Afternoon Poetry

Sometimes
it's a struggle
to think and write
on a warm Nevada afternoon.

When clouds
cover the sky,
birds huddle in their nests,
and the wind blows through palm trees
the poet contemplates the dim sunlight and writes.

 

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Summer Poems

Summer poems
rise like the temperature
spreading across the city
of the poet's muse.

I also posted this in the journal, Writing in Snow, located  under the folder Awardicon Items, in my writing.com portfolio. Visit My Portfolio @ Writing.Com

Two Poems A Day

One hundred and seven days
to write one hundred and sixty four poems:
Is this possible?

Withe the help of Baha'u'llah
and the Bab,
I believe it is.

If I write two poems a day
it will take me eighty-two days,
that will give me twenty-five days
to review what I have written
to celebrate
the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab.

I also posted this poem in the journal, Writing in Snow, under the folder Awardicon Items, in my writing.com portfolio. Visit My Portfolio @ Writing.Com

Sand and Stars

Singing Sand

Palm trees with their long beards hanging,
Nod to the breeze of morning,
Sand moving across the rising sun,
Intones the hymns of dawn.

Stars Shining

The hues of darkness,
Sparkle in the night,
Generating rays of joy,
That send atoms into flight.

This poem is, also, posted in Writing in Snow, under the folder Awardicon Items, in my writing.com port.

Companion Poems

Reading the Word of God in Bed

My mind
hungry for reality
consumes the sacred words

My eyelids
heavy with meditation
fight to remain open

My mind
thirsty for the water of life
drinks long and deep

My eyelids
surrender to sleep

Reading Poetry in Bed

My mind
sated with verse
falls into a contemplative stupor

My eyelids closes
pupils focus on the interplay
of light and shadow

Words unassociated
with the odes I just read
jolt my mind awake

My eyelids open
pupils focus on the interplay
of meter and rhyme


These poems are also posted on my writing.com in the journal Writing in Snow.

Creation Saturday: Three Views of Dawn

1

First light awakens
the glint of dew
on outstretched arms:
Saguaro sentinels,
silent witnesses
to the ever changing panorama
of life,
wave good morning
to flocks mourning doves.

2

Turning pink
with the splendor of a new day
dawn clouds
promise rain.

3

Pastel blues and reds
streak the clouds of morning
waking the poet's muse.

40 Day, 27 Poems Left to Write

The 200th anniversary of the Birth of Baha'u'llah is 40 days away. I have 27 poems dedicated to the Blessed Beauty left to write. The Blessed Beauty is one of the titles of Baha'u'llah, who is the prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith. 

Yesterday I finished poem 173, called The Glory of the Lord. It is in the book Bicentenary Poems and Prose posted in my port on writing.com. I don't know the themes of the remaining 27 poems, I'm sure that Baha'u'llah will reveal them to me in the next 40 days. In the meantime, I will pray, meditate, read the sacred writings, and work on other writing projects. 

Motivational Monday: My Motivation to Write

Of the 200 poems dedicating to the Blessed Beauty, I have 113 finished. I have 87 poems to finish in 76 days which means I have to write 1 or 2 poems a day to finish by October 22. I think that is a strong motive to write poetry. 

If I encounter writer's stress or writer's block because of the deadline, I will say prayers or meditate. That usually helps. Another thing that helps is taking a short walk in the morning or the evening. Since it's summer time, I prefer to walk of a morning when it's cooler. 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! 

Please take a moment to pray 

For all those fathers and grandfathers 

Who have  passed away.. 

I don't remember much about my father because my parents were divorced when I was young. I remember a tall distinguished looking man wearing khaki work pants and a long sleeved shirt. Daddy, a blue collar laborer, worked at the Blackwell Zink Smelter before my parents divorced. Another think I remember about Daddy was sitting on his lap on Sunday morning while he read to comics to me. 

Happy Father Day! 

Take a few minutes to say 

Thank you to those fathers 

And father figures 

Who are still with us. 

Grandpa Newland, my mother's father, was my father figure. He was around almost all of my growing up years. Grandpa worked at the Blackwell Zink Smelter before he retired. I remember Grandpa sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and rolling his own cigarettes. I also remember him showing us, my siblings and myself, how to fish and water ski.  

