I Cry For Her

 
I carry gifts to my dear friend and her sons, from their wayward husband and father. Alha is a friend of my husband first, on meeting Sophia his wife, a beautiful friendship bonded between us, which spans across the seas. Now for almost eight years, her husband lives in New Jersey and she and her three boys in Egypt.
I carry a closed white plastic bag for her from this wayward man, for who she has been waiting these long eight years to return. With care she opens this white bag to find all the pictures of herself. I feel her pain swell within her, yet she closes the bag, and continues to speak, stands tall, and does not allow her tears to invade her eyes. Yet I know they are in her heart. I feel like I have betrayed her – yet I knew not of the contents of this tiny white plastic bag. If I had known, I would have thrown it in his face. How dare he do this to this beautiful and wonderful woman? And to do this by giving it to me is unforgivable.
She stands tall and bids good bye
And I cry for her.
©8/6/1999 Ellenelizabeth Cernek-Kashk

APRIL 22, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (EARTHEN CONNECTION)

For today's prompt, write an Earth poem. You can decide what an Earth poem is. Maybe it's a poem about the planet; maybe it's actually the lowercase earth (a gardening or burial poem?); maybe it's just a poem that happens on (or to) Earth; maybe it's even written in the voice of extraterrestrials (that might be fun). No matter how you decide to roll with it, have a very poetic Earth Day!



Earthen Connection

I take the pitch fork out from hibernation
It has been there, in the dark corner since last spring
Hands garbed in green and white poke-a-dotted gloves
I take the sturdy handle in my right hand
And stab it into the compose of the winter
Turning each fork-fill like pancakes on a griddle
It is an act of cleansing the soil
Worms, bugs slitter and crawl by
From my rude and unannounced calling
Now with the new clean soul, I bend to my knees
In homage, to remove any stones I have shuttled to the top
Rhythmically I make straight rows
With my hands reaching deep into the soil
Tenderly, I arrange all the vegetables in order
Placing their new born roots into the holes
Covering them with care and love of the newly cultivated soil
I wipe my brow and smudge dirt across it
My knees have been blackened with my hours of work
I am exhausted
I turn on the hose
Cool the top of my head
And sun burnt back
Turn slowly and spray my new veggie garden
The pleasure of self grown veggies, or a fresh rose,
Iris, daffodil, chamomile, mint or sage beyond my door
Allows me, my private earthen connection.

APRIL 21, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (ACCORDING TO)

For today's prompt, take the phrase "According to (blank)," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. Example titles might be: "According to Bob," "According to these instructions," "According to the government," "According to the sun," etc.

April 21, 2010


According To:

According to the Gremlins
Hanging off my earlobes
I cannot get it posted today

According to the Mother
It is proclaimed that I am always wrong
According to the doctors
Mom needs a feeding tube
According to mom’s appetite
At the nursing home she was not being fed
According to me (being wrong)
The nurses were just lazy
According to her weight gain
I must be doing something right

According to Medicaid
Mom should not have gifted her monies
According to the system
She should get it all back
According to economical times
The money is long since spent to survive
According to Medicaid
Mom is denied services, just sent home to die

According to the children
They complained that I was an absentee mother
According to the shrinks of County Child Services
The boys were never touched
According to my Québec weekend vacation
Years later, one child did confess
According to the years of bad behavior
Their uncle got 10 years

According to my dentist
Soon I’ll have no teeth
According to x boyfriends
I have bad wiring in my head
According to the shrinks
I am working with half my brain
According to my doctors
I need to lose lots a weight
According to my mirror
I am still 112lbs, but
According to my scale
It just pops and screams
According to the coroner
He could pronounce me dead

According to my Pop
I was his Pocahontas, a graceful, barefooted, free spirit
According to my old man
I must be part redneck, with bare and dirty feet
He does not see the Pocahontas in me

According to my Presa Canario (135lbs dog)
I take up too much of my own bed
According to my lover
I am insatiable in between the sheets

According to some of my actions
I’m sure to burn in Hell
According to some others
I’ve guaranteed a right hand seat next to God
According to my life
Maybe Purgatory will just do.

According to the self
It is ordained that I am always right.
According to my life’s story
It sounds like I’ve been in therapy for years
According to my sanity
Writing is all that saved me.

APRIL 20, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (TO REMEMBER / SHOULD I GET IN)

2010-4-20

To Remember

For a all the lost dream's
For all the begotten's
Could be's
Should be's
Would be's
And what if's
Are always within the wind's
Echo of the past
The begotten's
Never to be forgotten
Always to be remembered
For all the lost dream's
For all the begotten's
Could be's
Should be's
Would be's
And what if's
Of life
Is only for you to remember

___________________________________


Should I Get In?


