Thursday 28 February 2013

I wonder why

Clouds float weightless
Thermals supporting their mass
Until they downpour

Blossom only blooms
Exactly when called to come
As insects arrive

Birds construct nests
Without pregnancy tests
Perfect baby beds

Cats wonder away
Alone with only their thoughts
Ready to leave

Nature listens
As we seem deaf, dumb and blind
To the world around

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Butterfly flight

Amongst all beauties
Swallowtail chooses sun
Infinite moment

Xxxx

Inspired by "butterfly" by Chiyo-Ni provided at carpe diem.

#lentphotos trusting

Trusting the doctors
Trusting the pharmacist
Trusting the drugs
Trusting in rest
But most of all trusting God to heal

#lentphotos refreshment

Fresh water
Cold and clean
Out of the tap
Whenever we need

We don't know how lucky
Our lives really are
When we know when we're thirsty
Refreshment won't be far

#lentphotos navigation

God says:
When you're lost follow me
When you're scared follow me
When you're unsure follow me

I'm following

Xxxxx

I know it's not exactly a photo but being stuck in bed didn't present anything that fitted the bill so I drew instead.

Marriage is...

Marriage is a contract
Between two consenting adults
Joined together in law
For the benefit of their security

Marriage is love
Given unconditionally
Daily for eternity to a spouse
Asking nothing in return

Marriage is hope
Despite painful experiences before
That two people will always
Look after each other

Marriage is ....
Logically sensible
Illogically thrilling
Emotionally rewarding

Xxxx

Linked up at Poetry Jam who challenged us to write something logical, illogical or emotional; this poem attempts to use all three, each taking a different stanza.

Dear Prime Minister

Dear prime minister

I like your plan of the big society
But I think it breaks down, in reality
So many volunteers around the country
Not really valued by our economy

I work for free, I'm called to that
There's no doubt at all, it's a "real job"
But without a pay cheque and tax return
My pension by your system is robbed

Hear our plight, mine and many others
We don't take from you, we only give
We ask little, just one thing only
To be able, in our old age, to live

Let us do our work, helping others
Giving our time, saving you money
We want no reward, nothing at all
Just being valued, is that really funny?

Yours sincerely
Emma

Xxxxxx

Real toads challenged us to write an open letter in poetry, this is one of several I've written today.

The science of patterns

What is mathematics
Why the study and strife
It's the science of patterns
Finding why there's beauty in life

Take fractals for instance
Where nature repeats
Or waves of sound and light
Which help us communicate

Look around you
And you'll see
Endless examples
Of symmetry

Maths is all about patterns
Even in the numbers themselves
Look at the nine times table
And embrace them yourself

Xxxxx

Inspired by my love of maths and my desire that no child should ever fear it.  Linked up at Poets United.

The images are fractals in ferns, light waves, slinky springs and the fabulous nine times table.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Strangers

On the street
At the skating rink
Strangers

Strangers
Friends you've not met yet
Could be more

Could be more
In your life than you expect
One day

One day
Stranger becomes friend
Front and centre

Xxxx

Inspired by and linked up at Carpe Diem.

Five good things in my world

On days like today
When I'm feeling pretty yuck
I think of good stuff

Here are five things
Which are great in my world
Five, perfect to share

First is family
Love, support and care
Completely priceless

Second are friends
The sort who're always there
Don't need invites

Third are pet cats
Whether for cuddles galore
Or joy filled play

Fourth is NHS
A doctor always on call
We don't know our luck

Fifth is God
Always holding my hand
And sending love

These are my five
I'd love to know about yours
Please do tell below

Xxxxx

Linked up at RevGalBlogPals Friday Five.

Making tracks

I'm off, making tracks
Into the frozen wasteland
Hoping to find me

Xxxxx

Inspired by and linked up at bifocal univision.

Caterpillar

Green and slimy
Creepy, crawly, leaf eater
Munching every day

Munching every day
Gaining strength, growing big
Ready to change

Ready to change
Weaving my incubator
Curled up inside

Curled up inside
The same yet so different
About to emerge

About to emerge
Spread my wings wide, fly away
Into my new life

Xxxxx

Linked up at carpe diem.

Sunday 24 February 2013

Just another Monday

I used to have
The Sunday night feeling
You know the one?
That awful sinking
But for ten years now
I've been free of it
I go to bed Sunday
Monday morning excited
I don't dread my work
I love what I do
So now every Monday
Is a chance anew
If you don't like
What you do all week
Why not make a change
Do what you seek

Xxxxxx

Inspired by and linked up at one single impression.

Full snow moon

Pure white
Floats in sky of black
Watches snow

Xxx

Cratered surface
Silently orbiting our world
Powering our tides

Xxxxx

Inspired by the photo and subject at carpe diem where this is also linked up.

