Hi! Welcome to my poetry page; consisting of poetry by members
of the Patchwork mailing list and myself.
If your poem is listed here and you for some
reason don't want it to be, please e-mail me and
I'll take it off immediately.
Where there is more than one poem by the same poet, I have given
the poet a separate heading. Poets with one poem I have placed
under "Other Poets".
Coming soon: a page with poems by some of my favourite, famous poets.
MARIA VICTORIA LOFGREN:
[Sunshine] [Moonlight in Motion] [Strands of Twilight]
NECA STOLLER:
[Ohoopee Flood] [A Glimmer] [Rain] [Autumn]
VERNIS PERSOON:
[A haiku poem] [Fulfillment]
PHYLLIS THOMAS GIBSON:
[Blue Heron] [El Nino] [Clouds] [Fanciful Fireflies] [Robins]
JEAN EMRICH:
[Rising Early] [Moon Poem]
JOPO RYK:
[When I am full of silence] [Elemental Poetry]
HAILE NKRUMAH GAULT:
[Carried away] [Rainy Night in March] [Late winter's eventide]
OTHER POETS:
[Nature and I- Patricia Ann Proffitt] [Feel the winter - By Brian McCarty] [Sunflowers- By Kristi L. Waterworth] [Spring - By The Night Hawk] [The Sea- Mary Oliver] [The rose- Kathy m wedeking] [The JopoTree - By Unknown] [Fluting Glaze- Captain Cal] [Autumn- Sarah Luchian] [Spring Sight- Laura Wilson] [Old Oak Tree Prayer- Charles Ethelred] [Metamorphosis- Gini Schmitz] [Blowing winds- Bill Etheridge] [Beautiful Rose- Travis Tapley] [Another Day- James Oliver Smith, Jr] [When rain gets in the way- Jim Sullivan]
Feel the winter Taste the wind Run silently through amber fields Dream the day Smell the joy Hear the blue Gently cradling white pillows Hold the thorn Cut the tension Laugh with Harmony With a snowflake falling slowly Ever downward on invisible currents Coolly landing on a lash Vanishing in a blink of an eye. Brian McCarty ******************************* Sunshine By: Maria Victoria Lofgren Sunshine Shine down on me Dazzle my eyes Give me light to see Dry up any tears Impart vitality Warm up my heart And fill me with energy Make all seem new And wonderful again Erase the past As if it had never been Give the world A sparkling glow Dance and reflect On the river I watch flow Let me find new meaning And forget the dark May I glory in the flowers And sing with the lark Sunshine Shine ever bright So I'll still feel warm When comes the night (c) Maria Original Creations, Ltd. 1997 ******************************* Sunflowers Sunflowers in the fog Of a bright morning Still watch the sun Raise its crown above the hills. Up... Up... Up... The sun, like the flowers, is in bloom. Down... Down... Down... The sun, like the flowers, is gone too soon. (c) Kristi L. Waterworth, 4/16/97 ******************************* SPRING By : The Night Hawk Awakened by her warm sweet touch the cool breeze blows across my chest I hear the faint sound of song birds Hurriedly I dress and make coffee then step outside to partake in the Festivities Walking out into the garden Bare feet in cool moist earth flashes of blue jay, and cardinal lady spring has arrived in all her grandeur and all Gods creatures bow and greet her warm golden showers of light touching my soul giving back what the winter had taken away as the depression lifts life's sweet breath once again returns rejoicing I fall to my knees giving thanks for yet another chance to live life new again, fresh and clean as life bursts forth all around me for a moment I too am young again Copyright � 1997 by The Night Hawk, All rights reserved ******************************* The Sea Stroke by stroke my body remembers that life and cries for the lost parts of itself-- fins, gills opening like flowers into the flesh-- my legs want to lock and become one muscle, I swear I know just what the blue-gray scales shingling the rest of me would feel like! paradise! Sprawled in that motherlap, in that dreamhouse of salt and exercise, what a spillage of nostalgia pleads from the very bones! how they long to give up the long trek inland, the brittle beauty of understanding, and dive, and simply become one flaming body of blind feeling sleeking along in the luminous roughage of the sea's body, vanished Mary Oliver ******************************* The rose the pink rose was just perfect in it's minute detail of dark pink pointed but surrounded my slener green brackets as the day began it opened slowly to the warmth of the sun and the gentleness of the breeze that came over it's face slowly it opened swelling slowly, curling the petals back just a little at a time as the day progressed by evening it was at it's prime: never too young or too old then by the next day the rose was looking a little tired and fragile and by evening the petals were falling, falling and it was hard to believe looking at the mess on the ground that this was once a beautiful bud in the beginning of it's life no one noticed now or remembered that it was perfect once and it would be again in less than one year - now it was time to end and then begin again kathy m wedeking ******************************* Nature and I In the distance thunder rolls. Reverberating off my windows it tells of