silver lining – Serendippity

the Plains way

“I am safe in calling this a single herd,
but it is impossible to approximate the
millions that composed it. It took me
six days on horseback to ride through it.”
	—George Anderson in an 1871 letter

Over the sod,
They trod, they trod.
Over the sod, they trod.

Huge buffalo herds
By the hundreds of thousands,
Over the sod, they trod.

Vast buffalo herds
Of a million or more,
Over the sod, they trod.

Hard buffalo hooves—
How many millions?—
Wearing away the sod.

Hard buffalo hooves
Wearing a way
Over the sod they trod.

^{Poem title from chapter 29 of poemcrazy by Susan G. Wooldridge.}

To see a buffalo herd like that–how amazing would that be? And now for the last of my poems for Monty Vern’s Silver Lining June collaboration, in which the last words of each line are the key words, in order, of the given quote. Peace to our ♥s!

[“The day is done, and the darkness / Falls from the wings of Night, / As a feather is wafted downward / From an eagle in his flight“ from “The Day is Done” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]

Something New Under the Sun

~after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Again a demoralizing day:
Dearheart, will you never be done
Fraternizing with darkness,
Letting stumbles lapse into falls,
“Forgetting” you have wings—
A goose in the noose of Night?

Dearheart, dust off your feathers!
The next time temptation wafts
Your way, enticing you downward,
Soar up swiftly, like the eagle.
Again and again—take flight!

our real names

If I could open the window 
   and find you stirring the sky 
   till it looks like a collage,
If you could bring me magic 
   that I might dress myself with rain,
If we could listen to our shadows 
   on a night picnic, both of us 
   most mad and moonly,
If we could allow ourselves 
   to be visited by words, joywriting 
   with controlled abandon,
In poem sound and song we would 
   discover our real names.

^{Poem title from chapter 10 of poemcrazy by Susan G. Wooldridge.}

The poem above is made up of chapter titles from Susan Wooldridge’s poemcrazy book. Below is my second response to Monty Vern’s Silver Lining June collaboration, in which the last words in each line are the key words, in order, of the given quote. Peace to our ♥s!

[“It is in the smell of an avocado blossom, and in the true passion of a kiss” from “The Unnamable River” by Arthur Sze]

The Senselessness of Long Covid

~after Arthur Sze

Now you must accentuate sight, having lost smell.
Though slices of tomato, yellow pepper and avocado
Masquerade on a blue plate as a festive blossom,
Artistry is a pretty poor substitute for taste, it’s true.
No wonder you consider them with little passion,
Even a slight revulsion, like an elderly uncle’s kiss.

[A very sparing young poet named Nick]

A very sparing young poet named Nick,
Having mastered the compact limerick,
Yearned for verse
Even more terse,
So he strove to compose a slimerick.

Nick was not only sparing, but picky,
Which made the slimerick extra tricky.
Nothing he tried
Satisfied—
They were all, in a word, slimericky.

I’m also posting my first response to Monty Vern’s Silver Lining June collaboration. In a silver lining poem (Monty’s invention), the last words of each line in the poem are the key words, in order, of another line of poetry, with appropriate credit given to the original poet. The borrowing poet can forget those pesky little words like a, the, and of and can write about an entirely different subject. Thank you, Monty, for the opportunity to participate! Peace to our ♥s!

[“A molten gold flows away from the sun” from “Evening Sea Wind” by Carl Sandburg]

Self-Sabotage

~after Carl Sandburg

Once the heart becomes molten,
Carefully cup the blistering gold
In your hands and gloat as it flows
Through your fingers. Then put the blowtorch away.
Tomorrow, stare at the sun.