Tanka

We exchange our time
For fulfilling our desires,
Fragile happiness,
Where love and relationship
Are the needs without compare.

*****

Harms often find us
But these never define us;
Victories make us,
What love willingly bestows
Our hearts share, among others.

*****

A life born today
New unto the world will change
With love, those soon touched,
For every person gifts us
With hopes, dreams, blessings, anew.

*****

What cannot be done
Does not explain that which can
For our strength is found
Despite the fragility
Built on our infirmities.

*****

Tanka is a five-line syllabic form with counts 5-7-5-7-7. I enjoy counting syllables, so I use them a lot. If you like, as a prompt, write some tanka of your own.

I have a longer piece coming if I can decide whether to scan it or type it. Although I have typed for a very long time, I find little joy in it. The Remington Rand and Royal might have something to do with that. Thankfully, my Microsoft keyboard is a bit less taxing than were the manual typewriters. Yes, I remember when but make no mistake. I am a native here, now.

I hope your day was joyful, and your burdens were light. All life is a celebration rejoicing at the moment.

I think suffering may be provided to magnify joy; when the night is darkest, the light appears brightest.

Given Way

I wanted to buy
A press, so I could begin
Printing all the best,
But it was not meant to be
Fortune does not smile on me.
Even so, I write
Growing a bit over time
So my words carry
Love where I cannot travel,
Working hate to unravel.
A little message
Here, another over there,
Some people take it
With them otherwhere to share
Meaning convening elsewhere.
My life oozes words,
Vowels, consonants, nouns, verbs,
Sentences, lines, breaks,
A haphazard creative
Language tendered in payment.
The gift God-given
In every moment present
More often than not
Finding the rightness of speech
To beseech others to Love.

I have ink all over my hands. The vagaries of ink pens are a mess in the making. I hope you have better luck.

When Dawn Falls Down

Au Revoir

You carried my heart
Within an inside pocket,
There it was kept warm
Protected by your sweet love;
I lived happiness, galore.
Loving made me bold
Set my inhibitions free,
The ruin of me;
I became wild as water
Life without you frightens me.
Lone, I continue
Love exists, enough to share,
But you are not here,
I walk a shadow of who
The woman was loving you.

*****

Who would have me write
If my vacancies were clear?
Inoculated
By the strains of illness, pain,
I cannot fully explain.

*****

Pain, with all within
We would wish it over, gone,
Still, pain defines time
Validates all life’s pleasure,
The dreams, hopes, love are enshrined.

*****

Thither

I would gladly choose
You who are a mystery
To help liberate
The bonds time forged over me,
Every expression of love
Hidden from my touch
Buried so my passions strong
Are never declared.

*****

The fear that haunts us
Wishes to wreck, destroy us,
But LOVE overcomes.

*****

Firelight and shadow
Are within us all contained
We choose our joy, pain.

These may seem a bit dark. Sometimes the shadow attempts to put me in a vault and shut me away with the bones. It does not recall that I used to visit those places pretending they were palaces. Long corridors and marbled floors, echoes of whispers, and oh the glories when I became brave enough to sing.

I never said I was normal. LOL!

I am reading The Two Towers. If you have never cracked those books, I highly recommend them, if only for the unparalleled joy of the language.

Ex-Pres-Sions

Words Are Dodgy

When the writing screams
You must be lying, joking,
To believe I will
Do your bidding, my ideas
Are none of your mind’s concern.
Then is the moment
To double the commitment,
Producing the work
While knowing no one can make
Every line sing perfectly.
Submit to the sound
Faraway, interpreted,
The fury hides, guides,
Melody binds harmony
Poetry awakes, licks air.
Taste sudden wonder
For magic comes, awakens,
Touches warming skin
Overrides every sorrow
Bursts open needed blessings.
“They are only words,”
Ah, so we could keep them all
Never speaking out,
Not carrying the pleasure,
But no, we must ever share.

*****

A dream though lofty
Stumbles toward the spotlight,
Proclaiming itself
Everything searched for before,
Nothing we can now ignore.

*****

Hungry for success
Many have tried to become
Someone they were not,
Finding themselves empty, tired,
Unhappy, returning bored.

I finally found a lighter mood. A conversation brought it from a distant place. To add emphasis, the music took over, so here we are. I hope all are well. This world has become a bit daunting, but we are still here, and the fight is not over. I appreciate your visit. I hope you will follow the site or often return.

I have decided to post this on two of my acres of cyberspace. My primary place to post is now Haphazard Creative, should you wish to explore my newer work, please follow me there.

Outside In

While sitting in bed
This view I often admire,
Even when rain falls
It brightens, deepens colors
Giving assurance of life.

There are days the power of living seems beyond our strength. Then we reach into our chests to massage our hearts and set lightning to our minds to galvanize our thoughts. Overcoming is then a mustering of the will, for we shall not surrender giving up the light. Love, we are crusaders for beating back the encroaching night.

Had we not witnessed others who kept up the fight, we might have fallen by the wayside. Many have created work amid the devastation of life’s catastrophes, and now we experience their harvest. It motivates us to succeed.

We are whoever
We can be in the moment
Not always by choice.

This moment thrusts us
Into what lies before us
Sometimes unprepared.

Happiness is huge
A state we negotiate
In our agile minds.

A note on the formatting: This post was done sitting in bed on my cell phone. If the spacing is distorted, that is the reason.

I hope each of you is well. If you wish, follow Haphazard Creative, if you rather, return as you can. Comments are always welcome. God bless you all.