stop
stop
take a moment
stop
listen
hear that?
it’s life
rushing past
at the speed of sound
the tiny earthquake of an infant’s wail
squabbling chickadees on a dew-dropped branch
a sink full of dishes
the dog’s nails snare-drumming on the kitchen floor
cars trucks vans cycles all shushing purring grumbling past
a familiar key in the front door’s lock
voices near, voices far, loud or quiet, laughing, shouting
the fermata of your breath, your heartbeat’s vibrato
a dry fingertip turning a dry page
ice cubes in a tall glass
this
this is life
heard and gone
it is all we are
an ephemeral fabric
uncountable strands
of gossamer
Posts Tagged ‘modern poetry’
Stop
Posted in Creativity, Poetry, tagged creative writing, modern poetry, Poetry, quiet living on 29 Apr 2025| 1 Comment »
The Lesson
Posted in Creativity, Poetry, Politics, tagged cruelty, empathy, modern poetry, Poetry, politics, project 2025, Trump on 31 Mar 2025| 2 Comments »
What you are trying to teach me?
To harm? To hurt? To hate?
That a worthy reputation
is only built through fear?
That honor is irrelevant,
an antiquated ideal?
That rules, golden or base,
apply only to governed
and not the government?
What do you want me to learn?
Cruelty + Money = Power?
That everything, even a life,
has a market value?
That caring for others’ well-being
is a sucker’s game?
That discord and outrage
are the privilege of the rulers
and not the ruled?
Because that is not the lesson
your actions drive home.
The lesson I am learning,
the lesson that you teach, is
that bullies have no friends, only sycophants,
that predators prey on individuals, not unified fronts,
that small-minded men use power as a weapon, not as a tool,
that loyalty born of fear lasts only as long as the loyal are afraid,
that plans of destructive intent always birth unplanned consequences,
that masses move slowly, react slowly, but once in motion, stay in motion.
The herd now smells the wolves.
Tick-tock.
Media
Posted in Poetry, tagged creative writing, love, love letters, modern poetry, Poetry, Valentines Day, Writing on 13 Feb 2025| Leave a Comment »
I used to write you love letters
with age-old tools
with pen and paper
with flowers delivered to your desk
with gifts left to be found on a car seat
But since then my love has found voice
in other media
in home-baked bread
in racks of clean dishes
in beds made, ready to be rumpled
I write letters
in gestures and gifts of freed time
I sing songs
in tiptoed footsteps on lazy mornings
I craft poetry
in items checked off to-do lists
After so long, so many years,
my words, mere words,
seem insufficient to relate
the depths and breadth
of my heart’s compass
But perhaps a cup of tea
that I know you want
presented without
your having to ask
speaks better of my devotion
The Call
Posted in Creativity, Poetry, Politics, tagged creative writing, inauguration, modern poetry, Poetry, politics, Trump on 15 Jan 2025| 1 Comment »
Bow, ye Faithful! Bow!
For your Creation comes forward
Wrapped in the trappings of power
Wreathed in censorious brimstone
Flanked by slavering legions!
Genuflect! Bend the knee before Him!
This gold-plated god of hammered tin
Hear the sheet-metal thunder
Of empty pronouncements
And believe His words yet again!
Wail, thou dissenters, and lament!
As the paisley-clad dreams
Conceived in your Summer of Love
Are ground to dust and ash
Beneath His jackboot heel!
Kowtow, lick-spittle magnates!
Turn your fawning obsequiousness
And pettifogged morality
Up to Eleven
And pray you evade His notice!
Exalt, all, as Turpitude ascends!
Powered by the Voice of Millions
Who wanted nothing more
Than cheaper eggs and
Shelter from the storms.
Pray, you huddled masses!
Fellow citizens of the coming chaos!
Pray with every atom you possess
That we are all strong enough, in time,
To regret this thing we have done.
——————-
k
Clarity
Posted in Poetry, tagged creative writing, love, modern poetry, Poetry, Writing on 14 Nov 2024| Leave a Comment »
I would suffer
a thousand summers
if at their end
we could walk
hand in hand
through autumn rain
The Waiting
Posted in Poetry, Politics, tagged election 2024, election day, modern poetry, Poetry on 04 Nov 2024| Leave a Comment »
Stop the clocks
There is no point in watching
Time slows and thickens
Honey left too long
On the shelf
Crystalline
Opaque
The decision approaches
The nation argues
A fractious couple at a deserted crossroads
Without signposts or map
Not knowing
This way or that
Ahead or back
Only that here is not where
They want to be
Afterblow
Posted in Poetry, Seattle, tagged autumn colors, creative writing, modern poetry, nature, Poetry, Seattle, windstorm on 20 Oct 2024| Leave a Comment »
walking dawn-dewed streets
amid memories of
the night’s groaning wind
branches and twigs
bony remnants
cast around
leeward silhouettes
of gold leaf and rusted needles
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 