Stories My Heart Has Told Me: June 2017

Friday, June 30, 2017

Beau Monde (Tanka Chain 短歌)

Beau Monde (Tanka Chain)

短歌

Swans swimming zig-zag

Restless, my tranquility

Hillside poppies wave

Silent thunders have impact

List'ning for one clapping hand

For one clapping hand

The world will preen and curtsy

Elephants trumpet

Shorebirds migrate endlessly

Such is life in this beau monde

Life in this beau monde

Impalas die, lions live

Wicked balance strange

Trees chopped down will grow again

Man has but one turn to play

But one turn to play

Bet it all on double-six

Squall line ends the drought

Thunder beats a timpani

Greet it all dispassionat’ly

Dispassionat’ly

Aging hunter now hunted

Life full circle comes

Tears today water my soul

Tomorrow carves out canyons

She carves out canyons

Nature’s brush strokes never done

Perfection is myth

Evolution’s changing path

New tomorrow’s fantasy.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Googol (Sonnet #508)

I’ll take those odds, at one googol to one
Never have I allowed life to say, “No!”
Nor feared the hopeless Quixotic quest though
The arms of those windmills strike me down stunn’d
For from my back I will arise to fight
My eyes have seen she who awaits for me
So, death’s sweeping sickle drowns not her plea
Deliverance into my arms this night.
Call me a fool, slightly addled in brain
You know not her sweetness, worth all the cost
I will pursue though this moment seems lost
As I fight for her love, my shirt blood-stain’d
I, standing beside her, shall claim my bride
My eyes moist with tears, my soul fill’d with pride

© 2017 david w palmer

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Estival / Solstice (Sonnet #507)

Carried through the current of time’s river

Life has cycled us back to estival

Banks of blessing, moments celestial

Though passing through, they enrich forever.

In its solstice, the sun is bright with dreams

Divine favors pass within and without

Our grasp. Treat them as aids today. No doubt

They served us well when summoned, and they leave.

Turn ‘round your face, my Love, bask in His warmth

Feel free the rich rewards which grace has brought

In halcyon days, how easy joy is caught

Yet e’en in cold coming our needs conform.

Here with you now and joy, indeed, we share

I’ll be here still when Beauty’s branches bare.

Imprint (brevette chain)

imprint

c r e a t e s

artistry

a m a z e s

audience

c e l e b r a t e s

inspiration

i n f o r m s

worship

i m b u e s

dance

d r a w s

God

i n h a b I t s

praise

a l I g n s

hearts

d i s c o v e r

truth

s e t s

free

A Brevette Chain

Tree Shade (Inverted Hexaduad)

Tree shade

Riparian cool trade

Enhances salmon spawning runs

‘Twould not be done

Sun-warmth they’d not survive

Life would not thrive

Breathable air

For us could not be spared

Respiration

Changes climate’s perspiration

Riparian cool trade

Tree shade

Inverted

Starlings sweep shadows (haibun)

haibun ハイブン (Starling Series #2)

starlings sweep shadows

dance of creation

impala springs free

Rolling and roiling in endless variation, miraculous it seemed that each bird knew the dance

Evening advanced, but the jubilation continued unabated in the sky above me

Suddenly in the brush, an impala leaped high in the air. I saw at once, the lioness

On her tail. She gave a mighty leap, but the impala also knew this dance, and deftly sprang

Safely to the side. She continues her mighty life dance for another day with the show up above her. The lioness turns away with regret.

lioness mourns

empty mouths tonight

mice escape mamba

It is difficult to choose sides in this contest called life. Why life for one spells death for another

Is a mystery beyond me. Predator and prey belong in life’s circle, each seeking the steps to see

Another sunrise tomorrow.

hyena laughs

God touches earth

elephants trumpet

Suddenly the birds seemed to create a twisting spiral, and a scene did appear not unlike Michelangelo’s

Frescoes on the Sistine Chapel where God extends one finger to man, and man reaches forth to make

Contact with the Divine. He doesn't live our life for us, but makes it possible. Did he program the pattern for this formation into the starlings’ DNA? Is that one of his favorite scenes man in His image has made?

For the second in my Starling Murmuration Series, I am presenting a haibun: half haiku, half prose. The haiku shows relationship between seemingly disparate things. The prose portion tells you more about how the poet got there either by explaining the situation more, or adding comments on his own meditation. I am presenting the latter. I would love to see some of you join me in creating a haibun attempt.

starling ballet (haiku)

starling ballet

rhapsodic murmurs

my earthbound longings

Say When (Inverted Hexaduad)

Say when

Can we be us again?

Left you on a Manhattan street

“Don’t leave,” repeats

Your plaintive cry still haunts

Your love I’d flaunt

An empty world

Into which soulless hurl’d

You, my anchor

Once host of peace, now spills rancor

Can we be us again?

