Friday, May 29, 2020

blink

eyes closed or open
regardless, there is no choice
i am confronted by images
i may choose to observe
and i may choose to shut one out
with the opening and closing
of these eyes
exchange one vision with the other
(though i will continue to refuse 
to designate one or the other as real)
involuntary blinks go by unnoticed
but a soft closing of the eyes
(maybe only one and a half seconds!)
to visit another world 
as the outside one goes on 
without noticing me.

-irma 29may2020

Monday, May 25, 2020

hope

two poems from me today... on one topic...

For a long time,
  hope  was a four-letter word
not uttered in company
  polite or otherwise

...worry was easier
...desperation brought calm

until i realized hope was hidden
  behind the worry
  behind the storm 
afraid of me, 
  of being crushed 
beneath my unfeeling nihilism.

i made room in my chest
  (or maybe deep in my stomach, 
   where a hollow pit yearned to be filled)
let worry stand to one side and watch
as i allowed myself an attempt …. at hope

  hope took my energy
  hope took my effort
  hope took my endurance
and in exchange:

  hope gave way to peace.

-----

HOPE
the mist made the 
   sunrise more colorful
covered your skin in
  golden shades of orange

the wind made the 
  sun’s burn more tolerable
cooled your skin with 
  its impersonal touch

Saturday, May 16, 2020

when

WHEN

you tell me a story
like a morning glory
(a beautiful flower
with evil power)
the power to kill
make plants grow still
i listen breathless
characters deathless
time has halted
as you recount...
then stumble
a cough
a tumble
i breathe again
and life goes on
as before you started
and yet
there are marks on my hands
from my own fingernails
and my own bite-marks on my lips

Thursday, May 14, 2020

loving the bother

the poking 
the prodding 
the whining


the children 
their skin smooth and freckled 
their teeth white and crooked
their hands curious and clumsy
demand attention


those with experience attempt to soothe
demand attention


you'll miss it one day
one day you'll wish them small again
poking you


Yet we live on
gathering wrinkles
and experience
waiting for a day without poking
without prodding
without whining
love without bother
and know from experience
that those with knowledge are right


we wish we could grow older
without learning to love being bothered


yet we will learn
in the next stage of life
with a voice full of longing
we will say to those younger


you'll miss it one day
one day you'll wish them small again
poking you


-irma 14may2020