poetic cause & affect…

“Poetry is boned with ideas,

nerved and blooded with emotions,

all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words.”

- Paul Engle

“are you listening?” by L. K. Thayer & Milos J. Kohout

I no longer fear your power

I have taken my self  back

my heart is not your toy to kick on loves battle ground

are you listening?

can you hear your strings I cut

no longer will your words bleed me dry

no longer will my moans weep on deaf ears

 no longer willing to be

a ghost of my shadow’s desire

I am worthy

I am a divine

I am whole without you

will the echos of my pleas

come back to haunt me

can you hear me

can you hear me

can you hear me

L. K. Thayer

Photograph “are you listening?…”

By Milos J. Kohout

© 2011

Juicy Quote

“The power that makes grass grow, fruit open, and guides the bird in flight
is in us all.”

- Anzia Yezierska

Short Poems by Shirley Ballard

BONANZA — “Cutthroat Junction” Episode 26 — Pictured: (l-r) — Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank

“Ruthless Hearts”

little by little

we learn to love

to give and take

from someone dear

then time takes over

and washes the colors away

little by little

we learn to hate

——————————

“Each Day”

each day we’re intimate with it

it caresses our hair

and face like a lover

but it’s not…

and we have to live with it

it’s called air

—————————-

“The Special Drawer”

the drawer was filled

with odd bits

parts of old theatre tickets

one stained with red wine drops

another with mini notes

time and locations and love

—————————-

“Emptiness”

life feels incomplete…

a task waiting to be done.

—————————–

“Waiting For Dark”

so I can see

how for granted

do we take eyes

for granted…

don’t take it away

don’t lose it

to the dark

Shirley Ballard

86 yrs. Actress

(Miss Calif. 1944)

http://www.misscalifornia.org/cbSite/cbActive/cbFormers.html

” PONZI SAUCE over Steamed Vegetables” by MC Lubow

I woke up steaming mad, sick and tired of my gastric juices being in distress,
sick and tired of starting a lovely sunny California day with
acid rain, the sour sauce burning up my insides from tum tum to sore
red throat, making it hurtful to talk, even to close friends. Yes, I’m sick and tired of being mad at myself, for my confusion, my
exhaustion, my emotional paralysis when it comes to sorting numbers, dividing up coins, and custom sofas, art, and fine china that once graced our holiday table.
I can divide all right, but I never wanted to be a number, or spend time
in check books, researching how I spent every dime and nickel in 2010, and coughing up dry facts, under penalty of perjury,
when my only crime is helping my family, I cop to that.
Like Hello…I am no diff than
folks everywhere who pray their loved ones have safe shelter, not live helter-skelter, on the sharp edge of poverty with its debilitating depressing aggressive dark pit of despair, with only starch in their shrinking pantry, instead of starch in their uniforms, for they have been injured, disabled, unable to work at their calling.

So I call myself on myself again and again…Hello…Am I a mad woman to not recognize the signs that my quarter century marriage was on a nickel and dime collision course with my dream recipe of lovability, stability, compatibility.
Was my fate to be that declarations of love would be replaced by court mandated Declarations of Income and Expense ? Man, oh man…

I came to the castle on the green tree hill. I sought refuge in cookbooks of sauces, while he cooked the books of our shared accounts and shredded financial records into spaghetti. At book club my gal friends shared gourmet tips. I came to grips
with the kitchen graters, whisks and sauce pots at TJ Maxx. I peeled off
layers of burnt potato skin denial and put my sweet meats on the back burner…
of our old Jenn-air. I sought fresh air along the sea paths of my soul. Is the air
we breath, tho petrol polluted, still free?

I churned away, my insides gurgling like a neglected garden hose…realizing
I was being spurned by the man I had pledged to love til kingdom come..I
looked in my vanity mirror. Wide eyed and wild, I stared, saw in the newly mined furrows of my face, that I could not mask my raw feelings.
I was and am furious, delirious, seriously
mad, mad, mad at my hub, a numbers whiz, who kinged himself, and whose favorite activity is being in his counting house, where he collects coins of every metal. I put my foot to the pedal of my chariot he now claims is his.

I am mad at the guy who had charmed me, disarmed me, but now alarms me. I thought of Savonarola and the Bonfire of the Vanities. I realized my days with my hubby were numbered. I couldn’t chance him burning my books. I was mad enough from getting myself into his Ponzi Sauce. Mad at Madoff and other Mad Men for their disregard regarding others. Mad at Madoff and other sociopaths for their seedy paths, despicable descent from a pyramid of trust to an obscene pyramid scheme. Madoff’s fall into the dead sea of greed, preying on human frailties of uncertain self esteem, those wanting into a Billionares’ club, the club where one could make out like a bandit, the stealth club that accepted Jews of wealth, where greed was no longer latent in their taste buds, but on their tongues, who shmoozed they had found the holy
Grail where one could not loose, the best
way to invest, earn high interest, but keep the deal close to one’s chest.

So I am not one for that club, but I do desire a life of modest comfort,
of returned love, of kindness. Call me crazy, if you must…I do not seek to be a bag of a lady hiding out on a secret street with The L. A. Times for a tent.
When I had a full pantry, I shared it.
Now that my share is being stolen from me, I cannot share what I do not have. This puts me in a pickle. turns me inside out, like a Frida Kahlo painting of my internal distress. So I try to tuck my guts back in; try to trust my gut more. I ask for clarity. I study body language. Read lips.
I hang out in bookstores and libraries,
instead of boutiques I once explored.
I will soon open the covers of my new cooking life story storybook,
wondering what mysteries, adventures and passions may be revealed. I pray for a page turner.

When I make Ponzu Sauce and steam veggies for my supper tonight, I’ll steam
broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, asparagus and garlic
in a collapsible steamer, but I will no longer collapse.
I will squeeze fresh lime and lemon juice,
but I will no longer be squeezed dry.
I will sprinkle my digits with delight, and I will not poke his voodoo eyes out.
I will stir in some nice rice vinegar and low sodium soy sauce. A little aqua, from the Owens Valley, if true be told. (My DWP bill is out of sight.)
I will shred a half knob of fresh ginger and a scallion, thrown in for dash,
but I will not throw in my monogrammed towel.
I will ride my own white stallion to the table and allow myself a Mona Lisa smile as
I gaze out the window and reflect on my survival.

MC Lubow

© 2011

“Juicy Haiku” by L. K. Thayer

kiwi, orange, pears, grapes

succulent, yummy squeezes

poetic fruit juice

L. K. Thayer

© 2011

poetic pause…

“Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason.”

- Novalis

“Fading Clown” by Mitch Hicks

A clown fades
I know that look
An audience of weeds
Bricks silently applaud
This hidden image unseen
No laughter for a fading clown
Undergrowth footsteps enroll me
Camera in hand ticket for last show
Remember this fading face with care
Tomorrow it’s the one that you shall wear

Poem & Snap by Mitch Hicks
U.K.© 2011

Fruit For Thought…

“All the vegetation will blossom forth for you, flowering in fruition;

imbued with this sublime essence, you shall never leave it again.

No other sweet and tasty flavors can compare to it.”

Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Foto by L. K. Thayer

© 2011

Juicy Quote

“More affectionate than a kiss is a well done hug in someone that you love.

Have you ever notice how I can give delicious hugs?”

-  Carmen Miranda