Category Archives: Counted verse
With You
Hogar de Niños, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Here I am with you,
sharing this special moment—
we are not strangers.
Text and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Blue Monday
More Carpe Diem: “Strangers”
More Postcards from Paradise at Recuerda Mi Corazon
sharing this special moment—
we are not strangers.
Text and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Blue Monday
More Carpe Diem: “Strangers”
More Postcards from Paradise at Recuerda Mi Corazon
The Dancers
The dancers allege
that nothing can take the place
of an all-night whirl.
~~ ~~ ~~
The dancers conceal
their true purpose in whirling
from midnight to sunrise.
~~ ~~ ~~
The dancers propose
a toast to the old fiddler,
who keeps them whirling.
© 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetic Bloomings: “Invitation to the Dance”
More Three Word Wednesday: “Allege, Conceal, Propose”
Prayer
Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, Yuma, Arizona
From all crooked ways
that would lure me from the light,
keep my stumbling feet.
Text and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Ruby Tuesday Too
More September Heights 2013: “Crooked”
More Mornings with Mary at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Disjointed Bits and Pieces
The first line of each bit or piece comes from “Poem for Christian, My Student,” by Gail Mazur.
~~ 1 ~~
Tiny persimmon,
you come to me unbidden,
soft and ripe and sweet.
~~ 2 ~~
If he wakes at all,
there may be no one waiting,
save for weary ghosts.
~~ 3 ~~
His second language
was learned from a swarm of gnats
that tormented him.
~~ 4 ~~
An elderly friend
has come with me to worship—
we spill out our songs.
~~ 5 ~~
Of my early years
I recall only patches
of darkness and light.
~~ 6 ~~
desperate slumber
here on this exact hillside
thirty years ago
~~ 7 ~~
in a life on hold—
sharp and dangerous edges
for the unaware
~~ 8 ~~
Research in the stacks—
where will we find old Tagore
and his brilliant tales?
~~ 9 ~~
volumes of Tagore
gathered from the dusty stacks
tales of light and grace
© 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 128
The Old Woman
On Sunday morning
the old woman eats apples
and toast for breakfast.
In church on Sunday
the old woman hears stories
that disturb her peace.
Sunday afternoon,
guided by seven spirits,
she begins her search.
In a pile of claws
the old woman looks for clues
to the weird stories.
She fondles the claws,
and three of them speak to her
in wise, not rash, words.
“After this Sunday,
you will become an exile,”
the threesome tell her.
“With stone for pillow
and swirling stars for cradle,
you will be content.”
Peering past Sunday,
the old woman smiles to see
the secret revealed.
© 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday Scribblings: “Bio”
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 127
More September Heights 2013: “Sunday”
Chatter
Once upon a time,
things were much better than now,
old women chatter.
© 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More September Heights 2013: “Myth”
Praying Place
Mission San Antonio de Pala, Pala, California
At the praying place,
because of my yammering,
Mary prays harder.
Text and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More I Heart Macro at Shine the Divine
More Mornings with Mary at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Night Class in German
The first line of each 5-7-5 stanza is taken from “Teaching English from an Old Composition Book” by Gary Soto.
Stand at the blackboard,
charting a vision with chalk
for ravenous minds.
The class is alive,
a violet rebozo
draping one student.
To prepositions
ravenous minds give short shrift—
gallop to the verbs!
Two students applaud
as I slather the blackboard
with verb upon verb.
Monday night the verbs
are vacuous, not vibrant—
damn those declensions!
Composition book—
scribble sassy paragraphs
after you get home.
They head for the door—
only the single mother
has mastered knicken.
Smarter by one word,
this vivacious young woman
will translate Rilke.
The Guatemalan,
manipulative tonight,
refuses to learn.
© 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 126
Chrysanthemums
IOOF Cemetery, Prescott, Arizona
Sweet remembering—
golden chrysanthemums say,
Forever, my love.
Text and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Carpe Diem: “Chrysanthemums”
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
golden chrysanthemums say,
Forever, my love.
Text and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Carpe Diem: “Chrysanthemums”
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
So Many Stories
So many stories—
who dares to anticipate
which one will come next?
~~ ~~ ~~
So many stories—
some told by fearless prophets
in the wilderness.
~~ ~~ ~~
So many stories—
toss away the serene ones
and hold fast the fierce.
© 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Three Word Wednesday: “Anticipate, Fearless, Serene”
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