Poem: Dark Secret #napowrimo2021

Dark Secret

When midnight tolled the ancient bell

upon the earth great darkness fell

those awake with ears to hear

found their hearts all froze with fear

night birds stopped their heavenly song

which in this night did not belong

what secret slipped between the trees?

whose prayer cried out upon their knees?

from midnight moon to rising sun

when morning greets the hidden one

these secrets shall not be revealed

for witches' lips are ever sealed

© 7 April 2021

Poem: Unsaid

 I sit with the phone and think

I know there's a poem in here,

Somewhere;

If not a poem, then

Some profound observation,

Some secret knowledge

For me to impart.

I sit thoughtlessly scrolling,

Feeling the words, the thought,

The feeling at the edge

Of my awareness:

Alas, it's not to be

No wisdom, only

Vapid emptiness

And the sense that there

Is something important

Left unsaid.

(c) 12.8.2020

Poem: One Magic

One Magic

Sipping Tulsi tea, telling Time
To mind its passing thoughts on
Silent whispers strangers slip
Between sheets of parchment
Rolled upon talented tongues tied
With ribbons made of ancient tales
The gods would have hidden beyond
Bifrost, trembling to think we might
Find them here, cast among runic
Puzzles precision perfect, riddles
Secretly solved and wisely written
Mysterious missives in words
Unknown to all but present
Company, sung to tunes heard only once
By One alone, who wanderers silent
In the night, recalling Time
That was and Time that is and
Time that is to come

Poem & Photo ©18 August 2019

Poem: Poetry

a hoard of emotions
an economy of words
true poetry

(c) 4.25.18

Poem: Juxtaposition of Inequity

The following poem was inspired by this post on Facebook. These are true news stories:

Facebook Post (Name Removed for Privacy)

July 30 at 1:58pm ·

There are two news stories in my timeline right now. They go like this:
Louisville, KY: a black woman is brought to trial without pants on because the jail refused to provide her any

Los Vegas, NV: Judge rules that a neo-nazi can have a professional make-up artist cover his tattoos to prevent them from "influencing the jury"
Ain't that America?


Juxtaposition of Inequity

Ridiculous vignettes
Of American "justice"
Painted macabre
No institutional racism?
That dark joke elicits
No laughter; only
A disproportionate angst
I, white woman, middle-aged
Rock and roll poet, lowly
Wanna be prophet, I
Can do nothing, only
Speak. Write. Pray.
Call out injustice.
Can there not be found
A pair of pants?
Can there not be found
Human dignity?
Hate may be hidden,
But coal in the heart will
Consume. One day
Justice will prevail, but
Not without the voices
Of those who cannot speak
Not without words, heard
By those who mete out
Inequity upon a population
Meant for love and glory

(c) 2 August 2016

Poem: Poetry of Night

the poetry of night calls, unbidden
disappears before dawn;
the usual
disappointments
only one meets
expectation
yet only after
relinquishment
of desire

Photo & Poem (c) 7.5.2016

Poem: False Love

I do not understand

This love affair with death

When young, we kiss the snake,

Initiatory

Survivors come away

Muscles strong from the struggle

Some elude the coils altogether

Some grasp the tail, whipped

Against hard ground until

One day, eyes open

They find themselves

Thrown onto desert sands, death

Slipped away, leaving

A slender trail behind

Others, caught in her coils

Succumb while young, lost souls

No chance at Life

The trail she leaves is a reminder

Of her kiss; intrigued

Some turn back, following ethereal

Memory, they seek her embrace

Before their time

They find her wonderful, in guises

Both beautiful and terrible

They cannot turn away

Older now, I see her ploy

To lure us away before our time,

Deny our right to Glorious Life

I do not understand

This love affair with death,

For she is not real, this impostor

Begging garlands placed before her,

Gifts of lives gathered from the

Blossoms of their souls

True Death looks upon us from afar

Lovingly awaiting our embrace

She knows Her day

She wants us whole, snakebites

Healed by time and Love for one another

Our souls decked out in Happiness and

The trail to the false one’s lair

A memory best forgotten

© 20 May 2016

Poem: Old Mother

Recalling moons, adrenaline,

Solitary wine and stories
Penned in prose and poem
Internal chat...chant
Stretch and stand and dance
The milky Aradian veil

Illuminating sheer passion

Perpetual desire and eternal

Expectation

Dreams Unfettered

Unexpected, underestimated

Tiptoe through life, or charge like

Proverbial China shop cattle

Retrospective, motherhood

May have been better served

By more of dance and chant

More of moons and mystery

And less of whatever the world

Places, unrelenting, upon the

Shoulders of motherhood,

The backs of the women

Destined to be remembered

Faulty, guilty, forgetful

Motherhood may have been

Better served another glass

Of cheap wine and the pleasure

Of a cherry cheroot under

The full moon, naked

© 22 March 2016

Poem: Poetry - Four of 30 - NaPoWriMo

There is no better poetry
Than a good cup of tea
The warm light of
A night lamp, puppies
Curled at the foot
Of the bed and the soft
Sound of the beloved
Asleep by my side

(c) 4 April 2015

Poem: First of 30, 2015 National Poetry Month

Flowers in April
Harbingers of fresh new life
Young kittens mewling
(c) 1 April 2015

Poem: Native Beauty

Emblazoned wood, deep natural life
This beauty called forth, speaking
Native tongues, Truth, the trees insist
On Truth as only the Ancient Peoples
Speak it; remember us!
The hewn wood cries, remember us!
The Native beauty speaks, no tear falling
From her winsome eye; the land raped,
The People quelled, but in her red-blood
Heart, hope resides
Empowered, poet, prophet
A smile is her answer to the questions
Will Truth survive?  Will Love abide?
Indeed, there is no other way
Sigh not, strong woman in the wood
You are not alone, nor are the trees
The Truth cannot be burned away
Though shadows cast upon their
Inner selves may seem to tell
A different tale.

© 9 February 2015
Suzy Jacobson Cherry

Poet Elaine Gee Shadowed Upon the Wood
(Used with Permission)