caterwauling

a map of dreams | thirteen moons on turtle’s back | day count twenty-eight

so vulnerable | without her padding | she seeks out protection

whales tell of water | song lines of deepest ocean | great great grandmother

webbed spidery | her skin doesn’t seem hers | not her body

the road home windy | surprising in its beauty | cherished past places

waiting to go | wishing to stay where you are | beam me over

people too quick | to judge one another | but claim to believe in peace

grow into a man | we need your strength as equals | no more little boy

journeys full circle | remembering when we were | so young in spirit

everyday challenge | walk in the ways of ancestors | survive bravely

easy to take care | of others loved and cherished | not so much ourselves

don't be downed by life | beauty is all around us | despite all the waste

listen messages | of all our relatives | sent from the beyond

in every stem and flower | every leaf of every tree

aging can be hard | you said not for the weak | I give thanks for life

voices never leave | my head is filled with wisdom | yours and ancestors

hope you're dancin' | this honey moon’s just for you | your first not here birthday

move past the fear | of embracing what you know | deep in your heart

the blood of my blood | does not yet exist | may never be

life's flow slowed down | a month that seemed like a year | healing emotions

she of earth and spice | lights one hundred candles | lends her voice for peace

her little girl songs | overflow with happiness | waterfall lyrics

total denial | is in command of the ship | she's gone off course

poems copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. 

All Rights Reserved.