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Twice I Thought I Saw a Flame
Twice I thought I saw a flame
When the shapeless angel came.
Pure and bright she blazed near me;
In her hand she held a key.
“This unlocks your heart’s desire,
Be it water, earth, or fire.
You must choose what works for you,
Then will I your bidding do.”
Long I stood in awe and stared,
While her visage blazed and flared.
How I trembled, how I ached!
My flesh quivered and I quaked!
Then I spoke with fearful voice:
“This I ask, this is my choice:
Like you let me be a flame
Ever wilding, never tame.”
“Done!” she cried. “That I’ll allow!
I’ll set you ablaze right now!
Wear this holy fire in grace!
Every mortal, hide your face!”
Many years have passed since then,
Years beyond all mortal ken;
Still I flare and still I blaze,
And I will for endless days.
Poem © 2019 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Whirling for Good or Ill
~~ 1 ~~
her passport photo
veins bulging in her forehead
from the night before
~~ 2 ~~
ocean on the floor
the toddler’s howl of dismay
as she spills her milk
~~ 3 ~~
tangled old orchard
filling her with fear and dread—
the fruitless plum trees
~~ 4 ~~
a secret language
spoken only by bruised flesh
women understand
~~ 5 ~~
a silver whistle—
the weight of it in my hand
greater than my life
~~ 6 ~~
in the stone circle
waiting to welcome the moon—
the owl calls my name
~~ 7 ~~
empty begging bowl
not a single grain of rice
gracing the bottom
~~ 8 ~~
on a blue table
bouquet of yellow roses
dropping their petals
~~ 9 ~~
ghost of a corn stalk
blasted by hot winds and drought—
this crop of ruin
~~ 10 ~~
smashing a spider
with a granite paperweight—
the terrified child
~~ 11 ~~
names of the war dead
chiseled in a granite wall
stray dog lifts his leg
~~ 12 ~~
old haiku poet
sadness drifting through her words
still she dips her pen
© 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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Lantern
View of a courtyard in Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village, Sedona, Arizona
Red paper lantern—
mistaking it for ripe fruit,
wrens peck at its flesh.
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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Whirling with Alberto
Each vignette begins with a phrase culled from “The Night Would Grow Like a Telescope Pulled Out” by Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto Álvaro Ríos
~~ 1 ~~
hear only the sounds
coming from torture chambers—
souls in deep distress
~~ 2 ~~
brown lips and thin tongues
still strong enough to lust for
things they dare not say
~~ 3 ~~
the words and the smoke—
this mysterious lotion
soothing troubled souls
~~ 4 ~~
a licorice stick
soaked in liquor of longing
to tempt the lonely
~~ 5 ~~
Phrases become birds—
chickens, wrens, owls and eagles—
when she writes poems.
~~ 6 ~~
great-grandmother’s house—
trains from Philadelphia
hurtling through her dreams
~~ 7 ~~
around the elbows
the sagging flesh reminding
her of eighty years
~~ 8 ~~
this night of summer
swaying in the front porch swing
moonbeams tease her hair
~~ 9 ~~
into plates of food
a hypnotizing potion
poured by trembling hands
~~ 10 ~~
going somewhere else
stripping off his uniform—
disgraced general
~~ 11 ~~
Here from somewhere else
I’ve come not by brains or brawn,
but by the Spirit.
~~ 12 ~~
wooden heads laughing—
tonight’s carnival gimmick
luring traffic in
~~ 13 ~~
Of all the engines,
the heart’s glad-sad-bad machine
is the mightiest.
© 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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Taskmasters
Ocotillo thorns, Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Southern Arizona
ocotillo thorns
driven into tender flesh—
cruel taskmasters
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
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Bone
Sun-bleached backbones, Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona
Flesh retreats from bone—
even the raven’s pleading
cannot change the odds.
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Haiku Horizons: “Retreat”
More I Heart Macro at Shine the Divine
More Macro Monday 2
More Haiku Horizons: “Retreat”
More I Heart Macro at Shine the Divine
Beacon
Old Point Loma Lighthouse, Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego, California
old beacon
hailing all strangers ~
mind the land*
three come sailing in at dusk
spirit, mystery, and flesh
*Opening gambit by Wabi Sabi of Wabi Sabi: Poems and Images
Final two lines and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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