An Awesome Day

Istijlál (Majesty), 13 Jalál (Glory), 147 BE - Thursday, April 20, 2017 CE about 5:49 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

It's the First day of Ridvan (pronounced rez-vahn). I began a three part poem called The Days of Ridvan which is about the First, Ninth and Twelfth Days. I also finished a long poem called Wondrous Calendar. I used senryu or haiku stanzas in this. I think it's finished for now. I may rewrite some of the verses later. Right now I want to focus on other stories and poems. I've posted the poem Wondrous Calendar in Bicentenary Poems and Prose which is in my writing.com port. 

Tuesday Thoughts: Contemplating Words and Spirituality

Fiḍál (Grace), 1 Kalimát (Words), 173 BE - Tuesday, July 12, 2016 AD about 2:29 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

Thinking in pictures 

I contemplate the words that 

Create a poem 

In the month of Words, I think about writing a prose poem about spirituality. I contemplate the meaning of spirituality in the context of my soul. I think about the sacred scriptures revealed throughout the millennia of humanity spiritual evolution. I wonder if there was a time in the spiritual history of the species when humanity had difficulty accepting the existence of a single divine creative force. 

I contemplate the meaning 

Of Divine unity 

And its relationship to 

Humanity's search for truth. 

It is the month of Words and words is an attribute of God. I think about the beginning of the Universe, of the Cosmos, when God spoke the word BE. God spoke the word BE and brought creation into existence. In the beginning, the Divine Creative Force – the force that we humans call God – brought  the universe we know into existence by speaking a word, by saying BE and primordial atom exploded. Whatever happened after the Divine Essence spoke BE it lead to the universe as we know it or are attempting to know it today. 

I contemplate the human soul 

And realize that I, 

Like the rest of the human species, 

Am a spiritual creature having 

A material, a physical, experience. 

Sunday Speculations on My Coming Week

Jamal (Beauty), 7 ‘Aẓamat (Grandeur), 173 BE - Sunday, May 22, 2016 about 4:09 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

I have a full week of planned of cleaning out desk drawers. My computer desk has five drawers which I decided to clean out last week. I cleaned out  one drawer. That was a difficult job because I had to figure out what was keeping the drawer from opening. I finally managed to get the item out and discovered it was an empty plastic CD holder. 

When I finished cleaning out the drawer I found numerous poem and story beginnings, which I kept and put back in the drawer to work on at leisure. I will work on them, as soon as I get the other four drawers cleaned out. I'll start on one of the drawers, the largest of the four, on Monday. Think I will begin cleaning it out in the afternoon after I finish writing and doing some surveys. 

I did some surveys today. The surveys I completed were rather long, so I am going to limit myself to one or two survey websites a day. The total surveys well be no more than six and  no less than three. That way I will at least ear a little money or a few points while I am cleaning out my desk drawers. After I finish the desk drawers, I have to start on some boxes in my bedroom. 

Happy Mothers' Day 2016

Jamal (Beauty), 12 Jamál (Beauty), 173 BE - Sunday, May 8, 2016  about 10:21 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

Happy Mothers' Day 

May all your memories be 

Tear producing joy 

This morning I'm thinking about the daughter I gave up for adoption, my mother, and grandmothers, which causes be to be a bit melancholy. I say melancholy because I'm not really depressed, but a bit sad. Since I know why I'm sad I suppose that melancholy is an overstatement. According to the dictionary melancholy refers to sadness without an obvious cause. Since I know why I'm sad then I probably just plain sad and not melancholy. 

Remember Mama 

Her love for scarlet roses 

Chocolate candy 

I miss Mama, especially on holidays we always celebrated together. Mothers' Day was always one of those days. I remember Mama always liked prime rib with baked potatoes, so we would go out for prime rib whenever we got a chance and the money. Mama liked to have the creamed horseradish with her piece of beef while I preferred raw horseradish. I still prefer my horseradish raw, but sometimes I'll get the other type because it reminds me of Mama. 