Monarch butterfly

Wings of silk
Carry across continents
Strength untold

Xxx

Linked up at Sunday scribblings where the prompt monarch was provided, I immediately thought of this beautiful creature.

Sometimes when I'm alone

Sometimes when I'm alone
I dance around our home
Sometimes when I'm alone
I dream about places to roam
Sometimes when I'm alone
I sing at the top of my voice
Sometimes when I'm alone
I read till lost somewhere else
Sometimes when I'm alone
I curl up in a ball
Sometimes when I'm alone
I feel far too small
Sometimes when I'm alone
I ponder how and why
Sometimes when I'm alone
I cry

Xxxxx

Linked up at carry on Tuesday

My drawers

You saw my form
But now you see my drawers
You see inside me

Inside my soul
My fears, hopes and dreams
Look and you'll see

But please take care
Don't open them too wide
When you look inside

Inside my drawers
Are all my flaws and all
I need to hide

Only if I trust
Will I open them wide enough
For you to see, me

Xxxxxx

Inspired by Venus de Milo with Drawers by Salvador Dali in 1936.  Linked up at The Mag.

By way of background - Dali was passionate about Freud's work and used work with drawers to articulate the idea of our hidden lives which can bee opened up through therapy.

The lesser known prophets

Osee, Joel, Amos and Micheas
Just four of the lesser known prophets
Through prayerful discipline, tears and patience
They shared God's messages caught in sublime moments

Aggeus, Zacharias and Malachia too
Were another three prophets that people knew
They weren't heroic, they couldn't fly
But their pieces of the future raised them high

Many other people have tried the same
Gazing at the sky and trying to steal their game
But imposters' limits are quickly understood
And the truly enlightened are retained as they should

Xxxxx

Linked up at the Sunday whirl incorporating the words in the picture.

Forsythia

Buds of bright yellow
Herald the ever brightening
Spring sun in the sky

Xx

Evocative scent
Brighter even than itself
Sign that spring's coming

Xx

Oriental bush
Brightens dull European
Early spring gardens

Xxxxx

Linked up at carpe diem.

Shimmer

Look straight at me
I'm an optical illusion
Eyes don't deceive you

Xxx

You think you see
What you've always seen
But you don't

Xxx

Light falls from sky
Floating effortlessly
Water shimmers

Xxxxx

Linked up at haiku heights
The optical illusion comes from http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/kagero3e.html

Sharing the bed blues

When you're sick you're welcome in my bed
To be honest I like to know you're still healthy
But when you're better it's back to your own you go
Because without you around I sleep like a baby

It's the wiggling and squirming
The tossing and turning
The throwing your arms out
That disrupt my sleep

Despite being tiny
Within half an hour
You've got most of the bed
And I'm half on the floor

So, yes of course when you're poorly
You can come and get comfort
But don't out stay your welcome
It's great to sleep separate

Xxxxx

Linked up at Jenny's Saturday centus.

Saturday 23 February 2013

Sonnet of the llama

I drown in the depths of your eyes
Relaxing against your fur so soft
Lost in dreams of your gentle embrace

Your eyelashes stir the breeze
As palm fronds at an oasis
Your legs pace your stall
Yet you barely look my way at all

I long for a smile to cross your lips
For a snort of love to spark the air
Yet all you do is stare

I am across the way, every day
Will you ever see me, as me
And love me back
I wait each day, I wait to see

Xxxxx

Kerry at real toads challenged us to write a sonnet and I based this on two llama at a farm we went to this week, you should have seen the way the white one looked at this gorgeous black beauty.

Positivity

People see my smile and know
Occasionally I'm not too great but just
So you know
I'm determined to make it
Through no matter what
I do
Very often a smile
Is all I manage and
That's enough for those that
Yell along with me.

Xxxx

Am acrostic poem for Positivity inspired by Dealing with Depression.

#lentphotos a prayer

A prayer for stillness
Where your shadow captures your attention
And you see yourself anew
Just as God loves you

#lentphotos food for thought

Where does your food come from?
What life has it had?
Has it been happy?
Running about as a lad?

These lambs are all playing
Bothering their mum
No doubt about it
Their lives are great fun

I'd rather my lamb
Had a happier time
Than cooped up inside
Is your choice like mine?