the impending rains to come. The leaves visible through my window are turned upwards waiting for the coming nourisment. The bird that nests above my door flies hurriedly to her nest to settle in before the rain comes. The squirrels skitter through the treetops, walnuts in their mouths, rushing to avoid the coming downpour. I do nothing to prepare. I just watch and wait. Nature is ready now. The leaves are thirsty, the birds are nesting, and all the gray squirrels are in their homes. The first drops begin to fall. Softly, one by one at first... then harder and faster. The rains rhythm soothes and relaxes me. As I drift to sleep I think that we are all prepared nature and I...no worries. Copyright 1997 Patricia Ann Proffitt ******************************* Moonlight in Motion By: Maria Victoria Lofgren Moonlight in motion Free-flowing emotion Wings of irredesant blue Delicate beauty- that is you A being composed of dream material Hovering near so I can feel The whisper of you passing by. The sight of you delights the eye. You're moonlight- shining and flying free Moonlight which approaches and touches me. Made of dreams, you're here...then gone I catch one glimpse...then you flit on. You are emotion flying around, Expressing yourself wherever you're found. Fluttering quickly...then pausing to rest Wandering far on your secret quest An explorer with wings going everywhere Carefree and happy...uncumbered by care Your personality- timid and shy God's work of art- a butterfly (c) Maria Original Creations, Ltd. 1997 ******************************* The JopoTree ____________ The JopoTree is a rare and beautiful thing. A hybrid "plant" bred of love and affection. It grows wild and strong feeding upon friendship, love, and adoration. Two species joined as one that grow better together than they ever did apart. There's only one JopoTree yet, it grows in the heart of two different "places." One hybrid "tree" created by the Master's hand I'm sure. Come from two different "species" now forming one strong and sure "tree." With the right amount of care the JopoTree will live a lifetime. Copyright 1997 ******************************* Blue Heron As big as my eyes The blue heron�s wings Settle into a water-nest. His touch tickles barnacles Clear to the bottom Of the reef. A thin green light Points Its finger toward The water�s lips and Kisses the midnight shore To sleep. Phyllis Thomas Gibson (c) 1997 ******************************* Heavy fog and mist slumbering garden flash of gold wing Vernis Persoon ******************************* Ohoopee Flood Haiku sequence striding through the Ohoopee flood plain a blue heron going out the boat's wake going in wade out wade further out- clear water Neca Stoller ******************************* "Fluting Glaze" fluting glaze kayak by planked over watery maze landslide deals cards of mud i slide with them washouts together and also by myself a dud Captain Cal ******************************* Fulfillment Purple violets in the spring what a joy to me you bring Yellow daffodils so bright my soul is filled with pure delight Apricot tree so full of bloom indeed you do dispel my gloom Forsythia of gracefull spread to make a halo for my head Hyacinth with essence sweet my eyes behold so rich a treat Green of grass and bud of tree what more need I to feel set free. Vernis Persoon (c) 4-6-97 ******************************* Autumn Leaves... Twisting, Spiraling, Swirling down to me... Brush my cheek with nature. Golden, green, crimson Blending in a harmony Of beautiful life And aging frailty. Wind... Whipping and carressing My hair everywhere. This breeze makes me feel That I can exist forever Eddies and currents of crisp Cooling air. Always there Smiles... Tears... They both some to my eyes In joy, As I survey the way The world Makes ready for cold death. For I know it is not death that comes, But health, Love, And Peace. How I Love Autumn Sara Luchian (c) March 15, 1997 ******************************* A Glimmer Kneading the creek around the red clay bank, a thick willow; the shallow bottom a mirror of sunlit ripples. Serenity settles. High thoughts, until from beyond the senses a glimmer...... almost within my reach when the sandbank shifts. Neca Stoller ******************************* Spring Sight young bird with fragile wings practices its flight craft as I watch- perched on deck chair- the fledgling. Laura Wilson June 1997 ******************************* OLD OAK TREE PRAYER I have lived for hundreds of years, seen all there is to see; 1776, Civil war, the battle of Tripoli. Avowals carved in my bark, love, affection, indignity; attest to man's folly. . . . and absurdity. I have felt the many colds of winter's fiercest nights, veins clogged from nature's frozen might. Bent by the winds of time I am today, old and dreary they all say. I am old and oh so tired. Bring to me soft comforting breezes, to filter through my limbs and caress my scaly bark. Bring to me the early morning sun, to enfold and warm my shimmering leaves. Bring to me warm and gentle showers, to