St. Joe
Chicago
(never Ohio)
now in Orlando
(via some days in Kissimmee)
on the far reaching edges of insanity
and at times in mild hysteria
(where I’m known to grow purple wisteria)
but none can compare
to your eyes
(where I’ve also died)
© Jilly’s All Rights Reserved
Join us over at dVerse where we are writing Quadrilles.
*Kissimmee is the name of a real town just outside of Orlando. It is known for tacky strip malls and cheap hotels near Disney World.
All I ask is that you lick
your phone less and maybe use your
hands to play childish string games
cradling cats
here’s the church
here’s the steeple
instead of building barriers
of one-handed pepperoni pizza
and stiff cold-jointed bones to
worship, worship, worship
© Jilly’s All Rights Reserved
Join us for a bit of quadrilling at dVerse!
all summer we shovel heat
scrape humidity
icing our drinks
as we huddle close around
the fan
now
at last
phoebe
and the buffleheads
have returned
from the edges of the arctic
to cheer us
with news that a light
sweater might be needed
© Jilly’s All Rights Reserved
De is hosting the Quadrille at dVerse this week; come and raise a toast with us as we enter a season of cheer!
It occurs to me that Phoebe and the Buffleheads would be a great name for a rock band, but in reality, these are two of the birds that winter here in Central Florida. It is a seasonal milestone when each of these species arrive; one for which there is much rejoicing in the land 🙂
Leonid’s air
draws us
from this
warm bed
Setting belt
Rising gourd
the Lion roars
but once at four
Leaning into you
we gape and weave
through dream-filled
eyes
we
wait
we
wait
no cricket
song for
wishes
fate or God
spoils are won
© Jilly’s All Rights Reserved
On the event of rising early for the Leonids
to see only one shooting star over the skies of Orlando
Lill is hosting the Quadrille over at dVerse. Don’t be a spoilsport – join us! 😉
the seven-legged spider
pulls threads through
needles of daffo-lillies
and yuck-a-dills
awaits aphin-lets and buzz-a-winkles
carefully cleaning thirty-five
toes she thought should be
hers
counting the lost five
wondering if it is true
that she lacks a soul
won’t go to heaven after all
© Jilly’s & Silly Jilly All Rights Reserved
De is hosting the Quadrille at dVerse this week; join us!
I graze on violent hay
ruminate
ruminate
swim for the harbor lights
Gatsby symbolism
in a Li-Young Lee
world where I can’t chew
fast enough to digest
all that this world wants
meeee to doooo
while I search for the gift
of a splinter.
© Jilly’s All Rights Reserved
Lillian bids us ‘harbor’ a quadrille over at d’Verse Poet’s Pub. Join us!
The Gift by Li-Young Lee remains a personal favorite. Just finishing a poetry unit in my classroom in which we read and analyze four poems that deal with father-child relationships. Also included are Blood by Naomi Shihab Nye, Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden, and Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.
Hitchcock birds covering the baseball field
the batting cages
starlings
they move in murmuration
slow and quick
My blackened voice lifts off the ground with them
(no one sees us)
in a zizz and swirl
soundless except for the air they press and fold
© Jilly’s All Rights Reserved
for De’s Quadrille challenge at dVerse.
Cobble-slobber
words a-droppin’
don’t trip over
tongues a-hoppin’
clip-clop down
the sunny street
to tipsy-flirt
and dish it up
freshly tilled
piles O’dirt
Never fear
be slaves of
mettle
your ears won’t scorch
o’er the tittle-tettle
Clobber-slobber
do ’em in
go ahead,
‘taint-no sin
© Jill & Silly Jilly All Rights Reserved
Doing Double-Dutch jumping here today by writing a Quadrille for dVerse that uses the word ‘Cobble’ and also working from the Day 4 of 28 Days of Unreason. I felt like it was a good time to write a Silly Jilly; it’s been awhile. 🙂
I am hosting the 28 Days of Unreason for the 3rd year in which we write poetry in response to selected lines from poet, Jim Harrison. Everyone is welcome to jump in! Today’s line is, “Fear makes for good servants and bravery is fraudulent” from Vows.
stop the bitter sun
it only sours the sky
petition the rain to beat
your skin until you swim
in forest smells of algae
of living mold
urge your lake
to worship the sea
to milk time after
you lie bare at her feet
© Jilly’s All Rights Reserved
Kim at dVerse bids us write a Quadrille (a poem of exactly 44 words) using the word “Rain.” Here in Florida we should be at the end of our Dry Season, a time we refer to as our Fire Season. Instead we are in a prolonged time of rain thanks to an unstable weather pattern that brings tropical moisture both day and night. There are no fires, including that rather large one that dominates the sky from dawn to dusk. 😉
she sat on the sidewalk
near your front door
gathering up the fallen
white petals of Impatiens
that grow there
sheltering them in her
hand, you lit them on fire
ignoring your tears
she slept beside you
with her shoes on
she didn’t burn
© Jilly’s All Rights Reserved
Day 23
Lillian is hosting at dVerse where we are gathering our thoughts and words, 44 of them, to be exact; writing quadrilles. Join us!
She & He #21
Jilly's 