If you stopped
And I got in
Could we travel?
Never to look
Back again?
To leave this
Life, which we
Have now been
Stuck in?
Could you close
This chapter?
To begin another?
Leave and not
Ever look back?
Never say it
Was I who
Took you away!
From the familiar
Comfort zone
We built together!
Would you love
Me, as I do you?
Is now, never
To be true?
If you stopped
Should I get in?

APRIL 20, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (WATCHWOMAN)

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides

Today is a two for Tuesday prompt. Here are the two options:


Write a looking back poem. There are a few ways to tackle this one, I guess. The narrator could be reflecting on the past or literally looking back (like over his or her shoulder).

Write a poem that doesn't look back. This poem would be kind of the opposite, I suppose. Narrator who refuses to look back or who is literally looking forward (or I suppose another option even is that the narrator is blind or something).

Of course, if anyone has an interpretation that falls outside of my suggestions, then feel free to run with them. I always encourage poets to bend the prompts to their will.





Watchwoman

I have sat upon
Kaatskill Falls
For a millennium

My arms searching
Reaching skywards
My roots spreading

I have become gazer
Standing testament
Of long times spent

I have witnessed
The inhales and exhales
Of countless days

I have witnessed
Mankind’s brilliance
In fortitude and defeat

I am the original
Birch Tree who
Extends her reach

I am now a grove
Of Birch Trees
Canopying the falls

I am the Sentry
Watchwoman of Earth
Anticipating my rebirth

In the quiets of
A winter storm
You may hear me

“I open to the North,
I open to the East,
I open to the South,
I open to the West,
Elements complete my circle.”

I stand and wait
Bare and naked
In winter’s storms

For the coming
For my resurrection
For mankind to understand

Peace.

APRIL 19, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (JOHN'S UNAWARE)

2010 APRIL 19

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For today's prompt, write a poem about somebody and be sure to include the person's name in the title of your poem (no reason to hide the person's identity here). Write a poem about Abraham Lincoln, Emily Dickinson, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, your next door neighbor, your child, or the person standing behind you. I guess you could even technically write a poem about yourself (just make sure you include your name in the title).

John's Unaware


I lay very still as the
Illumination of the digital clock
Swallows another minute.
I hear his breath
Begin to rumble and roar
Into that old familiar snore.
I touch the tip of his nose
Feather-like and he stirs
And again the snoring is broken
For only a short time
As I lay next to him
He knows not of my sleepless nights
I dare not move
For fear I would awaken him
He knows not of the anxiety attack
That has gripped my soul
He just snores.

APRIL 18, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (TO BE ATTACHED)

2010-04-18
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For today's prompt, take the phrase "To (blank)," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. Some examples: "To the left, to the left," "To write or not to write," "To Kill a Hummingbird," "To the Doghouse," etc. There are so many possibilities.


To Be Attached
God has given
All
A rainbow of colors
To draw upon
It is our choice
On what side of the spectrum
We utilize.
To combine,
And color
The world around us
Producing one’s aura
To be attached
To God’s brilliant light.

APRIL 17, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (HORROR, THE LAST CITY DEADLINE FOR A SCIENTIFIC MIND) (10,11,12,15,17 COMBINED)

2010-04-17
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For today's prompt, write a science poem. Science encompasses a lot, so your poem doesn't have to be scientific to still be a science poem. For instance, you could have a poem titled something like "The Science of Love," and then examine a relationship. Voila! A science poem! Of course, it'll be interesting to see how many poets talk about volcanoes and single cell organisms, not to mention finding out how many "mad scientists" are out there.

Something I'm working on

Day 10 Horror Day 11 the last blank Day 12 city Day 15 deadline poem Day 17 science

HORROR, THE LAST CITY DEADLINE FOR A SCIENTIFIC MIND

The Scientific Mind Asks?
I'm empty, but filled with these words like

Where does your mind start and your soul begin?
Music and lyrics
Crosses our souls
Reaches through time and space
To that moment.
Then we laugh, cry, or just smile
For the Moment Captured!

Do the memories of the self, produce a life?
Our fingerprints won't fade on the lives' we have touched
As she passes the waiter he spins around,
She gently stops him with her palm against his chest,
He grabbed her hand, asking
"Do you care to dance?"
She replied "only the tango, on a full moon lit night"
She smiles, he grins the moment is fades.
“Color My World” Cousin Lauren playing her flute,
Eyes closed, I am there again.