Nits: a to z of children's work

One of the risks
Of working with kids is catching
The dreaded nits

Crawling about
Making you scream and shout
The dreaded nits

Weekly we check
Your head, scalp, ears and neck
The dreaded nits

It won't get us down
There's worse things to make us frown
Than .... the dreaded nits

Nervous: a to z of mental health

Nervous to tell people
Nervous that if I don't
They won't really get what
Is going on in my boat

Nervous of their reaction
Patronisingly upbeat
Which might be better
Than a pitying streak

Nervous of being shut out
By all the cool kids
Nervous of being shut up
Put in a box with a lid

Nervous of everything
Including myself
Nervous gets me nowhere
So I try to breath through

Sit still and smile

Sit still little man
And smile nicely
Try to look happy
What a nice family

It's only a camera
It won't do you any harm
A minute without moving
Captures you in all your charm

I know this is strange
You don't know what's going on
But the result will be worth it
For generations going on

Xxxxx

Inspired by and linked up at sepia Saturday.

Castle

Building a castle
Barricades protect feelings
Fortress of the mind

Xxx

Medieval fortress
Everyone safe inside
Strangers can stay out

Xxxxx

Linked up at carpe diem.

Atacama fur seals

We're the atacama fur seals
Desert dwellers by the sea
Don't like to be disturbed much
Bother us and we get moody

We often swim together
But the thing that we like best
Is sitting on the desert shore
And lazing with the rest

We never venture inland
There's no water there for us
But don't deny we're desert dwellers
Then we'll really make a fuss

Sometimes wayward penguins
Dare to invade our home
Then they see our anger
And find somewhere else to roam

There are of course other animals
Dwelling in the atacama sand
But they're nothing compared to us
We hope that you'll understand

Xxxxx

Linked up at real toads transforming Friday about deserts.

Thursday 21 February 2013

Courage

To keep trying
To look up when falling
To keep smiling

Xxx

To not give up
Even when it seems completely
Impossible

Xxx

Not always easy
May take lots of hard work
Worth it, I hope

Xxx

Letting them try
Watching them fall over
Not showing panic

Xxx

Family brewery
Ales to be drunk by the pint
Frothy white head

Xxxxxx

These haiku are all on the theme of courage and linked up at carpe diem.  Most of them relate to the photo.

Pick your stripes carefully

Beware what you choose
When you want to wear stripes
They might not be kind

Might make you look wide
Or be expertly slimming
You might look funny

Make sure you're happy
Like a zebra on the plain
Pick stripes not shame

Before you decide
Turn around, side to side
Pick them carefully

As for the zebra
They carry all of their stripes
Elegantly

Fabulous Fibonacci

                             Fibonacci

                Fabulous mathematician

                      Praiser of patterns

               Sequence spotter, analyser      
                         and establisher

                Saw the world as it was
                 designed in perfection
           
              And drew the connection
                    in all its perfection
         all the mathematical perfection
              
                 Thanks oh Fibonacci
              for seeing what we didn't
                  showing the purpose
            of wonderful mathematics
                and drawing attention
                to wonders of creation

Xxxxxx

Linked up at Poets United where we were challenged to write a Fibonacci poem.

Image of Fibonacci pattern in sunflowers as discussed in this academic paper on Fibonacci.

#lentphotos a luxury

Fresh flowers
Bring fresh colour and scent
What luxury

#lentphotos a place to pause

Pure blue sky
Bright sun meets full moon
A place to pause

#lentphotos quiet

Please be quiet
Could you all leave me in peace
I just need sleep

#lentphotos a focus

Focus your breath
Empty your mind and relax
Pray worries away

Living room

It's the chill out zone
Not often neat, but completes
The heart of our home

Xxxxxx

Linked up at NaHaiWriMo

Wednesday 20 February 2013

The toad house

Six inches tall
But perfectly formed
Wattle and daub frame
Lined with willow board

Two fireplaces within
Inglenook of course
And a winding staircase
Leads to the upper floor

Everything designed
Perfectly for toad
So mind you don't step on it
As you wander the forest road

Xxxxxx

Buy your own toad house at grand manner

White

Scented clouds for bees
Apple tree's new hair style
Spring's own white snow

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Letter blues

Awaiting letter
I know not what it holds
Anticipation

In other words:
Friend wrote a letter
Told me it was on the way
I'm still waiting here

Facebook reminds me
That it's written and sent
But it's not here

When will it arrive?
And what will it say to me?
Desperate to know.

Hope of heaven

Hearts true home
Outside imagination
Majestic love

Wisdom of love

Ask sparingly
Unconditionally give
Compromise often

Xxxxx

Linked up at carpe diem

Taste of success

What does it taste like?
I wish I knew

                The taste of success
                Is delectable to chew

Is it sweet?
Like French patisserie?

                No, it's so much better
                More like fresh cherry

So it lingers on the tongue
Something to enjoy

                Yes, it's absolutely wonderful
                Like a child's favourite toy

I hope one day to know
The sweet taste of success

                 Keep trying and you will
                 It's about just doing your best

Xxxxxxx

Linked up at 100 word challenge for grown ups.