October 1, 2012 “gold”
October 1, 2012 “gold”
***
silhouettes of crows cawing
at the hunting hawk
scattering songbirds from thistle and bush
into the blue sky of autumn
gold autumn
crisp, sharp, gold, autumn
the westing sun flows gold
to the edges of the valley
shimmering trees of gold
leaves, glittering flecks of gold
in silence break free from bowing branches
casting themselves gently upon a river
reflections of gold mountains
and trees and leaves
and air painted gold by the sun
the distant crow caws
at the hunting hawk
the blue sky
the gold earth
and autumn
©tlh 10/1/12
August 8, 2012 “pencils and pens”
***
pencils and pens
standing on ends
some down
some up
in an old pewter cup
leads are broken and dull
ink leaked and dried
like forgotten flowers
petalless in a vase
stems all askew and aside
neglected poems and letters
unwritten beginnings and ends
love stories untold
left in a cupful of pencils and pens
© tlh 8/8/2012
December 17, 2011 “Oh, Christmas Tree”
“Oh, Christmas Tree”
****
Fraser and Douglas trussed tight
lying on the sidewalk
bound prisoners with no way of escape
stacked like cord wood for a fire
price tags or toe tags
to trees they’re the same…
Merry Christmas!
tlh 12/17/11
I could put this on facebook, but I would be putting MY thoughts on THEIR site for those bastards to make money on! Don’t get me wrong, I have an fb page, and I enjoy it. But sometimes, when I think about it, I just get a little pissed. So, in trying to not cuss on a regular basis, and in the hopes and dreams of a new year, I’m going to try changing my little blog up a bit.
I would really like to write honestly and frankly, do you ever feel that way?, like you just want to say it EXACTLY how you’re feeling it… but I want others to read my work and still want to come back, so maybe that’s all off the table. Or should I write what I really think without all the poetry, or in spite of all the poetry, every bit of which was honest, but done to impress a woman (take note of my relationship status on my damned facebook page, and you can see how successful that has been)! Why am I so reluctant to write what I truly feel…
Should I care what any of my readers think? or should I write what I think and feel, and let the chips fall? Maybe I’m just in a mood. Maybe I feel a little screwed…or sorry for my damned self. Who cares? It will pass in time, just like all things, these feelings of honesty and getting (I’m dying to use the “F” word, but I don’t really have to) screwed will fade in time to other, better feelings, I’m sure…right?
I don’t expect any of you to understand… well actually, I expect that all of you can relate to exactly what I’m saying.
If I were Charlie Brown, my life and love right now would be that damned football, and I would be running full speed straight at it, thinking I was actually going to kick it this TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMME!!!!!
tlh
January 1, 2011 “thoughts at midnight”
***
“thoughts at midnight”
outside my midnight door
the darkness is shattered
by gunfire and bombs
thunder-rocked air rattles my floor
stillness and tranquility
vaporized in the flashes
are ringing in my ears…
the travail of two years
the ebb
of the dying old
the possibility
of the infant new
memories and dreams
past and future
for a moment
then…
another explosion
announcing…
a birth
a death
a beginning…
the end
©tlh 1/1/11
November 23, 2010 “impressions”
“impressions”
*
November rain falls from sagging clouds
crawling like smoke
across the cold landscape of late Autumn
obscuring mountain tops in a misty chill
permeating the bones of the earth and man
the valleys flowing with a silent fog
in remnants and shreds
that drag and catch in the knotty fingers
of a lone, gray tree
its bare gnarled hand clawing at the invisible sky
from a monotone field the dim dreary haze
creeps across a rain blackened fence row
and through the rickety slats of an ethereal red barn
to my window
the wet glass rendering the scene
like a sunless vision of Monet
I shiver behind the foggy frame
as I turn to search for a blanket
©tlh 11/23/10
October 4, 2010 “basics”
For Poetry Potluck
“basics”
(in haiku)
*
invisible force
timelessly carving spaces
from the winds of time
*
firmamental mist
all engulfing foggy shroud
drips water of life
*
from nothing dancing
without substance still living
primordial fire
*
darkly seething deep
blackened bowels of infant stone
earth in the making
*
©tlh 10/4/2010
Listen to this here:
October 1, 2010 “enlightened”
“enlightened”
*
Morning Star
shining in the firmament
more beautiful than any
more precious than all
an angelic, holy pall
*
Day Star
luminescent glory
in glorious arch
filling heavenly places
filling darkening spaces
*
Light Bearer
covering of God
Prince of the Air
falling deep inside
falling to Lucifer’s pride
********************
©tlh 10/1/2010
Listen to this here:
(Image courtesy of artist)
August 17, 2010 “Tanka II”
Tanka II
morning sun glowing
lark singing a joyous song
great expectations
sounds of nature ringing out
a new day a new dawning
©tlh 8/17/2010
Listen to this here:
(Image courtesy of artist)
Thank you, Red
August 15, 2010 Sunday 160
“serendipity-do-da”
(160 / 6)+1
serendipitously
unexpected pleasures
are our greatest treasures
for they seem to find us
sneak right up behind us
and when we turn to see
serendipitously
LOVE
©tlh 8/15/2010
Sunday 160 @ monkeyman
(Image courtesy of artist)
Thanks Red
August 12, 2010 “Muse and Darkness”
I offer this for Thursday Poets Rally.
