Category Archives: Poets United
A Voice

Sunset in the Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona.
She lifted her voice against the sun,
Cursing because Good Friday was done.
The coming of night would make her feel blue,
For none of her dreams would ever come true.
She pillowed her head and turned off the light,
Preparing to face the terrors of night;
But then came a voice, a voice not her own,
Whispering things from the past she had known:
You are the daughter of wisdom and light,
The child of mercy and goodness and right.
Be not afraid of the terrors ahead.
Lie down and sleep, child, for safe is your bed.
Over her heart washed a wave of relief,
The voice in the night assuaging her grief.
HAIKU:
Good Friday evening—
singing dark songs, Sister Death
slips into my room.
Poems and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
Stories

An earthenware jar sits on a stone ledge in Zapopan, Mexico.
Thieving October,
how did you miss the stories
in the old clay pot?
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Weekly Scribblings #90 at Poets and Storytellers United
Fly

Mountains dominate portions of the Sonoran Desert in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Fly on the mountain,
even from such a distance,
you disturb my peace!
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Evening

Shadows lengthen at day’s end, Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona.
Wilderness evening—
the breath of a dying dove
settles in the dust.
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Writers’ Pantry #5 at Poets and Storytellers United
Weird Couplets for Ending the Year
Reasonable weather will come, and it will go.
Why weather does the things it does, who can ever know?
What’s the point of running when running’s such a pain?
By running from your problems, what do you hope to gain?
A newborn calf and camel are nuzzling the same cow.
Despite its humpy little back the desert beast knows how.
A legion of angels, if I should insist,
Will stay by my side until they’re dismissed.
I have no interest, darling, in dragging out this year.
It’s almost gone—good riddance! Do I make that clear?
Poem © 2019 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #245
More Pantry of Poetry and Prose #9 at Poets United
More Sunday’s Whirligig #245
More Pantry of Poetry and Prose #9 at Poets United
Three Poems for the Old Year
Eat some beef and throw a stone,
Carry hay and gnaw a bone;
Something good will soon appear—
This year’s almost up, my dear!
Pipers pipe and dancers dance,
Horses horse and prancers prance;
Sensors sense that all is clear
For the ending of the year.
Wrapped in paper pears turn ripe;
Whiskey’s in the water pipe,
Running cold and fast and free—
Will you toast the year with me?
Poems © 2019 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “The Year’s End”
Bleak Is the Stable
Bleak is the stable and frosty the hay;
The old shepherd’s moaning, “Please go away!
Give me some quiet, for that would be bliss;
Messes annoy me—just look at all this!
Some other farmhand should milk the brown cow,
While I feed the lambs, the calves, and the sow.
Yes, I know my part, I know it right well:
Work is my worship, despite the rank smell.”
Poem © 2019 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #244
More Pantry of Poetry and Prose #8 at Poets United
More Sunday’s Whirligig #244
More Pantry of Poetry and Prose #8 at Poets United
Moment

A tree with no leaves stands at the edge of Willow Lake, Prescott, Arizona.
At any moment
a dove may settle to rest
in the leafless tree.
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Moment”
Wine into Water
Water heals her wound
the evidence comes
as a scar blossoms in her flesh
like smoke rising
from burning leaves
it has been a long struggle
sometimes she dreams
of lying in her casket
when this nightmare is over
but for now her thoughts are clearing
maybe Jesus is turning her wine
into water
Poem © 2019 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #243
More Pantry of Poetry and Prose #7 at Poets United
More Sunday’s Whirligig #243
More Pantry of Poetry and Prose #7 at Poets United
Changes

On a wintry day in the Sonoran Desert, storm clouds form in the east.
Winter afternoon—
one dove falling from the clouds
changes everything.
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Changes”