This Now

Now is an extension
Of every now this pandemic
Has held us, hostage;
For some, it began with
The first announcement,
There was a disturbing
Feeling, an uneasy inkling.
One hopes for the best,
But it is nowhere found,
A world on lockdown.
Life at home becomes
The new normal,
Some find themselves
Desperate for escape,
Some grow fearful of any
Exterior contact, staying sheltered.
Children homeschooled,
Telecommuting, lay-offs,
Entertainments canceled,
Doctors, nurses, medical
Professionals pressed beyond
Human limits, risking all,
And steadily, death tolls rise.
We are yet together, connected
Because of virtual life,
All of us, aware, knowing,
Hoping that humanity can go
Forward into a now where
Dying is no longer a constant
Fear, contagion is not everywhere,
A now where we can embrace
One another in loving security.

Prospecting

Sometimes the words hide
From those of us who often
Write,
We are left adrift, bereft,
With empty pages where belong
Delights, emotions, fears, images.
It becomes a time to wallow
In every medium, imbibe all
The different expressions,
Performances available
Until
The mind begins to percolate
With newfound creativity
Ideas which may be distilled
Into work whose focus is
Breathtakingly original in
Its content, measure, and scope.
Too
The borrowed quiet chased,
Captured, in a solitary moment
Away from this and that
Where a simple notebook catches
Jottings before the thoughts
Swim rapid away, is another
Form of what is needed to stoke
The flame of generation
In a brain no longer merely
Content to reveal the secrets
It has long sorted and contained.

Live, Revive

Even when time bends over
Seizing the present like a child’s toy,
Boggling the future, so luck seems
Turned foul as a laggard racehorse,
There remain visions of brighter prospect.
The still distant horizon is painted
By the life-giving sun in various colors
Of dreams.
We are living the opportunities
We can accept, and their broad scope
Greets us with hope, willing
To place gifts unexpected in
Hands held open, hearts forever
Seeking, minds outstretching,
Those embracing this how, this now.
Carpe Diem!

Ever So…

My house is somewhat
Unacceptable, a mess,
But it is also
Home, where I can be, do, dream,
The magics living inside.
I have my treasures
Which no one else so measures,
But they keep me here
On Earth where it is hard to
Want to be sometimes for me.
I am alone here,
But my house delivers welcome
When I need holding,
All life encapsulated
In this home where I create.
My body, my home,
Tattered, threadbare, torn, worn, wraps
Me into this living
All the pain, I overcome,
My house shelters, helps, supplies,
It is so peaceful
Here within these careful walls
The dogs and I are
Safe and have space enough to
Enjoy being within my house.

The prompt at Prompted Positive Poetry today is “My House.”

Lucky?/Unlucky?

Sometimes we believe living
Alone is an unlucky state,
All the hype feeds our conception,
It is accurate for some, at times,
But being alone can give space/time
To discover the self, independent,
Outside the other with only one
To know we are adequate and find
The purpose of who we have become;
Sometimes it takes being by ourselves.
We stare in the mirror and see our
True reflection, not the projection
Filtered through other eyes with
All the bias contained in another
Mind which may be doing calculations
We cannot see in our recasting,
Addition/Subtraction, Multiplication/Division
Are always trickier when someone else
Does the equation, maybe in the work
We miss important steps or carries.
Even if being alone is extremely temporary
It can give us insight that leads us
To be the better persons we wish to be
Giving us desire and passion to
LOVE
Infinitely better than we ever have before.

Tuesday’s prompt for the PAD Challenge on Poetic Asides was Lucky/Unlucky. I got some rocket fuel (Coffee), which I usually avoid, and so I have developed this poem.