I write love poetry mostly, because
my heart is full of it for my Love, and
that love for her is almost always my muse.
However, sometimes I must vent life’s
frustration, and so…
Today I make a departure inspired by
two poems by a “true” poet. I say “true”
because, in my opinion, she writes real,
heartfelt, visceral pieces that I find inspiring, pure, and
well…true.
Go see for yourself at Random Thoughts and Musings.
“Muse and Darkness”
weary of platitudes and pleasantries
tired of obsequious praise
caught in a web of niceties
an insipid suffocating malaise
Muse and Darkness haunt me
possessing my poet’s pen
daring me to write pure and true
exposing the me that’s under my skin
baring the nerves so you know how I feel
showing my blood pulse through my veins
flaying muscle from bone to see why I move
to hide scars on my heart, the stains of the pains
Muse and Darkness compel me
to release my fear and lay down my pride
and pick up a sharper pen with truer ink
tear a door in my heart and invite you inside
©tlh 8/12/2010
Listen to this here:
(Image courtesy of artist)
Thanks, Red
August 8, 2010 “Onomatopoeia”
“Onomatopoeia”
160 x 9
onomatopoetically
CLATTER words a BUZZ in my brain
BLARING poem an ITCHING refrain
SCRATCH syllables to TAP out the time
PLOP down phrases to RING out a rhyme
©tlh 8/8/2010
(Photo courtesy of artist)
Thanks, Red
August 5, 2010 “Just for Fun”
“Laughing Buddha”
He stands among my books
with that smile on his face
up there on the shelf
without considering self,
Fat Buddha.
For nigh two score years
he’s been grinning there
his palms to the sun
the enlightened one,
Hotei.
We’ve never spoken, not one word
but through thick and thin
he was there with me
seeking bodhi,
Bodhisattva.
I forget him sometimes
and he just smiles
as if he’s looking at heaven
and he’s one of the seven,
Laughing Buddha.
©tlh 8/5/2010
For more Buddha inspired poems please visit my wonderful poet friends,
you’ll be very glad you did 
August 2, 2010
“diyd
diyd”
plan for the future
live in the moment
save for tomorrow
live one day at a time
be a village
be an island
be a part
stand apart
be color-blind
know your colors
be selfless
live your own life
stand up for yourself
turn the other cheek
go with the flow
swim against the tide
scorned if you’re inside
shunned if you’re outside
less fat
more calories
eat less
but super size it
damned if you do
damned if you don’t
it’s a “screwed” up world
when you realize it
©tlh 8/2/2010
Listen to this here:
July 23, 2010 “Elements”
“Elements”
She:
is a capricious breeze that whistles through
upsetting papers and knocking off the dust
making all feel fresh and new
He:
is the trade winds; constant and steady
carrying precious cargo through the doldrums
gentle, but strong and ever ready
She:
is a mountain stream; always rushing past
tumbling effortlessly over every stone
washing away all that isn’t anchored fast
He:
is a mighty river; big, dark, murky, and slow
but continuous, wide, meandering along
deep and powerful in his flooding flow
She:
is a mountain range; sharp peaks reaching for the sky
forbidding, stark, and beautiful, difficult to navigate
but worth every step for one willing to try
He:
is rolling foothills; gently rising to meet the sun
robed in peaceful verdant forest, an easy trek
hidden valleys, cool breezes when the day is done
She:
is a flame; that drives away the chill, a small flickering fire
suddenly raging across a plain consuming any in it’s path
an inferno or a tea light whatever her heart’s desire
He:
is burning embers; smoldering, under gray and black
ready to flame into the darkness at the slightest breath
and rekindle flames to bring the warming fire back
They:
are elements; wind, water, earth, and fire
together in perfect balance… In Love
tlh 7/23/10
(Photo owned by artist)
Thanks Red
July 19, 2010 “Foundations”
“Foundations”
When two people realize that things are rarely perfect; that relationships require faith and trust in each other, and when the two let go of pride, and each puts their everything into the hands of the other, there exists the potential for a Love that transcends time and distance. They allow Love to grow, for they know that…
“Love suffereth long, and is kind
Love envieth not
Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up
Doth not behave itself unseemly
Seeketh not its own
Is not provoked
Taketh not account of evil
Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness
But rejoiceth with the truth
Beareth all things
Believeth all things
Hopeth all things
Endureth all things
Love never faileth”
1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this here:
July 18, 2010 “Sunday 160″
Sunday 160 @ Monkey Man
160/10
*
Sesquipedalians amalgamate
endeavoring alas to propagate
the logoi we use to elucidate
to one who can meditate, cogitate
upon the words we do so venerate
TLH 7/18/10
July 13, 2010 “One in a million?”
“One in a million?”
Did you say I’m…
One in a million?
What a wonderful feeling
to be
One in a million.