sooth my gnarled and twisted roots. Bring to me a glimmer of hope while remembering years past. These things I ask. I am old and oh so tired. (c) Charles Ethelred August 13, 1994 ******************************* RISING EARLY I rose early today to watch the morning take it's first deep breath. Not when dawn just begins to feather the long back of the horizon, but later when the langorous fingers of the sun slowly reach across the rumpled sheets of land to awaken its lover with a knowing touch. She startles and then comes the quick deep breath of consciousness - a gasp of recognition that a new day is at hand. It's that gasp I wait for. It has to do with the light - the way it suddenly streaks into the bay through the pines and first strokes the tops of the cattails, the heron's neck, the rough skin of the rocks. This is the moment when morning awakens and takes its first deep breath. It has to do with the light. C & C Welcome Jeanne Emrich ******************************* METAMORPHOSIS Snapping fibers of cocoon Blinding brilliance of high noon Wings unfolding, spreading, dry Coast is clear, my darling--FLY!! Gini Schmitz ******************************* BLOWING WINDS See the winds race 'cross the fields, going farther and farther away. Sometime whispering, sometime clamorous, their many voices say. O' follow me, O' follow me, to nevers land, where blowing winds stay. (c) Bill Etheridge 08/16/94 (rev 06/20/97) aka Charles Ethelred ******************************* Beautiful Rose She stands at the garden wall and smells The sweetness of the pink rose. A sweetness Only matched by her beauty. A color only Matched by the blush of her cheeks. The warm Summer wind gently blows her light blond hair. It appears to be flowing with the petals of The rose. I stand mesmerized as woman and Flower are one. Their beauty interchangeable. I catch the scent riding the breeze. My nostrils Flare. Is it her or the rose that I smell? She Plucks the petals one by one. I see her lips as Succulent as the nectar saying, "He loves me, He loves me not." I am caught up in this game. Feeling as if my love hinges on the outcome of That last plucked petal. "He loves me," the Petal falls lightly to the dew filled, plush Green grass. I breath a sigh of relief for my Beautiful rose. Lucky that it lives in my garden. Travis Tapley June 6, 1997 ******************************* Rain The rain threads through the green plaid of the forest canopy onto a downed oak; splashing off an orange umbrella of a mushroom sprouting there; dripping down between bent grasses into the dark sand. Arriving, just now, on earth. Neca Stoller ******************************* Elemental Poetry There's poetry in autumn rain that spatters on the windowpane that presses free from pregnant clouds and all the world in mist enshrouds There's poetry in winter air that chills through thermal underwear that swirls snowflakes in sprightly dance and echoes bells as reindeer prance There's poetry in springtime earth that lends itself to life's rebirth that forms the solid ground below and nurtures seedlings as they grow There's poetry in summer fire that clads the flesh in bronze attire that heats the globe with warming rays and sets empassioned hearts ablaze There's poetry in memory of what once was and what might be of dreams and wishes foul and fair there's poetry--POETRY!--everywhere. Jopo Ryk June 28, 1997 ******************************* Strands of Twilight I love the twilight hour best When print is hard to see And willing shadows reach and caress A tired, weary me. When sunlight's glow has faded >From my strawberry golden hair Any warmth too strong has abated Leaving coll breezes to linger there. Where sunshine's fingers touched Breezes tousel, tease, and play My hair's warm weight seems lifted -A relaxing end to a long day. By: Maria Victoria Lofgren ******************************* Another Day The sun settles gently on the horizon Relationships that bloomed within the first streaks of morning light are swept away in the currents of the Milky Way Darkness singles out its victims in the glow of a lunar landscape smiling In anticipation of the next dream lingering in the melodies of a sad song But it does come the sun again As moisture from our tears glistens on the lip of another day (c) 1997 James Oliver Smith, Jr ******************************* Moon Poem A ragged cloud writes in long-hand upon the moon Hanging in a tree - the poem Jeanne Emrich ******************************* Robins Against the sky Egg-shell-blue-eggs crack and expose wet downy shapes with disoriented heads. The larger louder, stronger pushes first, stands taller and feathers faster. All splay... The lingering runt finally beats elusive, beguilding flight. The only sign of life from the nest now, is the wiggle of the hot summer heat amid slipstreams and the shadows which frown and smile upon tendrils of an empty Robin's nest. Phyllis Thomas Gibson (c) 1997 ******************************* Autumn Autumn comes as a surprise. It seemed very far away- so much time to