Growth

“Dramatic Lightning Skies” by Toni Grote

 

consider the mayhem
when seasons collide
cracking heads over
rights to the stage

one adamant in its
intent to arrive
another tenacious
unwilling to leave

quarterly clashes
fierce thunderheads
stricken by lightning
contest pride of place

inevitably new is
victor for better or
worse will not fail
regardless its wounds

people also experience
violence of change
collateral computus
joined to our growth

the measure of men
like the seasons is
told by which qualities
outlive the storms

 

 

From my book Ephemera

Lying in Ashes

 

Image From pinterest.com

 

 

passion is of fire
its residue ashfall
feelings that burned
brief bright moments
reduced to their char
still organically rich
romantically useful
over time layers build
supple bed for mature love
to lie in paired comfort
more gentle than down
with redolent memories
dusting the skin with
soft sketches of flames
dancing ardent duets
to their fireproof promise

 

(originally posted June 2013)

Intimations of Mortality

“Birth and Death” by Lidija Ivanek

(An homage to Wordsworth)

 

the newborn child

arrives in an exhale of breath

preexistent with memory

tactile and voicelessly vivid

awareness firsthand of a heaven

conformed to a perfect new soul

an emergent philosopher

touched by the intimate truths

harshly thrust among perils

of this imperfect world

oh the irony watching as time

and the nature of life

deconstructs the perfection

contaminates purity

forcing the babe to grow up

and grow through mortal suffering

dimmed of the knowledge

so bright at the time of nativity

feeling all the magic slip away

until reaching a mental maturity

learning if lucky all over again

what had once been so real

but can now be no more than

experience had by the intellect

Inamorata

“Tuscany Arches” by Marcia Baldwin

 

we gave birth to each other
presenting ourselves
to galleries of wisdom
hungrily scooping experience
piled at their feet
our puppy paws tenderly padded
anxious for callouses
needed to journey
the masonry distance
through arches of decades
across ancient tongues
learning unspoken phrases
of voluble silence

New from Old

“Epiphany”
Painting by Ana Maria Edulescu
From fineartamerica.com

when does old
become prized as antique
giving value to
the recently worthless
nothing changed
but the passage of time

is it mind over matter
what trips one’s maturity
transforms indifference
to newfound endearment
in thrall of a world
too long dull

Maturity

“Hard Working Man”
Painting by Vincent Van Gogh

I have no scars from my childhood
all my wounds came later in life

still young enough to remember
lessons learned from my parents

while old enough to regret
all the times I ignored them

ready finally to change
to become the man

mama and papa could see
from the distance of time

Commencement

Illustration by 123rf Stock Images
From kceducationenterprise.org

gowned and bound

for a journey

over thresholds

through portals

old order behind

bygone childhood

waving from safety

recedes into memory

lured by a beckoning

crook of a finger

the figure of future

a blur to the eye

hazed in aura of

multi-hued light

possibilities open

uncertain exciting

a whelming of thoughts

faced by limitless

choices a dizzying

swarm of potential

with promise of

fortune and failure

such is the moment

for testing the mettle

a challenge to youth

of the race of humanity

sealed in a hard-earned

bold pledge that

what here now unfolds

is the best time of life

all it takes to enjoy

is a ready-made mind

and a confident heart

Growth

“Dramatic Lightning Skies”
Painting by Toni Grote
From dailypainters.com

consider the mayhem
when seasons collide
cracking heads over
rights to the stage

one adamant in its
intent to arrive
another tenacious
unwilling to leave

quarterly clashes
fierce thunderheads
stricken by lightning
contest pride of place

inevitably new is
victor for better or
worse will not fail
regardless its wounds

people also experience
violence of change
collateral computus
joined to our growth

the measure of men
like the seasons is
told by which qualities
outlive the storms