Tag Archives: appreciation

If Only

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18

Day Five of NaPoWriMo. Lots of choices for the prompt today. I chose to write a villanelle, which is defined as such:

The classic villanelle has five three-line stanzas followed by a final, four-line stanza. The first and third lines of the first stanza alternately repeat as the last lines of the following three-line stanzas, before being used as the last two lines of the final quatrain.

Clear as mud? I thought so, too. But I gave it a go anyway.

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If Only

If we only had the time –
just imagine if you would –
all the mountains we could climb.

Wouldn’t it be fine?
Leisured strolls in shaded woods
if we only had the time?

If we let the years unwind,
wove the hard times with the good,
all the mountains we could climb.

We’d pick peaches in their prime,
dine beneath the cottonwoods
if we only had the time.

If we heard the clock bells chime,
left our worries where they stood,
all the mountains we could climb!

How might our futures be defined
if we only understood?
If we only had the time,
all the mountains we could climb.

Also posting on dVerse, where the poem form for the month is the villanelle. 

Take Two

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3

Here’s another take on Days Five and Six of the NaPoWriMo challenge, combined. Same photo, different poem, different experiment with line breaks. 

Mt Hood 

feel this day
with the soft touch of your gentle eyes
inhale this view; safeguard the scent in your heart
listen to the sunlight; taste its warmth on the mountaintop
tuck this day into the brightest recesses of your outermost soul
and share it as often and as loud and far and bright as you possibly can
for not everyone has the means nor  place  nor time nor the luxury nor sentience
to feel days like this

 

in honor

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6

dad army (2)

You look so young
smiling nervously for the camera
quite handsome in your new uniform

A farm boy called to fight in a war
a world away from the Oklahoma crossroads
where you grew up

You told us about the time
you got shot in the arm
You said the nurse was really nice and
the needle didn’t hurt too much

We laughed at your joke
but knew you escaped heavy combat
only by a twist of fate
and a revised timetable

You came home and raised a family and
taught us to appreciate life
No lectures; you taught by example

We learned civics and civility and
truthfulness and trustworthiness
We learned to honor the honorable
and to try… try… not to judge

I’m not the most stalwart patriot
but I cry at parades
when the flag bearers pass by
in their crisp uniforms

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and I hold my hand over my heart
in respect for the flag, and I
remember that some fathers or mothers,
sisters or brothers, sons or daughters
didn’t come home

and I vow to raise my family, and
teach them civics and civility and
truthfulness and trustworthiness

… and honor

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