get things done. None of us are quite prepared, not even sure its really here. This biding place we now reside. Neca Stoller ******************************* When Rain Gets in the Way When rain gets in the way those perfect days have no chance their sugar coatings dissolve and trickle to the street Shadows no longer revolve or dance while fickle winds make misery complete Ask the somber clouds why they as masks of grey align to mock a skyward shroud When rain gets in the way. [Copyright 1998; Jim Sullivan 02/06/98] ******************************* Clouds Before the power lines the clouds themselves tattooed spring skies with milky foam. In endless Explanation Points The Great Smoky Mountains gathered and joined their parade. Morning arose earlier. Daylight was sweeter. The nights Oh, the nights arrived warmer though shorter. Beneath those lingering layers of dusk sometimes stars melted into neighboring buttermilk skies. Today above molten skylines between towering skyscrapers amid rainy cloistered evenings those same gathering clouds are merely misty smoke screens. Is it morning yet? Phyllis Thomas Gibson (c) 1998 ******************************* El Nino Baffled the trembling front crosses sticky red earth quickly pushing spring beyond white painted fences dipping slender icy fingers of sleet into frozen minced barrels of mud echoing and composing whimpering wails into brilliantly brimmed wind songs joining with and matching the sighs of our most indulgent incorrigible child. Phyllis Thomas Gibson (c) 1998 ******************************* Fanciful Fireflies They might spend winter after winter in brilliant crystal caves chipping facets for flint, but no one really knows. They might hide beneath foxgloves priming little quick-silver lanterns. Some of us sit on tree stumps and hold them in memory banks and tuck them in heart folds. Some of us beat fairy-drums and sing song�s of six pence. Some of us design flower strewn hand made paper and map their game�s of hide and seek. Never late, just past eight o�clock- they stir evening�s curtain and poke fun at daylight saving�s time. Maybe they are candle holder�s for the little people. Maybe they are archer�s of spring fever. Or, maybe they are Irish forest angels letting their light�s shine and shine and shine- well, maybe. Phyllis Thomas Gibson (c) 1998 ******************************* When I am full of silence When I am full of silence and the world becomes too cruel I withdraw from all society and call myself a fool I thrash and castigate myself and close my eyes to weep 'til the world's weight overcomes me and I'm carried off to sleep. In sleep I dream of finer things of velvet sheets and golden rings of children laughing, dogs at play-- such visions take my cares away. And when I wake I rub my eyes and see the world anew Peace raises me to greet the morn and salute the sky so blue. Jopo Ryk ******************************* c a r r i e d a w a y rain storm countryside earlier the day promised sunshine - and it did long before conception my mother knew another - different family picking strawberries hot, humid day on the vines evening came with rain juicy fruit sold for cash blessings twice rained from above laborers recline money on mom's lap open the door to ascend fruits washed down the drain forever ******* (c) 1997 Haile Nkrumah Gault ******************************* RAINY NIGHT IN MARCH The sky c r i e s . Dark, slick streets s c r e a m with action. Winter is releasing its c h o k e h o l d on me As a windy rain sweeps through the city. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ What a perfect night to sleep. But I choose to take it all in; To view from my front porch My neighbors running for shelter. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It's quite c h i l l y and slightly f o g g y ; I can see my b r e a t h . Yet the night is p a s s i o n a t e . I am s e d u c e d by its powerful calm. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The past few months have been t u r b u l e n t sailing. Warmer days surely lie ahead. This rainy night represents t r a n s i t i o n . The upcoming bridge that I must negotiate harbors NO promises. Nevertheless, I must m a r c h across it to conquer the opposition. As I have braved the cold of the dark, I will press ahead to meet my foe. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Running for shelter works for a while, But there comes a time when I must stand out in the pouring rain And look m y s e l f straight into the eye. And if in the c o n f r o n t a t i o n I do not obtain what I t r u l y desire, I will only have myself to blame. (c) 1996 Haile Nkrumah Gault ******************************* Late Winter's Eventide Clear blue sky Millions of suns ablaze Moon tucked away yonder Fresh cool Spirit Frosting lungs to crisp The silence of the moon and Jupiter O for a snapshot of Thee The window to forever Another solar system Another galaxy Another milky way Unseen by human eyes Heaven. (c) 1998 Haile Nkrumah Gault *******************************