Aligned

Old lions steady lope
Aware of things imagined
Unseen in high grass
They seem settled, but their minds
Know by heart, giving them speed,
Rousing understanding
Which youngsters lack.
Time-worn lions carry the weight
Of pride upon broad shoulders
Unwilling to abandon the hunt
Or leave the dangerous fight,
Protecting who and what belongs
Is reason enough for believing
And the choice to abide, thrive.

Eligibility Indeed

Some said there was not
Any way it could work out
Too much at stake, about
A zillion ways to go wrong,
But hope stood by in support.
The ideas seemed solid, right,
No one could stop what began
Not one found, as an also-ran
No guarantees but love, delight,
Laser-lighted heart and mind.
Could it happen? Would it be?
Might the practice succeed?
Should impossibility thrive?
Naysayers did not a defense rally,
Many tried to end opportunity.
All hours, days, months, years
Progress delivered with salty tears,
Mistakes, failures, dead stops
Such negativity bore down a lot;
Somehow creativity survived, a poet
Poetry unleashed – becomes the poem.

Prompt: What is your experience of creativity? Is it always cheerful and pleasant, or does it sometimes come when it lifts your mind from depths of darkness? Create something juxtaposing the good and bad parts of your practice.

Experience

Forge

Creativity is a chain
Of solid gold smelted
Throughout lifetimes
But evidenced when
Time begins to test
Bonding links every day;
Deriving an understanding
Durable and yet fragile,
Indicating how to forge
Works which manifest
Such rapturous glory
Doves announce a viable
Quality of love exemplified
In skies embroidered by
Stars surpassing thoughts
Possible in mere mortal dreams.

Poeming

Poetry is hands quaking, love,
Nerves jittering, minds fishing
For the perfect words,
The most eloquent phrases,
Attempting to prise loose
Every superfluous jot
From lines while feeling
What lies written on the pages
Is already fine, best to be got.

Though brief, it indeed be
Each poem is an act
Courageous and beautiful,
A dream passed into the real
Sealed in feeling to reveal
Excellencies before hidden
In minds laboring alone
Delivering honest meaning
Investing in and ushering
Others beyond, perhaps home.