Why would it turn out to have Horror woven within it?
Many Prayers
Say as many prayers as you want,
But at 86 she's almost shinning the gates with her breath
As She sits in a medical bed in middle of my dining room

Is the home where the physical body lives?
I have landed on the island of the misfit toys.
Or the last city you lived in?

Why across the street I had a dream, and my dreams are always across the street?
Like the strobe of the cursor, lulling you to sleep past your deadline
Always seeing the same time each night 4:23AM
Or the river of life catapulting (ME /YOU)
Onto the rocky estuary before the entrance of the sea of eternity.

Is a deadline where we expire?
It appears we have a problem of some magnitude
Our dead are demanding

Will we travel faster without armor?
Yes because I have immortalized you in words
Which are memorized and taught to dissolve once they hit my tongue?
I have been told I am logorrhea, Chatty Kathy that’s me

APRIL 16, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (NOT FOGOTTEN BY GOD) (2ND RESPONSE)

2010-04-16
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Not Forgotten By God

As the sun peeks through the canopy,
A tear drop of sunlight stains the earth....
On the century old and neglected Palisade Interstate Park Cemetery
Proving they are not forgotten by God

APRIL 16, 2010 POEM A DAY (RABBITS AND DEATH)

2010-04-16
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Maybe it's a little too close to tax day, but today's prompt is to write a death poem. You can write about a specific death or consider death as an idea. In the tradition of Emily Dickinson (and other poets), you could even address Death as an entity. Or you can surprise us with a different spin on the subject.

Rabbits & Death

I came across an emerald green field
And happened to fall into a hole
Where Alice's rabbit bit my ass
So I had to chase him through
This illuminating tunnel
Where the one eyed Jack,
Kissed the black Ace of Spades
And caused the sentence of disgrace
The court was held in that same field
Where I had fallen
In love with a Black Ace
And found myself sentenced
To a living death.

APRIL 14, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (BACK WASH ISLAND)

2010-04-14

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For today's prompt, take the phrase "(blank) Island," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. You could do a well-known island, such as "Treasure Island," "Ellis Island," or "Total Drama Island." Or you could make up the name of an island. Or you could even have a long drawn out title, such as "You'll never get me on an island" or "If I were on a deserted island."

Back Wash Island

The backwash of the Atlantic waves
Washes over my size ten foot
Hunched over, gazing upon
The gifts the wave carries in.
I walk along the beach
In silent contemplation
Collecting the treasures
And ocean’s discards.
Peace and tranquility are the sounds
Cooing and caressing the shore.
The ocean’s natural gifts given freely,
As the back wash of the Atlantic waves
Washes over my size ten foot
As it silently cleanses my soul.

APRIL 13, 2010 POEM A DAY (HARBOR OF LOVE & LONELY SONG SUNG) "TWO FOR TUESDAY"

NOTE DAY 10 11 12 15 IS ON DAY 17

2010-04-13

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Two for Tuesday time!
Here are today's two prompts:
1. Write a love poem.
2. Write an anti-love poem.

Harbor of Love

I leave the black wrought iron gate ajar
My signal to you, if you ride by
To bring the sweetness of your love
Into the warmth of my awaiting heart
In the silence of early morn,
You come to me
Bring raw passion,
The longing desire
The fire in lust
Of our eternal love
We embrace, as if years
Have passed since our last encounter
Yet it may be only hours last we touched
Our lovemaking begins slowly, gently
Each counter acting the other's motions
Our animal needs enhancing and intensifying
As our motions quicken
Clawing and biting each other, with unquenchable desires
We collide and expel against one another
You cause me to forget to breathe
As I drown in our love
You spread my arms cross like
Pinning me down, as your rhythm is a constant flow
Making the world stop
We roll, you hold my breasts, then glide to my hips
Always keeping our movements synchronized,
Exactly hitting my internal itch
You pull at my hair as I reach one of many climaxes
Moving together with groans, heavy breathing and sweet sweat
We conclude in a furry of our shared climax
And tumble against the bed
Intertwined, satisfied, content
We dose off within the harbor of each other's arms
Knowing the outside world cannot touch us.

