Tag Archives: poem

Flowers

by

0

So much symbolism wrapped up in something so temporal

So much symbolism wrapped up in something so temporal

I didn’t bring you flowers today.

I know I usually do on Thursdays,

But that’s just it, the problem,

I usually do on Thursdays.

Flowers have become rote;

Like the sunrise and sunset.

Assumed, ignored, a fact,

Something we take as a given.

And not just by you, you see,

But by me, the florist, the neighbour.

If you don’t get flowers today,

It’s not that I love you any less,

That you have become less important,

But that you are too important for trivia.

Flowers should be special—are special—

Like each and every sunrise and sunset.

They should be adored and admired

Like I adore and admire you every day.

Flowers should make people stop

And smile, and breathe, and think.

Every flower should be a memory

Burned into our brains, triggering

Love, joy, serenity, excitement, bliss.

I didn’t bring you flowers today.

I know I usually do on Thursdays,

But not today.

Today, I brought you feathers.

Traveller

by

2

Image

Cloud shadows slink among verdant hills

As winged scorpions speckle the air.

The modest murmur of breeze and wave

Is punctuated by staccato calls

Of feathered sentries, alarumed

By movements both broad and subtle.

A sudden stillness hijacks all,

Water rent astride by bow and oar.

A lone traveller, immune to life,

Slices the water in a multihued dugout;

Eye set on the horizon, oblivious

To anguished muscles and sinews,

Passing through the natural world

And yet so much a part of it.

Eddies left behind are enveloped

Quickly by unseen currents;

And all that was before

Is as it was again; peaceful, silent.

Image

Forgotten tribute

by

0

Railway 4

A nation born

On the backs

Of men not welcome.

Forgotten thanks

Never remiss,

Never too late.

Humble peace for your

Nation-building sacrifices

[Dedicated to the sacrifices of the Chinese population within Canada as they helped build the railway system that connected the country shore to shore, as commemorated in an art instillation in downtown Toronto]

Building a trestle, the basis of a bridge perhaps

Building a trestle, the basis of a bridge perhaps

A lone man stands in the line of fire should that rope fray

A lone man stands in the line of fire should that rope fray

His safety harness, a lone hand

His safety harness, a lone hand

Rainy night

by

2

Background lights reflect off watery pavement

Watery applause

filters through my window;

an atmospheric

stream of consciousness,

rafting my mind

to memories thought lost,

of friends, of love,

of pain, of loss.

Flushing rivulets

clear out the old

to make space for

sunnier days ahead.

Heavy rains make for sodden cycling

Heavy rains make for sodden cycling

Rain drops in such profusion that ripples annihilate ripples

Rain drops in such profusion that ripples annihilate ripples

Missing you

by

4

Image

I lie here, staring at the ceiling, and I miss you.

The stillness gently stirred by your breathing,

The sound of your hair sliding from the pillow,

The scents of the day rising from your skin,

The emanating heat of your body in repose.

A space lies empty beside me, undisturbed;

Duvet in quiet slumber, chaos contained;

Sheets unpressed by the weight of day.

Only one heart beats in the silence.

Only one mind wanders in the dark.

Only one body occupies the space of two.

I lie here, vision blurred, alone and I miss you.

Ode to a Loan Shark

by

0

Ouch, sayeth I

As sinews disrupt

Their femured rest

To lie astride the knob.

Where once my leg

Did show spritely measure

Now it does lie askew

Rent for rent’s sake.

Principled currency have I

Yet usurious interest

Abandons my very soul

To restless piscine slumber,

To don wearied galoshes

Of most compressed clay.

Stir not thy ire

Brooklyn-ed Vincent

Thy due is nigh

As the night is dewed

I would not lie now

Lest I should lie forever,

A cornerstone of commerce,

Tenement to history.

Vis’t me but anon

And thy dower is done;

Do me in here

And you’ll none, I fear.

(Image is property of owner and is used here without permission, so please don’t hurt me.)