The Star Wanderer

She clad herself in a gossamer dress 
of iridescent clouds
And donned a pair 
of starshine slippers
She wrapped herself in the shawl 
of an amethyst sunset
And adorned her head with a crown 
of fairy lights

The Star Wanderer was off
to a new adventure
New fantasies called
And with a periwinkle twinkle
In her endless eyes
She called to me in my dreams

We flew away on ballet wings
through the Milky Way
dancing around the Andromeda galaxy
whirling through Cassiopeia's stars
waving gaily at Pegasus

We sipped golden cups 
of dew with sleepy morning glories
Laughed with the 
Effervescent man in the moon
And swam with merry mermaids
in faraway indigo oceans

We crashed loud cymbals of thunder
And played chase with the lightning
Racing the laughing wind
Over summer fields 
Of green and gold and lavender

And as the rays of an early sun
Began to light the eastern sky
The Star Wanderer and I 
Made our way back to my dreams
Where I blinked my sleepy eyes
And smiled...
At the starshine slippers on my pillow. 

Dancing Under the Moon

It's a full moon 
I'm dancing with the fairies 
sipping honey wine from a flower cup 
made of moon dewdrops 
and silver rain

The golden haze of the Autumn light
Suspends reality 
Opening a door to the other world
of halcyon dreams
and glowing Aurelian walls

The cool, free winds
blow cobwebs away in my soul
brushing away old, dusty memories
as I find little me
leaping with the eternal stars

We loved first in our dreams...
You reached from beyond
into my unconscious mind
and found me in the realms of fantasy
Falling in love was as easy as breathing
And we did with an intensity that seemed
To brush the very tenets of my soul
Every spiritual nerve tingled
As we laughed at jokes
As you tenderly touched my face
As your arms reached around me
And we sighed in perfect contentment
It was a fullness of joy...
That still companions me
in my waking hours
You reminded me how to love...
Which I'm holding in my heart
Until we meet again.

Quiet Courage

(This was a poem I wrote a few years ago, but it seems appropriate for today.)

Brushing off the dust of yesterday’s heartaches
I find the whisper of a forgotten smile
Like the gentle caress of falling petals
From a long-ago spring…
Becoming a breath of hope for tomorrow.

 

Writing Challenge – :)

We are doing something different today.  So I was challenged by my sister to use some of these funny, crazy words in a sentence (they are in the picture).  I love a writing challenge, so turned it into a silly poem instead.

On a rickety front porch
Sat one persnickety old man
Who lived in the valley
Of a town called Spokane

He grumbled and mumbled
When the neighborhood children
Would create another brouhaha
With their ridiculous shenanigans

Their noise and laughter
Disturbed his afternoon naps
As he sat in his rocker
Drinking his lemonade Schnapps

One hot day some rascally kids
Decided to play an unkind joke
They threw a glass of water
On the sleeping old goat

“You young whippersnappers,” he called
“I’ll wallop the lot of you! 
Skedaddle from my yard,” he yelled
As he threw his old shoe. 

Feeling bad for what they had done
The young children decided to make
Some gifts to say sorry
So they picked flowers and made a cake.

On tenterhooks they crept up
To the sleeping old man
Laying down a pumpernickel cake,
And flowers in a can

When the old man woke up
And saw the presents before him
He was completely gobsmacked
And his frown turned to a grin.

So remember young ones
When you have the choice
Find the strength to be kind
And share your compassionate voice. 

Nothing Left to Lose

I wrote this a few years ago.  Originally meant to be a song, I had an expert lyricist look at it and then tell me her thoughts.  First she said it was a poem, not a song.  She was correct on that.  It is a poem, thus I have chosen to publish it here.  She also said it was too sad, too “victim” and that no one could relate to it.  Well, she obviously didn’t pay attention to the end, because as always, it turns around and gives one hope.  Somehow I think she was wrong and that more people can relate to this than she thinks.  And unfortunately, this is more true now than it was when I first wrote it, but I still see light at the end of the tunnel.

Nothing Left to Lose

Sitting on an empty floor
Watching the window and the door
Hoping that some inspiration
Will come through this time

No money, no career, no lover, no home
I’ve never felt so defeated and alone
Don’t feed me some kind of cliche line
that kind of fiction won’t work this time

I’ve got nothing left to lose
Nothing left to prove
Nothing left to confess
No one left to impress
Just me…

I have worked every job and moved every year
Began a hundred times and cried too many tears
Running a race that never seems to end
Begging for something that would help it all make sense

I’ve got nothing left to lose
Nothing left to prove
Nothing left to confess
No one left to impress
Just me…

But I realize that maybe it’s time to try again
So with quiet conviction and a shaky hand
I push myself up off the floor
Let my imagination roam once more
I will build up from the ashes of my life
And give my dreams at least one more try