2010-04-13

Lonely Song, Sung

There is a lonely song
Written from deep within my soul
Where love ceases to exist
And sorrow is my only friend
Yet within this lonely song
I sing…
Of a perfect love
One to take the sorrow away
Yet as this love replaced my sorrow
It gave instead such fear
Only I am not singing of the future
I know it is only my past
Of a love for a man
Who must take control
Through fear and pain…
The love which I sing
Is now and forever lost
Which brought nothing
More than an induced nightmare
I sing my song
Of a sorrow which I befriend
So many years before
Now the love I thought is shown
Is another of fear and pain…?
Is this song of sorrow for myself,
Wanting always to be love?
Or is it the cruel world,
I am forced to live in?
All I can do is sing of sorrow,
Of a love I will not find
For each love I believe in
Only causes fear and pain.

APRIL 8, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (SLANG SLUNG)

2010-04-08
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For today's prompt, pick a tool, make that the title of your poem, and write your poem. There are the more obvious tools, of course: hammer, screwdriver, wrench, etc. But there also less obvious tools and/or specialized tools available as well. Before attacking this poem, you may want to just think about the various possibilities first. Or just write.

Slang Slung

Words, the tools of the trade!
What if bad was good
And good was bad
Could I be a bad little girl?
Wanting a good little boy
Play with all the bad toys?

So if good is bad
And bad is good,
Who’s to know?
When we put
On our show
Where good will go
And Bad just stays?

What if bad became gooder?
And good became badder
Like the slang that some sling
Listening to a Bad Girl
And watching a good boy?

Let’s not say bad
Cause it’s badly
Let’s not say good
Cause it’s well
Let’s find the definitions!
To interpret
The slang that some sling.

APRIL 7, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (UNTIL PASSING)

2010-04-07

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For today's prompt, take the phrase "Until (blank)," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and write the poem. Possibilities include: "Until we meet again," "Until tomorrow," "Until monkeys fly out my butt," or even "Until blank" (why not?). Until we meet again, have a great Wednesday!

Until Passing

White splattered clouds grace the sky
An umbrella tumbles in the wind

Casting shadows big and small
Over grass once lush and verdant

Tickling the un-sunned shin, hidden
Beneath layers of the petticoat’s weight

For a cacophony of white satin rustle
The wind echoes it’s autumn call

Touching the remembrance of summer
As middle age and childhood crisscross

So do the midday clouds in the vast blue
Like frosted lace ribbons declaring nature

Where once young and precious sprouts
Now turning gold and amber upcoming winter

In the distance, brown eyes await the passing
Until my green eyes will close.

APRIL 6, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (WITCHES AND POCAHONTAS) "TWO FOR TUESDAY"

2010-04-06

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Today is the first Tuesday of April, which means it is also the first "Two for Tuesday" prompt of the month. Poets can choose to write one of the prompts, or they can write both. Personally, I usually just choose one.

For this prompt, write an ekphrastic poem. According to John Drury's The Poetry Dictionary, ekphrastic poetry is "Poetry that imitates, describes, critiques, dramatizes, reflects upon, or otherwise responds to a work of nonliterary art, especially the visual." So, I've provided links to two pieces of art, and I want you to pick one (or both) to write an ekphrastic poem. (It would be helpful for you to mention which art you picked.)

1.) Pocahontas, by Annie Leibovitz

2.) Flight of the Witches, by Francisco de Goya



Witches and Pocahontas

I had a dream last night
My sister witches
Levitated above my head
With mother, gone and forgotten
As they ascended
They throw magical dust
Covering me like a blanket
Keeping me safe.
It is not your time yet
There is much to do.

No Sisters are they really
I am no witch.

I am the last female wizard,
Of your magic
Not the same.
But thank you
Your well weaved spells
To send me on ahead.

My spirit is the wind
That caresses Pocahontas raven hair
My touch is being
Barefooted, and as graceful as a doe.
My love is a ship in a harbor
Always safe and warm.
My life is the forest
Tall Green and alive.
Look around
To find all of me.

APRIL 4, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (HISTORY TEACHER) (2ND RESPONSE)

2010-04-04

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For today's prompt, write a history poem. This could mean a poem about your country's history, the history of an event or a tool, or even your own personal history. Hey, you could even write about the history of a relationship. The history of everything is fair game. Have fun!

HISTORY TEACHER

I had history teaches
To drool for:

I had a 60 peace throw back
Wishing him a witch’s spell.

I had a pre- yuppies, Hippie
conscience on the Earth, not her children.

I had a 70’s Rocker
Teaching history with examples of the Beatles.

I had a tight-wade
With a Punctuality complex

I had a jean wearing, open,
White, buttoned down shirt

I had a blue eyed muscle man
Who sat crossed leg on the

History teacher’s desk!
Ahhhh History!

To be again,
Knowing then

What I have learned until now.