Mad Poetry Tuesday

Some words cling to us like ivy, While others slip, drip, fall; I didn’t know you were called Aquilegia caerulea, sweet Columbine. But I knew you looked like a star Holding a flower with a heavy heart, A chest that drooped in the dusklight On a soft evening in June. Sometimes we forget “you” And think of the Forget-Me-Nots, Growing in our own arrogance - Our own, our own want. What did you want? You wanted to live like Chrysanthemums in bloom As the trees shook off Their green coats and became butterflies. You wanted to dangle With the Spanish moss and forget yourself. Become part of the scene of The world and blend. But I wouldn’t let you fade. You were the star holding a flower, And each time your petals fell I wanted to be the water, the sun, the soil That made you lift your drooping eyes And spread your leaves like fan palm. I wanted to put you in a vase And carry you to see the sugar pine Or the sea oats on the breezy shore. It’s possible I’m fo

Do you ever wish you could view yourself As others see you? At a distance? That you might become one of the crowd Or the speck from the airplane? Or maybe you might become so close That you are nothing but locks of hair And the smell of Cabernet and black tea And a force in the night. I imagine you could even be mistaken For someone else. Could you mistake you For someone else? I think I could do it, Be you, or her, or him, or that dog over there Sniffing the fence, sorting out these Divisions. I didn't say I was I from the Beginning, but I wonder how we drag "I" Around like a stick, and chew a piece off Now and again. You were thrown the stick, And you fetched. But what if you could sniff Beyond the fence and be something more Or something less? Would you? Could we?

I have jumped the couch cushions of Mount Vesuvius, Tiptoed above lava floors. The carpet was Smoldering. Then we landed on a hammock ship, It swayed along the wayside, the waves waiting For pirates. I wanted to pass the years under oaks, And oaths, but life changes and you find yourself Under ash. Separated and out to sea, I lost and I Gained. But the sea wasn't full of familiar faces, It churned, Waiting for another rock to mosey into view. But mostly there were just shells, tossed By the waves. I took out my cutlass, thinking I might use it As a harpoon, and out of the salt soup of life, You parried. I didn't see the excursion. I just felt the efficiency Of your blade against mine, as if equals, well-matched. When the sails came down, we used them for blankets, You said they were the softest illusion you'd ever, Ever held. But when we reached the lighthouse, You hoisted the skull-and-crossbones, Eyes afar. Peering elsewhere, gold filli

Go! Roam the world with curious steps and pass a thousand miles next to buildings built by ghosts. Amble along in search of falling falls, and trek the mighty bodies built by stars just for you. Today, friends, we compass the sea of ourselves and the shores of distant harbors we have yet to tread. Don't tell me you are satisfied with a pilgrimage 'round the bend. Take an excursion to the stars that made the place you rest your head! And go! Forget the souvenirs. We're making memories that last more than a thousand years. And I say, time, time is shorter every year. Seek out the people you've never known And the corners you've never crept. Light up the darkness of your map with each and every step. Go! Don't wait another day. Adventure will meet you on the road and turn your home into the place you are today. Go! Lose yourself in wandering. Meet the journey on the road. Become someone with stories to write, like an Ode to the

When you cast your boat off that dock Your trust is with the builders, with the ideas Of man, who saw nature and found a way To hoist sails and lay boards just so. This connection, this estuarine moment, Your river of a life, meeting the sea, Takes all of you. No longer a riparian Bystander, you lift your sails to the sun. Whatever maelstrom you face, You meet with the eyes of Poseidon. Today is your fusion with the Atman, You are a shell in the deep. You cannot see yourself through The waves and the soak. But you are There, and you know the sand layers Beneath your rudder all play a part. The stage was set by the stars And how they shine, guiding you Home, to drown in the sunlight, bleached Of fear, to become the vibration and the wave. -- Mad Words List 7.31.18 Estuarine Riparian Maelstrom Soak Bleach -- I've been thinking about how writing (and poetry especially) reinforces connections in our brain, but I also was inspired by the words this week to think of how we are always par