Grills Of Summer

Grills Of Summer (Randyjw; August 9, 2023)

 

My fire burns like smoke:

low, slow,

and totally in control

 

 

Humble, Bumble, And Rumble

Humble, Bumble, And Rumble (Randyjw; May 4, 2023)

My life as a long-played out set-up

Odd-man out, since the others all have connections

the food stamp people know the market people know the housing people know the library people know the Occupy people know the woke people know the court people know the  christian people know the levant people know the fertile crescent people know the criminal people know the good people but only from one perspective know the security people know the IT people maybe the cartel

So they shut the food pantry, leave me no address so I lose my medical, lose my bus pass, lose bathroom access, lose my food

They weaponize their bodily fluids against me crumble their feces to throw in my hair liquified and pumped out their pants, shirt sleeves, sneakers, and other devices like key fobs and sprays they continue to aerosol

They want to give me HIV or cancer, and I believe they did throwing their head, body, and down-there lice bedbugs mites at me and brag that they do so

Want to drop me in the water to the crocodiles

Abduct me and make it international, as if it’s me trying to flee the law

They seek human justice, and revenge, and maybe that’s rightly so

Believing the ends always justify the means

I think that it’s just one running scheme a real-life reality show paradox hunger games

How all attack the one, based on power

Assigning fake motivations to me that just aren’t there

Thinking it’s the same, but I disagree

Coming behind me to mess me up

thinking their e. coli and drippy stuff is okay; but what’s in their bags? Body parts? Why is their prejudice okay?

And how many false starts; hacked discovery process; removed hard drives, just when it was time to contest things

shortening reply times; shredding process of chronology

Exile me

a homeless person, a stateless person

They rejoice to Allah and hallelujah as the sirens and people cry

but they’ve shown tolerance, and not

they come in by the planeloads and get free bus rides and go off again to other places for more of the same

all against one and one against all

They wear me down and will continue til I’m dead

But in it all there’s always the spin

how one can smoke crack collect houses and cars and boyfriends and children and talk about a Kike and Jew you down on mother’s day in front of me and my mom

I’m sorry I’m not elevating your soul

It’s the things I never said

Couldn’t bring another child into the world with our low salaries and living at our mom’s and didn’t think that would be fair to the ones you already had

One other chance, but again, too long deliberating the pros and cons gave me the answer  I didn’t want

and, unfortunately, agreeing with the family over their lambasting another for the ticking of their biological clock

Living selflessly for these people, only just to be shot

but that’s the way it is

Even G-d doesn’t like a wishy-washy person

the real signs (not these human-contrived)

being that I was vomited from the land and broke my tooth in the air on an olive pit

and now this removal of my soul

they model, but don’t tell – cuz who like to be told?

but, no-one ever told me: it was encouraged and prsented as something else, so I never knew at all

and that was my normal but I still can’t really change

I’ll talk to people, wear my pants and clothes down til they rot hate stuff on my head and elbows can’t stand barred windows and patrols

I don’t know how to go about life

I’ve had my plenty of share of sacrifice and thought I was way grown before my time

but, yeah

life caught up, or at least you guys did

to show me I ain’t so grand and to be humble

but I always thought I was, and still I’m sorry

Present

Present (Randyjw; April 8, 2023)

 

My life story unfolds before me

Somehow, I never had a handle on it

tipping the apple cart

and the world going awry

Knowing I should be brave enough

to stand up and do the right thing

But fearfulness and cowardice

my call signs

and not feeling good about it

but letting the disgust and cosmos flow

My presence just kinking up the natural order of things

I want them to go back to the way they were,

The best way, I guess, is without me

Still trying to send my love, in thought, to all

Hoping they feel it, but as the operator, and acting like I’m on the receiving end, I envision them all saying… yeah, right —

it’s not the words, it’s the deeds

I miss everybody in my life

Those relationships need to stay just as they are

regardless of the way things have changed

seasons come and go

marching forward and back again

There’s a photo of me

among the milkweed blooms

I was anxious, you can see

Black sweater, white piping, grey pants

When I’d swing on the swings,

I was really free

At the back wall, by the door

Trying for an aerial,

but hurting my finger

in the parking lot

oh, dear; why didn’t I look?