I guess I do have something left to lose
I do have one thing left to prove
I have more that I want to express
But only one person left to impress…
Just me

Not Today

Lemon daffodil sunshine
Crayon blue skies
Pale rose tinged clouds
And lark song greet the sunrise
The world is awaking…

But as I stare out the window
After a long, dark night
Feeling the unspoken fear
Of unfulfilled promises
I turn away from the light…

Too many times
My butterfly hopes have faded
With a final flutter
Over the wishful horizon
They disappeared…

So just for today
I close the curtains
And burrow down
In the blue shadows
To hide my heart away…

Tomorrow will come
With bright hope renewed
But today I hush the world
To find the inner strength
To try again…

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

Another Auld Lang Syne

Glancing through old photos
I found one of you.
One that I had forgotten…
And I quietly withdrew
The ache surprised me…
I had not expected
That familiar twinge
Nor the silent tears

One photo…
Memories of laughter
and tender plans
of a woman in love
With an unforgettable man
A reminder of a pipe dream
that was just a mirage
A memory of love
That was only mine…

I know I have been consigned
To the distant corners
Of your heedless mind
I’m just another woman
In your long line of hopefuls
Just another distraction.
Just another wasted attraction
Just another faded illusion
Just another so-called friend…

Unable to throw your photo away
It gets packed for another day
When my heart is healed
and I close that door
When the sweetness
of your embraces
Don’t hurt anymore
When I am strong enough
To finally forget…
You will be nothing more
Than another Auld Lang Syne.

In Silent Verse

Do you know that I write for you?
Do you read what I cannot speak?
My similes are wishes…
Declarations of admiration
My metaphors weep tears
Of silent yearning
My heart beats in tender sonnets
That I fear to even whisper…
And when my pen is dry
I dip it in the ink of my soul
For therein lies the truth
Not masked by politeness
Raw, unrefined and unstained by lies
In the stare of innocent honesty
I cannot hide the desire in my eyes
To finally see yours loving the reality
Of me…

 

Sweet September

Distant shores are calling…
 I find myself in the car heading north
Ending in an evening ramble
In the Northern wild forests  
My soul soars as I leave behind
the chains of an invisible prison.

Are the distant pines on fire?
No…the fiery, orange Harvest moon rises,
blazing triumphantly over the fading landscape.
I pull my jacket a little tighter 
As the heat of the day succumbs 
to the fresh, sweet night air.

It’s 2 am now…the silence here is profound.
No cars, no crickets, no birds…
No other sounds than the distant call of an elk…
Its mournful cry a story of nature primeval.
I had forgotten how silent nature can be.
It’s just me and the moon and the wind…
and oh how bewitching it is!

A part of me remembers this…the silence
Childhood adventures climbing
Over amber-colored hill tops
Dreaming of castles in the air…
When the silence permeated my soul
Like music in the wind.

My life has come full circle
And the little me still sees
Hope on the horizon of my life…
Some dreams fulfilled, some yet to be…
As sweet September turns another page
I stand still…
This perfect moment soon to be
Another memory in the book of my life.

(Some favorite pictures of my recent road trip to Idaho and Yellowstone.)

 

Guardian of the Silence

Dark, majestic, somber pines…citadels of the night.
She weaves in and out of them draped in white,
Both human and spirit in this other worldly moment
She is at one with the secret of the trees.

The crescent moon softens the darkness,
Just enough light to illuminate the path.
As one solitary owl calls for it’s mate,
Ancient stones and fairy lights accompany the dance.

She is seeking impossible answers
Revealing her veiled secrets to the breathless air
She is the guardian of her silence
Only the moon witnesses the whisper of her prayer.

Just one more turn before the chill sets in
Just one more moment to wistfully dream
One more moment to rescue the innocence within
Before the reality of life chains her spirit yet again.

You can find this photo here: lovinglifeonearth.wordpress.com.

 

If I Knew…

For my future “him”

I would whisper your name in dreamy reverie
…if I knew what it was.
I would play you a tender melody
…if I knew the music that moved you
I would stroll beaches with our fingers entwined
…if I knew which hand was yours.
I would rest my weary heart in your arms
…if I knew which arms would hold me.
I would blush at your endearments
…if I knew the sweet tones of your voice.
I would bend softly to your kisses
…if I knew which lips to kiss.
I would say yes to a lifetime with you
…if only I knew who to say it to.