Say when

Inverted Hexaduad

Inspired by the song, “Love Me Again,” by John Newman

https://youtu.be/CfihYWRWRTQ

This song has become sort of a mental earwig for me

It plays at work constantly, but in a warehouse, the sound is muffled.

But I was on a quest to find it, and tonight I did. The song inspired

This poem – and no, David has not broken up with anybody.

This is strictly an imaginative poem inspired by a song.

I finally figured out why it is called an inverted hexaduad. It is a dual six line poem;

The first and second halves being mirror images of each other.

Thus the "inverted" Hexaduad (6-form) poem.

Brevette Chain

danger

p r o v I d e s

opportunity

y i e l d s

serendipity

o p e n s

vistas

b r e a t h e

beauty

c o m p e l s

meditation

p r o d u c e s

peace

f I n d s

gardens

g r o w

flowers

e n h a n c e

love

b r o u g h t

you

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Lissome (Inverted Hexaduad)

O Sprite

O Sprite
Lissome dancing delight
How you tease me in your chassé
Then turn chaînés
Into my waiting arms
Without alarms
Your entrechat
Weaves our souls without flaw
Tomorrow’s hope
Is bright in its widening scope
Lissome dancing delight
O Sprite.

© 2017 david w palmer
(inverted hexaduad)

French Ballet Terms used:

Chassé – (sha-SAY) the chase
Chaînés (sheh-NAY) chains, links, turns
Entrechat (ahn-truh-SHAH) – interweaving or braiding

What the Mirror Said

This was written as part of a group collaboration initiated by Skylark Hattee. I wrote at the invitation of Marilyn Ward and Maricris Cabrera

What the Mirror Said

I see you staring back at me
Your shine darkens with age.
Or, is that me, who doesn't see well now?

The mirror said, since I was formed
With silver backing long ago
I've only told the truth to one and all

I've seen them cry, and heard them curse
But magic's beyond my power
I'll tell you now what surely is
Beyond that, all is in your choice this hour

O mirror, cried I, unhappy you make me
But to point the blame at you would be
Me avoiding responsibility. I thank you
And so now choose to take on a better view.

(C) 20l7, David W. Palmer

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Apricity (A Hexaduad)

APRICITY (a Hexaduad)

Pale wane
Sun fain
Would ever warm my heart
Cold love so soon departs
See it silver sheening gleaming
Radiant promise simulating
When love’s away
The devil plays
Apricity alone
My heart’s a sinking stone
Cold dreary pane
Day so pale, wain.

© 2017 David W. Palmer

The Hexaduad form features six pairs of rhyming lines with the following syllable lengths per line: l/2 – 2 syllable; 3/4 – 6; 5/6 – 8; 7/8 – 4; 9/l0 – 6; ll/l2 – 4. Give it a try.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Omaha (Sonnet #501)

Omaha (Sonnet #501)

His young eyes, frightened, scanned the beach ahead
Rough sea made him nauseous; he vomited;
Either cause, wave, or fear, neither mattered
For on that beach, death or devil cast dread.
When bullets rip your flesh, does dying hurt,
Or do you slip in peace toward dazzling light?
Will Mama know I served with noble might?
Oh, God, I’m young! Bury me not ‘neath dirt.
Transport’s gate dropp’d; now’s the time, seeing red
Buddy Jake fell into a crimson wave
He carried on determined to be brave
Across that beach into hell’s show’r of lead
Gaining the crest, into that box he tossed
Grenades; it fell silent; this day not lost.

© 2017 David W. Palmer

Yours (Sonnet #500)

SONNET 500: Yours

I’ve never fallen short, O Beauty, mine
Finding new ways to say how my heart skips
Helen of Troy’s face launch’d one thousand ships
Yet you’ve inspir’d my verse, sev’n-thousand lines.
Why do you keep writing, O Poet, mine?
I touch transcendent grace when I reach you
Thus, leave too much unsaid, My Love, so true
So now, again, with pen, I pray, “Divine
Master, help me to reach her heart today
Hamartia, I’ve missed that mark again
When she deserves beyond my best to gain
Now, this poor fool seeks loving words to say.
As long as God’s Ruah dwells in my breast
I promise every day, you’ll have my best.

© 2017 David W. Palmer

Hamartia (pronounced ha-mar-TEE-uh) Greek – sin (defined as missing the mark)
Ruah (pronounced Roo-ach [a hard “h” like a “ch”]) Hebrew – spirit or breath, the soul

Zephyr (Sonnet #499)

Written originally for the Word Prompt presented on the Beautiful Minds Community by Maricris Cabrera

Zephyr (Sonnet #499)

Playful little zephyrs tease us faster
Across our course, our deep secrets whisper
And rough my hair that seagulls try to nest
So naughty, they excel at playfulness
A wish, a prayer, our hopes, sweet dreams; so nice
And borne upon their breath sweet distant spice
So thrilled am I to see it tease your hair
You are so beautiful beyond compare
These vessels of delight enhance our sails
A serendipitous surprise prevails
Closer, closer, leading we two homeward
To our Elysian Field, upward, onward
We’ll turn to say farewell to our device
Then, hand in hand, enter our Paradise.