Remember Grandma 

She enjoyed baking cookies 

For her grandchildren 

Saturday Contemplations

Jalal (Glory), 16 Jalál (Glory) 173 BE - Saturday, April 23, 2016 about 3:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time

Weekend afternoon
Listening to a neighbor's dog barking
Neighbor's laughing

It isn't a quiet day in this neighborhood, but that's all right because I don't hear anyone fighting. Everyone seems to be making happy noises including the barking dog. It's always nice to hear happy noises. I like to hear children laughing and playing because it reminds me of my childhood.

Childhood memories
Return when I listen
To happy noises.

As a child we always had a pet of some kind. Most of the time we had dogs, but sometimes we had both dogs and cats. The always got along fine. In fact my Grandmother had a Siamese cat that like to sleep in the chicken house. Jay had one nest that he slept in without bothering Grandma's chickens. The chickens never stopped laying eggs because Jay took his daytime cat naps in a nest. The chickens never bother Jay and Jay never bothered the chickens.

Monday Meanderings

Kamal (Perfection), 11 Jalál (Glory), 173 BE - Monday, April 18, 2016 about 1:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time

I'm beginning this on Monday afternoon, but I'm not sure how long it will take me to compose this entry. Right now my muse is working hard to help me write, but I don't know how long this will last. Sometime my muse suddenly decides to take a short vacation and just leaves me sitting in front of the computer staring at the monitor. This is the third blog entry I've made today and I still have a couple of writing project to finish before sunset.

Monday afternoon
My muse working overtime
Does not want to rest.

Sometimes I wonder if blaming my muse for writing difficulties is just an excuse. If my muse does take a short break then I have an excuse to stop writing for a little while. My muse taking a break normally doesn't stop me from writing, especially since I too stubborn to stop in the middle of a blog entry, story, or poem. The only thing that really stops me in the middle of a writing project is food. I stop writing when I have to eat.

Difficult to eat
and use a keyboard
at the same time.

 

Thankful Thursday: Giving Thanks in Las Vegas

Istijlal (Majesty), 7 Jalál (Glory), 173 BE - Thursday, April 14, 2016 about 2:42 PM Pacific Daylight Time

It's Thursday,
a beautiful Las Vegas day
a day to give thanks.

I'm not going to list ten things I'm thankful for this afternoon because I have so many I don't know where to start. I know that I'm grateful for a roof over my head and shoes to wear. In fact, I purchased a new pair of shoes lost week. I purchased pink flip flops at Walgreens. I usually stop at this drug store once every couple of months because it isn't close to where I live and I have my prescriptions filled at a supermarket closer to where I live.

Anyway, we (my friend and I) stopped into Walgreens to get a package of personal items and some power steering fluid. When I went in, I found that the personal items were buy one and get one at half price, which I couldn't pass up. My friend brought two small bottles of power steering fluid to the cash register and some flip flops that looked like they would fit me. I hadn't planned to get the flip flops, but I saved so much money purchasing the half price item that I decided to buy the shoes as well.

Until I put the flip flops on I had forgotten how much I enjoyed wearing them. I hadn't bought myself a pair of new shoes in at least five years and it's been longer since I purchased flip flops. When I was younger I loved wearing flip flops in the summer, but I stopped wearing them when Mom and I lived in a second story apartment. I think I stopped because I couldn't wear them outside the apartment on a rainy day.

Thankful for flip flops
and a new phase of my life
summer is coming.

 

Tuesday Afternoon in Las Vegas

Fidal (Grace), 17 Bahá (Splendour), 173 BE - Tuesday, April 5, 2016 about 6:18 PM Pacific Daylight Time

On Tuesday afternoon
in my neighborhood
the temperature rose
to 87 degrees.

It's getting warmer in the afternoon and early evening so I'm going to start taking my walks in the morning between 8:00 and 9:00 AM. If I set that time for my walk then I can walk about 30 minutes. Tomorrow I might try walking down to the end of the block and then around the corner up to the alley. I'm not sure how long that walk takes, but it seems to be a bit easier then going the other way.

Is my life boring?
My muse finds it exciting:
I like the people.

All though walking east instead of west is more interesting because I always encounter people which gives me a chance to stop and talk. If I walk west and then turn the corner to walk up to the alley I don't encounter many people. Friday is the exception because someone holds a yard sale in the parking lot of the corner apartment house that day.

