Blog Archives
Four Aphorisms for a Time of Plague
1
Unforeseen disasters wait
Just outside the garden gate
2
Pity those who lose their smiles
On the heartless COVID miles.
3
Comfort for tormented eyes
Is what doctors all advise.
4
If you let your lungs get wet,
You may drown in deep regret.
Rhyming couplets © 2020 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More The Whirligig #277
More Writers’ Pantry #31 at Poets and Storytellers United
The Sun’s in My Eyes
The sun’s in my eyes, I fear I’ll go blind.
There’s ice in the attic, and I’m of a mind
To look for a world that’s calmer than calm,
Where even the view from the bathroom is balm;
No astral projections, no blood on the floor,
Sweet music is all that I’m looking for.
How fluid is life, how fleeting, yet sweet!
Now that I’m done with this rhyming, I’m beat!
Poem © 2018 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #188
More Poetry Pantry #429 at Poets United
Five Little Sillies
Can you be happy in your distress
Or will you just suffer and be a mess?
~~ ~~ ~~
Bitterness! Now, there’s a thought,
Something that I think I ought
Never, ever to embrace—
Let me look into your face.
~~ ~~ ~~
It’s better, I think, to shift your eyes
Away from the things that spell your demise
And focus instead on the good and true.
Well, that’s what I think. Now, how about you?
~~ ~~ ~~
Walking through the fog alone,
Gnawing on a raven’s bone
Makes me want to shout, not sing:
Wish I had the raven’s wing!
~~ ~~ ~~
I’m emboldened to do deeds
That will take me far from Leeds;
Never mind my indigence,
I will make my way to France.
Poems © 2018 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #171
More Poetry Pantry #412 at Poets United
Tricks
Wild asters, Apache County, Arizona
autumn afternoon—
the tricks my eyes play on me
in the aster field
Haiku © 2016 and photo © 2011 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Blue Monday
More Our World Tuesday
More Haiku Horizons: “Trick”
Stone
Someone left a stone at Roxaboxen Park, Yuma, Arizona. (Read why people leave stones at Roxaboxen.)
Left for passersby to see,
This wee stone delighted me.
When I saw its shade of blue,
I thought right away of you
And the way the summer skies
Show themselves in your bright eyes.
Poem and photo © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Blue Monday
More Macro Monday 2
Pierced
Pine tree, Japanese Friendship Garden, Phoenix, Arizona
hidden from all eyes
one snowflake pierced by needles
of the ancient pine
~~ ~~ ~~
Imagine snow nestling among the needles.
Text and photo © 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Six-Word Saturday
More Shadow Shot Sunday 2
More Carpe Diem: “First Snow”
Christmas with Ted
Each tiny poem begins with a phrase taken from “Christmas Mail” by Ted Kooser.
~~ 1 ~~
the plaintive bleating
of a thousand frightened sheep
after shepherds flee
~~ 2 ~~
into the distance
always following the star—
resolute Magi
~~ 3 ~~
Wise men, the donkeys
with their sure feet and keen eyes
will guide your camels.
~~ 4 ~~
clopping of camels
how they perform their slow dance
for the manger child
~~ 5 ~~
Who chews and muses
after the right choice of hay?
Mary, do you know?
~~ 6 ~~
shuffle of sandals—
small talk before the manger,
the mother, and child
~~ 7 ~~
deep in the shadows
trembling at the presence
unwashed shepherds sweat
~~ 8 ~~
cup white as a star
no snag in the smooth surface—
she sips her latte
~~ 9 ~~
her Styrofoam cup—
as long as she clutches it,
no need to panic
~~ 10 ~~
perched on the dashboard
to help drivers in distress—
good St. Anthony
~~ 11 ~~
hint of hazelnut
in her vanilla latte—
hoping for a high
~~ 12 ~~
then a touch of myrrh
to burn the tip of her tongue
with mortality
© 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #232
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 192
Steeple
Mission San Xavier del Bac in the Sonoran Desert, Tucson, Arizona
from Vladivostok
to the Sonoran Desert
steeple by steeple
pilgrims following pathways
only eyes of faith can see
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Carpe Diem: “Vladivostok”
Tiny Tales
~~ 1 ~~
twenty months of drought
the fortitude of pine trees
blackbird’s plaintive song
~~ 2 ~~
At the nursing home
the moody night shift nurses
wait for the next death.
~~ 3 ~~
a broken platter—
crickets jumping at the chance
for dabs of jelly
~~ 4 ~~
on gossamer wings
mist stealing through the forest—
fragile little bird
~~ 5 ~~
Though your life is brief,
you may take a stone in hand
while you are weeping.
~~ 6 ~~
the simple brilliance
of this singular moment—
blue iris blooming
~~ 7 ~~
Spontaneity—
from the dust of wilderness
healing pools arise.
~~ 8 ~~
inevitable—
the birds that followed Jesus
pecking at my eyes
~~ 9 ~~
birth pangs at midnight
the poem in my belly
kicking to be free
~~ 10 ~~
in a barren land
no pattering of raindrops—
plethora of light
~~ 11 ~~
difficult to see
on the dark and stormy way—
stories no one tells
~~ 12 ~~
first evening shadows
creeping into dead men’s shoes—
blackbird turns to ash
© 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #200
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 159
Farewell
Unicorn Plant fruit (Proboscidea althaeifolia), Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona
fog over empty pond
in wingspans of migratory geese
farewell to summer*
far from prying ears and eyes
the unicorn fruit ripens
*Opening gambit by Ese’s Voice
Final two lines © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Rednesday Wednesday
More I Heart Macro at Shine the Divine
More Postcards from Paradise at Recuerda Mi Corazon
More Carpe Diem Tan Renga: “Fog Over Empty Pond”
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