Making Bread in the Library

lindastudley4 Comments

I – The Reanimation
Sleepy little granules of yeast
in a warm sweet bath.
Shelly’s mad scientist fanning
the spark of life.

II – The Integration
A little fat, a little salt
become one with a big bowlful of flour.
Lean Lawrence crosses
the Arabian sands.

III – The Inundation
Water, water with the yeast in it,
Flooding the dusty, floury world.
No ark here
all are drowned.

IV – The Agitation
Stir it stiffly.
Knead it rhythmically.
Willie’s witches stir
a bubbling cauldron.

V – The Trepidation
Will it rise?
Will it come again?
Watch for the Whale
Thar she blows.

VI – The Retardation
Knock it down
Start over.
Like Tom Joad
Just trying to get along.

VII – The Formation
Shape and mold
into a pleasing form.
Kim shapes the world
and the world shapes him.

VIII – The Rejuvenation
Tenacious leavening
bubbles expand within.
Once more into the breach,
Willie once again, and why not?

IX – The Transformation
Into the oven,
Hot air wafts to meet you
Like the faint hot breeze
before Atlanta burned.

X – The Coronation
King of the dinner table
crowned with a light brush of butter.
Pull the sword from the stone
and cut a slice of life.

 

#149

Butterflies and Corpses

lindastudley2 Comments

I used to love butterflies
till I found out they’re attracted to corpses.
I used to love sunsets
till I found out radiation can blind you.
And I used to love stars that twinkle, then I read
that apparently most of them are already dead
I’m not sure if there’s a dark side to a rainbow
but I used to love them too.

It’s a dangerous pastime and a foolish act,
loving things you know can’t love you back
and now that I understand what they really are
I’ll just like butterflies, sunsets, rainbows and stars,
but I’ll go on loving you.

 

#148

Flying

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Between nest and ground
is where all birds learn to fly
by just letting go.

And in the free fall
all weight and fear drop away
and lose their power.

I will close my eyes,
spread my arms, and fly away
if you will come too.

And we will look down
on the fallen fear and weight
so far below us.

We will watch them shrink
as we wheel and soar higher,
like fledgling eagles

and we’ll wonder why
it took so long to let go
of the nest and fly.

 

#147

Late Snow

lindastudley2 Comments

Late snow should be more apologetic,
tentative, shamefaced,
a thin melting gauze
not a pushy, overbearing blanket.

Late snow should fall and be done,
spotty, wistful,
a drift of confetti
not a gloating pall.

Late snow should be warmer
clear, drippy,
a simple rain shower
not a frozen flash from the past.

 

#146

‘yes, I looked out the window this morning to a white world, sigh’

Plain and Simple Truth

lindastudley1 Comment

The plain and simple truth is truth is rarely plain or simple
No matter how much irony’s applied there’s still a wrinkle,
or two or three you trip on
that make you lose your grip on
reality and stumble
into the roaring jumble
of all the skewed parameters we use to make truth fit
and the ones that we forget or quite advertently omit.

 

#145

Other Jungles

lindastudley3 Comments

Traffic roars in the dawn.
Vertical blinds rattle like bamboo in the breeze.
I arm myself with keys and cell phone for my trek to the office.
Later I stalk grocery aisles
with my trusty bank card and list by my side.
Successful, I haul home the spoils,
this evening we will feast upon fat free cottage cheese
and whole grain bread.
Darkness descends and we sit
in the flickering light of the 50 inch TV
and dream of other jungles.
The traffic growls us to sleep.

 

#144

The Pout

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I’m tired and I don’t want to play anymore.
I’m gathering my toys and going home.
I’ll hide in my room for a year and a half
or til the world outside leaves me alone.

Bring advil and you can come in for a while.
Bring tea with you and I will let you stay.
Never mind, you can come in – just ‘cause you’re you
and help me pout my gloomy day away.

#143

Got my grump on this morning, sigh.

The Bottom of the Waterfall

lindastudley2 Comments

Time never backs up
but sometimes, if we’re lucky,
it slows down a bit
in back eddies and calm pools
where reflections can be seen.

But gaze too deeply
or cling to protruding roots
and currents of time
will wrench your fingers free and
toss you in the stream again.

Swim, damn you, just swim.
Don’t look over your shoulder.
It isn’t a race.
If you swim you have a chance
to chart your own course through time.

Time is the river.
You can swim or you can sink.
Hold your nose and dive
and discover hidden depths
or drift and enjoy the view.

If one day we meet
and the stream carries you past
I will laugh and shout
“I’ll meet you at the bottom
of the waterfall, my friend.”

 

#142

Roughly a multi versed ‘Tanka’ – each verse consisting of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables.

Mumphabet

lindastudley3 Comments

A: Always look both ways before crossing the road.
B: Brush your teeth three times a day.
C: Cross your eyes again and they’ll freeze that way!
D: Don’t talk with your mouth full
E: Eat with your mouth closed.
F: Feed your pets.
G: Give me one good reason not to ground you for life!
H: How do you expect to grow big and strong if you don’t eat your vegetables?
I: I never had one of those when I was your age
J: Just wait till your father comes home.
K: Keep a civil tongue in your head.
L: Little pigs have big ears.
M: Money doesn’t grow on trees.
N: No one ever died from cleaning their room.
O: One more peep out of you and (insert appropriate threat here)
P: Put on clean underwear before you go out in case you get hit by a car and have to go to the hospital.
Q: QUIETLY!
R: Really? You actually think I’m going to believe that?
S: Should have gone before we left.
T: Try it.
U: Unless your homework is done you’re not going anywhere, Buster.
V: Very funny, you’re grounded.
W: What were you thinking?
X: X-rated? No, you’re NOT going to see that movie!
Y: You’ll have children just like you one day.
Z: Zoo, do you hear me? I’m selling you to the zoo!

 

#141

I suppose technically it’s not a ‘poem’, but it was fun to write and that’s good enough for me!

Mother’s Day

lindastudley3 Comments

She was a real person.
She would not have been happy on a pedestal.

She took chances.
“What have you got to lose?” she’d say.

She enjoyed every moment
and knew the time to laugh and sing was now.

She not only smelled the roses
she planted, grew, and tended them lovingly.

Every day in my life I loved my mother.
Every day in my life I always will.

 

#140