Motivational Monday: A Good Start to a New Week

Kamal (Perfection), 9 Bahá (Splendour), 173 BE - Monday, March 28, 2016 about 8:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time

I've had a good start this week. On Sunday I wrote over 2,000 words and finished a short story for a contest on writing.com. Today I wrote a 296 word flash fiction and entered it into another contest. I still have another short story to write this week, but I'm sure that I can get it done by Friday.

Writing motivation
just sit down at the computer
open a blank document and begin to write.

The voice of doubt has faded. It isn't telling me how hard it is to come up with an idea. It isn't telling me I can't write the piece I'm planning. I don't know how long that irritating voice will be silent, but while it's silent I'll write. When I'm not writing then I'll read, say prayers, or watch television. As long as I can keep my mind focused on something then the voice will remain silent.

Television gave me
the titles for two poems
that I wrote last week.

Within the past couple of weeks I have found two titles and a plot for a story while watching television. I don't watch sitcoms anymore instead I tend to watch documentaries, news programs, or reality shows. I think I like the reality shows because they are nothing like the reality I'm experiencing in my life.

Motivation Monday: Monday Morning Motivation

Kamal (Perfection), 2 Bahá (Splendour), 173 BE - Monday, March 21, 2016 about 7:25 AM Pacific Daylight Time

It's a beautiful Monday morning here in Las Vegas. The pigeons are cooing and a dog is yelping. It appears that the warm spring weather has made the birds happy and motivated them to spread their morning cheer to the neighborhood. The weather didn't motivate the dog's happiness, but it's possible the dog either wanted someone to let him out of his apartment or into it. The way animal and other noises echo in this neighborhood I can't tell where the dog was when he was yelping. He finally stopped so apparently he got whatever it was he wanted.

Spring is in the air
Scattering pollen sneezing
and warmer weather

I haven't opened the blinds or the door yet to check if the wind is blowing in my neighborhood. I don't thin very many people are up because the only noises I hear are animal noise. I don't even hear the neighbor playing music which is good because I'm not motivated to list to his favorite singers this morning.

Morning motivation
To take my medication
And then make myself stay up.

The only thing I was motivated to do was get up and take my medication. Since I'm up I'm not going to lay back down. So I need to accomplish something this morning. I'm going to post this and then see what else I can accomplish before breakfast.

Midweek Reflections on Positive Thinking and Depression

'Idal (Justice), 16 Sulṭán (Sovereignty), 172 BE - Wednesday, February 3, 2016 about 9:39 AM Pacific Standard Time

Sometimes blue Monday
hides the joy of a new week
with despair's dark clouds.

I don't mind starting a new workweek in a brown study looking at the dark clouds hiding the sun because I know that on Tuesday or Wednesday I will again be in the sun. I know that something will happen, usually half way through Monday or early Tuesday morning to brighten my outlook and bring back my positive mood. I can always find something to brighten my mood and chase away the negatives. Sometimes it's just knowing that darkness or clouds don't last forever and that sun the sun will come shining through changing my sadness to joy.

Wednesday morning blues
Usually sneaks up on me:
A shadow across the sun.

Wednesday blues can be more difficult to deal with because I'm at the top of the week's mountain. On the mountain top the sun is shining down while below me is spread the valleys of past and future. Behind me the Valley of the past is uncovered by clouds, but in front of me the Valley of the Future is hidden beneath a layer of dark clouds that let beams of light penetrate them to reveal small sections of the landscape.

It's the sections of the landscape I can't see
that depresses me.

I try to think positive, but positive thinking doesn't always scatter depression. This used to worry me; however, at 69 I've come to realize that positive thinking isn't facing reality. Life is full of ups and downs, of dark clouds and sunshine. In nature dark clouds usually foretell rain which is necessary to help crops grow. Crops need sunshine as well because if it rained all the time then it would wash out the crops and nothing would grow.

In order to grow
the human soul
need both joy and sorrow.

It's Wednesday. I'm dealing with Wednesday depression therefore I place the day in God's hands knowing that everything will work out according to Divine will. I do the same thing when I encounter the Monday blues. Everything always works out according to God's will. Each day I have to move forward into the darkness and the clouds knowing that eventually the sun will shine. This is a positive thought because I am looking for the sunlight rather then looking at the clouds or the darkness.