“Paso Fino Friends” by Marcia Baldwin
giving acceptance
trusting character enough
to banish its ghosts
From my books Ephemera and Riverthink
Friendship
All posts tagged Friendship
“Heads of Chess” by Shellton Tremble
I learned the game
from a Cuban boy
near the copper-green
cast of Liberty’s robe
where his family
of chemists
fled ass over teakettle
north to escape
from Fidel’s
fatal handcuffs
the father now swept
iron shavings
from factory floors
so the son could
become engineer
and my tutor
their story was newer
but nonetheless
similar hearkening
to my own parents
who fled in an
earlier time
not from jailers but
abject privation
the boy taught me well
and to this very day
more than fifty years
hence when I
contemplate chessmen
I ask myself
what would
Antonio do
(originally posted November 2013)
“Vanishing Point” by Michael Lang
news of death unexpected
a colleague from heydays
a merciless storm of old
memories lashes the mind
heaving clouds come to clash
with a violence that bleakens
the internal sky sending bolts
of electrical sorrow to strike
at the heart halt its beat
for a moment of painful
arrhythmic condolence
a permanent brand left behind
one more lesion to join all the
other memorial burn marks
that uglify tremulous skin
of a pulsing organic affinity
weathered and wearied by loss
bradycardic by tenebrous time
spirit woeful and indolent
wary of clocks trying hard
to remember the chimes of a
friendship now come to its end
news of death unexpected
recurring reminder that hours
and heartbeats diminish
with increasing speed
in approach of their
time and space
vanishing
points
“The Conversation” by David Hockney
scattered signals
emit from your posture
fidgets and faces
imply your discomfort
either with me or yourself
whichever it is
it’s all upon you
I am perfect with conscience
at ease
with the truth
if that troubles you
you should perhaps
discuss politics
somewhere other than here
with some other friend
but I really appreciate
your dropping by
Print by Will Ford
he climbed the split rails
she approached with stately gait
tossed her fine blazed head
the chestnut red dun
playfully nuzzled his neck
he tousled her mane
their wordless language
eye and touch corresponding
trusty affection
mounting her saddle
her sixteen-hands carried him
off to adventure
American Sign Language for “Friends” by Nancy Rourke
Dear Readers,
It’s time I take a brief pause from poetry in order to acknowledge you – the amazing members of my WordPress community. As of this fine early spring New Hampshire morning, I find that more than 8,000 of you have chosen to follow this blog.
We contemporary poets and authors are blessed by a modern technology that allows our words to reach so many appreciative eyes. The personal connections and friendships made possible by the internet are, for me, a continuing source of encouragement and inspiration.
It is impossible to adequately express just how much you all mean to me. All I can do is promise to keep writing poetry, as best I can, and hope you will continue to enjoy what you read here.
Meantime, I take this moment to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have already given to me.
Affectionately,
Paul
March, 2016
Saint Anthony of Padua
converted privilege
to patronage of the poor
my mother’s best friend
********************
Sant’Antonio di Padova
privilegio convertito
al patrocinio dei poveri
migliore amica di mamma
moribund friendships
push smiles through the room
eyeing clusters of cocktailers
passing their photos
with polishing cloths
wrapping histories no one believes
tender tenor sax moments
stir hesitant
long expired couples
in front of masked sneers
worn by unsteady spouses
who wish they stayed home
giddy juvenile glee
bubbles up through dense decades
beleaguered by
pained adolescence
enswirled in a sub rosa clash
of conflicting emotions
no doubt high school years
passed for many quite happily
worthy of lightheart reliving
others with maladroit memories
follow wise impulse to
burn invitations
I laid down with you
warm in my arms
you as big as a colt
still possessed of a
steed’s mature grace
unaware of the grief in
my desperate embrace
nose to nuzzling nose
loyal lush-as-mink fur
to my guilt-ridden skin
I dropped tears on the
cold stainless steel
antiseptically morbid
but ringing with trust
in each thump of your
pain-flaunting tail we
were close we were
closer than ever in
eighteen sweet years
as the vet at my nod
pushed the plunger that
instantly stilled the soft
smile of your brows and
extinguished your eyes
Man’s Best Friend
Photo from moveoneinc.com
soft of mouth and paw
avidly affectionate
the dog knows your heart
Poesy plus Polemics 