It sends my heart reeling,
Like walking on the ceiling…
I’m one in a million.
I’m that ONE
That outshines all the rest;
That ONE
That you consider the best,
As I stick out my chest…
I’m the ONE in a million.
My heart is happy…
Oh….?
I see.
Please forgive me,
I misunderstood.
No, No…it was my mistake.
I thought…but
I’m only one OF a million.
TLH 7/13/2010
Listen to this here:
July 10, 2010 “Soul Windows”
This is a poem from a post a couple of months back…I just wanted to get it read by the Thursday Rally Poets.
Thanks, Tracy H
Soul Windows
These are the windows to my soul…
Sometimes, when I find myself alone
And the glazing is mostly gone…
Broken and shattered over the years.
Torn and tattered through rain and through tears.
The panes are empty places between the edges of a frame
The pains are still there…
In the spaces where faces were framed,
But now they’re just a name.
They blow through the holes in the soul of my life
Like a bristling Zephyr wind whistling in the blackness,
Cutting through me like the cold glint on the edge of a knife.
Weathered and worn by too many seasons and reasons for doubt.
The sash has become just a gash in my soul;
Everything else comes in while Life’s blood rushes out.
TLH
Listen to this here:
July 9, 2010 “Poet’s Song”
“Poet’s Song”
Poet’s muse haunts him
Words come like flowing waters
Pen scratches form lines
Ink pours from fountain
Captive fingers seek their voice
Crying to be heard
Rhyme is for reason
Time is for the telling tune
Hearts for the hearing
Poetry written
Word songs singing his story
Heartbeats on paper
TLH 7/9/10
Listen to this here:
July 6, 2010 “Sunset In My Valley”
July 6, 2010 ‘Sunset In My Valley”
Click photo for slide show
“SUNSET IN MY VALLEY”
I watched the sun set in my valley
That yellow ball sank to a purple sea
Wave upon wave across a purple sea
All those ridges and hills of my valley
Rolling and tumbling across the valley floor
I cast my longing eye across the distant waves
Searching for a launch to sail upon those waves
Yearning for a way to sail above the valley floor
Alas, I did not find one, to chase that flying sun
So I stood a while and pondered this need I have to sail
This ever growing desire to launch my bark and set my sail
And seek that orange horizon and catch that flying sun
But now that purple sea is grown black until tomorrow
I’ll stand a little longer on this mountain shore to dream
Breathing in the evening air knowing it isn’t just a dream
That sun will make his circuit, and I’ll set sail again tomorrow
TLH 7/5/2010
Just Say’n
Listen to this here:
June 18, 2010 “Blood, Sweat, and Tears”
June 18, 2010 “Blood, Sweat, and Tears”
Bugger!
What bugs me?
Bugs!
I know I’m flawed;
I’m working out the bugs, but…
Bugs bug me.
My bugs bug me too.
I’m bugged by all my bugs,
And by all the bugs that are bugging me…
I’m Buggered!
The only Blood spilled was the Sweat bee’s, and no Tears were shed by anyone.
Just Say’n
June 16, 2010 “Clouds”(Nominated for week 23 – The Perfect Poet Award)
June 16, 2010 “Clouds”
Clouds
My heart’s missing lies not earthbound,
Not tangible, nothing of it material
Nor made by hands, or built on ground,
But like a vapor, and ethereal.
It can no longer here contented be
With water, earth, and air
Held alone in prison dark, shackled by gravity
My heart seeks it’s mine, elsewhere…
Elsewhere in the blue, out beyond the sea,
On toward the fleeing sun,
Where angels fly and souls are free…
Life’s tethers are all undone.
Searching for it’s only, never for another,
Free and flying from the dinning crowds.
And in that moment it finds it’s other
Waiting patiently in the clouds.
TLH, 6/16/2010
Just Say’n
June 13, 2010 “BALLS!”
June 13, 2010 “BALLS!”
This one is for my friend…you know who you are.
Is it me, or does it seem that sometimes life just beats the hell out of us? Do you ever just want to shout to the top of your lungs…”I’M AS MAD AS HELL AND I DON’T GIVE A DAMN!”…well, do you? I do. Every now and then I just find myself between a rock and a hard place, mostly of my own doing, and that just adds insult to injury. We all feel it sometimes. Each of us deal with it in a different way, and by that I mean some deal with it and the rest of us ignore it. Yep, I ignore it most of the time; I know, that’s probably the worst thing to do…ignore the ass whipping life is throwing down on you, but, maybe, it will just go away and stop kicking in your teeth. Some have people in their lives, friends or lovers, to help them, and be there for them when the big bully comes around; some don’t. So, those of us who don’t, have to get mad, as mad as hell. Mad enough to stand up and kick life in the balls, and say, “Listen, you weasely, fickle SOB…that’s it! I’m taking control now, by god!”. You heard me right, kick life right in the balls until you back it into a corner, and it starts seeing things your way. I have things in my life that are beyond my control, but believe me, when I see the problem clearly enough, and I see my chance…BAM!!! right in the stones!
Just Say’n
What folks think…