New light

a parting –
all gray swept away
by new light

Pat
8/23/21

New Day

the old man
sandals in hand
strolls through
the middle of the meadow


wiggling his toes
as he goes

he smiles
a private smile
rediscovering

one could see
he was perched in that place
where memories were kind,
a good place to linger
on this, a new day

Pat
8/11/21

Fathers Day

“We were talking a while ago” , her eyes searched my face.

“About papa”, I said. She had asked me where he was. I said he wasn’t here just now.

“Yes”, she nodded. and smiled, her chain of thought had reconnected.

“I loved him so much” , she said. “He was always in my corner. He would fight for me”.

Those words had never crossed her lips before. At least, never in my presence.

“I’ve never heard you say that before”, I said. “You’ve only always talked about what a pain in the ass he was” I said, as those words left me, it felt like a reflex action.

“You both were a pain in the ass to each other”, I quickly interjected. as a correction. I am shocked to hear there was love there.

“He did tell me that he loved you” , she seemed as surprised to hear it, just as I was way back when he said it.

In all the years I’ve been on this earth, all I’ve ever seen between these two was fighting. At times, it felt like they were fighting to the death. In my young mind I wondered what would happen to me and my sisters and brother if one of them killed the other.

Now here she sits, in a confused state laced with moments of clarity, professing her love for my father who no longer among the living. I didn’t have the heart to tell her this earlier, today of all days. It was Fathers Day. And she was treading the waters of unfinished business.

Pat
6/20/21

Challenges

nearly scampering

across my feet, a squirrel

in flight from a cat

living – even in the wild

never without challenges

Pat R
5/11/21

For Tanka Tuesday where the prompt words over at Colleens are synonyms for Life & Move

life…living

move… fly (flight)

I used Living & Flight.. I know, “flight might be reaching a little🙂

To read or participate go here

Salty Soul

This human being is a salty soul

Anything adversarial was always

just a blip to be dealt with

There was no time for foolishness

because she had four children to

feed, educate and school in

manners

Her moves were well thought out

and always deeply rooted in hope

Yes, this ‘every woman’,

this human being is a salty soul.

(For my Mom)

Pat

3/17/21

Life

ending life in the gutters,
the indignity of it all –
cherry blossoms

Pat R

4/29/20

Another one for Frank Tassone’s Weekly Haikai Challenge where the prompt is “Late Cherry Blossoms”. To part take or just to read go here.

 

Conversations

She came to visit on a peaceful saturday evening. Meandering conversations about everyday things, morphed into events of childhood and upbringing.

The traumas and dramas, the love and conflicts. Families and their decisions made out of love, that is truly misunderstood by the young minds they were meant to  shield.
 
Then came reflections on this life changing sorrow. There are moments caught between heart-beats, that goes the way of time. There is no changing it. There is no revisiting it And its one true quality is that it is everlasting.

This was one of those moments. After the revelation it just hung in the air.

a mother’s grief –
in remembrance
through decades, she kept
the last T-shirt he wore,
bullet hole intact

Pat R

2/16/20

For dVerse Poets Pub where Kim is hosting and the phrase to be incorporated in the response is
” There are moments caught between heart-beats”

Life

here’s to the days
when you looked a person in the eyes,
unblinking till they revealed themselves

when your nose was yours to pick
without shame or explanation

when you wore the cutest dress
with a diaper underneath without  consternation
here’s to those days!

Pat R

2/16/20

Pieces

pieces of my life
on bits of paper mingle
with the coins
in my pocket – the poem
continues to elude me

 

Defy
synonym: elude

Change
synonym: coins

For Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge where the prompt words are Change & Defy ( using synonyms)

Autumn Blues

 

It has been a strange eight days mired in joy, anxiety, stress and sadness.

Two home-goings, one way before his time. An ambitious young man, twenty two years old, on a new journey to law school. Now, a journey diverted, a soul called home. Leaving a mother grief stricken and numb.

The other, of her time. She had lived some life.

In between these, was a wedding in a most peaceful setting in the mountains. This odd mix of joy and sorrow came in threes.

short goodbyes –
lurking in cool air
autumn blues

Pat R
8/31/17