Immortal

Your silent song
has stolen my heart
I see you…
those wistful, weary eyes
that sad half-smile
Hiding from the world
the burdens you carry
Soulful sighs…
Echoing across the skies
Two lonely muses seeking
For their immortal lovers…

I look to the stars for an answer
In eternal tongues the gods reply
But my heart has not yet learned
the language of Olympus…
What is the goddess’ secret
that she whispers
to the lucky few?
This old, romantic soul
listens for Aphrodite’s rhyme
that beckons the aching heart
And answers…somewhere in time.

Cotton Dreams

Cotton dreams wrapped in candy kisses
Coral clouds and violet wildflowers
Tall amber wheat fields
And innocent child fantasies
Of diamond rings and floating veils

Gentle waves on white sand beaches
Sweet pink plumeria leis
Anticipation of romantic roses
Embraced by a flaming sunset
And dancing under a twilight sky

Years pass…
Lonely grey winter days
Bitter solitary tears
Empty promises and harsh words
The endless aching of broken dreams

Yet…there it is, do you see it?
It’s hiding in the shadowy ruins
Against emerald hills and lavender
Pink glitter and fairy wishes
A breath of hope stirs…

Hesitant, shy and vulnerable
Petals open slowly under the warmth
Of soft words and kept promises
Tentatively I let go and fall
Into the gentle cradle of cotton dreams

Wallflowers

I am seen…but I am not seen
My soul moves in and out
of the currents of life quietly
Muted footsteps treading hesitantly

Another wildflower along the banks
Of a stream with its endless eddies
Crowded with beauties
Plucked by the whims of desire

I am simply a part
Of the enhanced background
of this consuming pilgrimage…
Visible…but invisible

Concealed by the clamor
Of acquiescing escorts
Who shrug at a kiss
And mock old virtues.

I am not Esther
In her saving beauty
I am the wallflower
In the twilight hour

Look…I am still here
The ivy of creeping denigration
Has not quite won the day
Will you not see…and stay?

 

The Man in the Moon and I

I sought to walk in the shadows
My heart crying it’s silent tears
The noise of loneliness drove me
The empty walls and unspoken fears. 

I sought to hide my sadness
In the dusk of a quiet night
But his laughing smile found me
The Man in the Moon and I. 

My ethereal friend and my poet
Under cover of night we walk
He sings my soul a lullaby
The Man in the Moon and I. 

What need have I for earthly gems
When cosmic stars are my pearls?
He is my knight in luminous armor
Throughout the waiting years.

Once more his wise and kindly eyes
Have heard the whispers of my heart
Once more he soothes my heavy sighs
The Man in the Moon and I

He gives me strength to start again
So I blow a kiss to my forever friend
I pause and softly say goodnight… 
To the Man in the Moon and I.

Silver Sailboats

 

I stare at the stars in the velvet darkness
Millions upon millions
of flickering lights
Dancing across the great
panorama of eternity

We are lost in the skies
Silver sailboats sailing along Moon River
Seeking a place to call home
Do I trust in Destiny
As the Midnight hour approaches?

Soft snowflakes turn to summer crickets
While white swans sail through the seasons
Taking no note of the sighs
Of the one who sits by
Silently waiting…

My Rose-Colored Illusion

You were no more than a rose-colored dream
A living fantasy…
A beautiful mirage of unfulfilled wishes

Memories of your whispers and touch
Lightening the solitary thoughts
Of a lifelong wallflower

A long, drawn-out hope…
That never culminated in anything more
Than a wilted rose clinging to a wintry vine

Just one “prolonged goodbye…”
That ended in a bittersweet taste of
A painful friendship.

Closing the door I turn away and sigh
Only to see the sunlight beckoning
Through the open window of the future…

Just Another Shell

Another beach…another shell 
Another memory of my life saved
Wrapped inside the fragile cover
Of a small miracle of nature.
Caressing its delicate edges
I am moved by the richness of color
And it’s unique imperfections.
Like the scars in my life
It’s small lines and broken edges
Cannot discount the beauty of the whole.
For it is with each rough wave
That I survive…
Still marred…
Still imperfect…
Still beautiful.

Just Another Day

The morning light crept through my window 
Dreaming faded and memories flowed
I slowly opened my eyes 
And thought
“Just another day…”

Distractions during the morning meeting
Silent reflection and melancholy feelings
I sipped a cup of tea
And thought
“Just another day…”

As the debts piled up with no end in sight,
The raise never came and the money was tight
I laid my head in my hands
And thought
“Just another day…”

I looked at my phone…still no message from you,
I wiped a tear away and tried to make do
Cheering up others
Yet still I thought
“Just another day.”

I stood just inside my apartment door
Listening to the quiet and staring at the floor
When suddenly a knock came at the door
And I sighed
“Please…some other day…”

You smiled as you stood in the archway
You wrapped me in your arms and wiped the tears away
Cradling me and touching my face
I whispered softly
“So it’s not just another day…”