© 2017 David W. Palmer

Atmosphere (Sonnet #498)

Atmosphere (Sonnet #498)

The air surrounding you electrifies
My soul. Do you believe magic has come
To make abode with us? You are the sum
Of all my hopes and dreams seen with closed eyes.
In a distant vision once I saw you
My heart did leap with joy, yet so afraid
If you knew my weakness, you’d feel betray’d
‘Til I found out you feared the same thing, too
Never did I demand the perfect girl
Just one to grow old with through sands of time
And share life’s beauty through each verse and rhyme
And grow that love as all our days unfurl
Precious Sweetheart, with you I am so pleased
Oh! Find the same in me, on bended knee.

© 2017, David W. Palmer

Monday, June 5, 2017

Wandering & Wondering (Sonnet #496)

Wandering & Wondering (Sonnet #496)

Convinced, am I, this world was made for us
Two steps, we stop, wonder; gracious beauty
Presents itself, glorious array. Duty
Have we to praise Him, He who gave this trust.
Delight we take walking His sands of time
Thousands before have blazed the trail we take
Yet saw it not with eyes like ours. We make
Meaning in such moments, for us, sublime.
Telescopic convex eyes seek bright stars.
Nebulas and quasars stun our senses
Never has a constellation’s presence
Stunned me more than when I stand where you are.
Brightness of my Evening, my Polaris
You guide my heart to home to taste your kiss.

© 2017 David W. Palmer

Puffery (Sonnet #495)

Puffery (Sonnet #495)

Cease with your puffery, setting a trap
Speak it only if you mean it; don’t break
My heart with all your empty compliments
You play against my insecurities
I take the dare thinking you value me
When what you want is something in return
Should I give in, what then? A broken heart?
Your conquest made, my devastation starts.
Should not a man value his lady fair,
Regard her as a heaven sent treasure?
To win her heart, she’ll hold your life in trust
For she’ll believe the one believing her.
What will you say, when God reviews your life?
How did you treat His precious gift, your wife?

© 2017 David W. Palmer

Falling Down (Sonnet #497)

In memory of the victims of the terror bombings over the weekend in London and Manchester, England. When will we learn the ways of peace, that we can sit down together at the table of brotherhood and break bread, wishing each other "Salaam." When will we celebrate who we are, while also recognizing my brother's right to live before his God as conscience does direct? Peace be in our hearts.

Falling Down (Sonnet #497)

London Bridge, is it falling down again?

Since when did God decide bombing the hell

Out of the innocent was the ticket

To Paradise? Abel's blood cries once more

From the London streets to the throne of God

"Have mercy on my misguided brothers

And may we see hate separates us from

Grace, and from each other in doom's gloom boom."

Pointing fingers, blaming will solve nothing

He who with hate responds lights the next fuse

'Tis time to cross that bridge, heedless of fear

Seek rapprochement, break bread at this table.

Rejoice at who we are, yet celebrate

My brother's right to live as conscience leads.

Photo: The Washington Post (June 5, 2017)

Sunday, June 4, 2017

An Inconvenient Couple (Sonnet #494)

An Inconvenient Couple (Sonnet #494)

Meaning so well, but misguided, they chirp,
“Where do you think this will all end, with him?
He’s not our type, he just disrupts our lives!
You have changed, we all see, not for better.”
Do you hear this and doubt, or see matters
Differently? Have they taken the dive
To swim in your waters? Or, on a whim,
Play sticky games with your life, like syrup?
We dream of brighter days living in love
And know where true destiny lies for us.
Not living to fit their expectations
Fitting where we expect our salvation.
Naysayers cease, and we’ll still ride this bus
I’ll stand with you; our hearts fit like a glove.

© 2017 David W. Palmer

This Kiss (Inverted Hexaduad)

This kiss
Shook loneliness amiss
Both warm and wet moved with a surge
Gave me the urge
To taste [even] once more
Your mystic store
Of sweet beauty,
Dimples, such a cutey
Do you believe
You’re the fairest, I’m not naïve
Let me start with, my Miss
This kiss.

© 2017 David W. Palmer

Friday, June 2, 2017

Amazed (A Rictameter)

Amazed

Wonder
Slack-jaw’d marvel
However you did that
Is beyond my comprehension
The beauty you inspire in my thoughts
Stops me mid-step to contemplate
Your new perspective; gift
I’ll treasure with
Wonder

© 2017 David W. Palmer