How did I wind up in her car?

(and, no; that wasn’t me, but just the same…)

And why did this all come to be?

And how ’bout that big, beautiful tree?

I do wish my birth

had never been like this wretched curse

I should come with a big warning sign

Hazardous to your health

I wish we could turn back the clock

and you all could just pick up where I dropped off

a big skull and crossbones

a Wrong Way sign

and “X” me right out

So much in a name, you know

Why that one?

What’s going on?

Yes, I was the mistake

and you all were right, after all

We’re all so intertwined

some, in particular

Everyone, combined

But, for some,

and for some reason, now

there are things that seem to be clear

I’m seeing you (all), now, in the parts of my life

and I know you were always there

 

HOD #3

HOD #3 (Randyjw; April 4, 2023)

Being sprayed three times today (orange, Lysol, and unknown)

maybe they got the “okay” once again

A person with stuff in a napkin, and the eau d’parfum of No. 2 (continuously happening)

On the phone in the stall hearing You should go to jail

and rolling devices with flipping switches, turning handles, and are they gassing me this way (well, that one’s a bit outré…)

Usually it’s the swampgas stuff, but this isn’t the same

key fobs and shoes…, and the guy across the way (is that my “fist of God” guy, or just someone seeming the same – now saying something about Easter)

and previously,

please don’t tell me that that was the imam in the photo with you-know-who’s brother that I saw the other day (I hope not, cuz Hama’s is not my friend)

and scary-sounding things which happen at “doce” (my theme, yes)

and phones to ears, so I can see, about someone ranting about, oh, crocodiles, and things

and the market comment about putting half-a-croc somewhere near

And how tranquilo I’m really not, due to these fears

This “behavioral therapy” has gotten me hurt (broken toes, I believe… a lump on my forehead trying to run for the bus; my foot wrenched backward; stepping into a foot of water; the back flow of the septic system by the market employee, which backed into my stall and on my shoes)

hearing someone say on the phone that someone else was supposed to get ten thousand for the EYEDROP thing, but they only got __________ !

veinte libre

hey, glad that reform is paying you well and that, for you guys, at least, there’s jobs to be had, and money to be made

Oh, La Mala, La Mala, La Mala

Some Days In April

Some Days In April (Randyjw; March 23, 2023)

 

Always especially hard on us during that particular holiday

the scent of my blood drawing hell hounds to bay

a circle of afflictions they want to throw my way

“That’s the way them people are,” she says, as she films me moving away

 

“Their children are all smiling,” he says,

as seen from the bus on a synagogue Saturday;

They want to throw me in the water as una cuerpa, to decay

I’m not blameless, or perfect, so, of course, my protestations have no say

Maybe I’ll have to go soon to my grave

ceding the fight to my friends and my enemies made

Maybe music and love will win the day if all can see through the deep rosy shades

I hope you’re right, but the social divides are what started this whole charade

Should I stop? I think not… I’ll just fight for my people, anyway,

Cuz even if you were as sinless as the perfect man, they would demand the Jew’s life, anyway

 

Share this:

Infernal Thermal (Randyjw; February 16, 2023)

 

old and beautiful

like this well-worn, warm thermal

dark and navy blue

 

Comfort Food

Comfort Food (Randyjw; December 23, 2022)

 

Just the thought it’s near;

and in having it be there –

a comfort so dear

 

 

Share

Share (randyjw; December 15, 2022)

 

My dad was the perfect gentleman;

Unfortunately for my mom,

this left her having to be the disciplinarian.

No fun.

Please share responsibly;

and then this would not have to be.

 

 

A Visit From Saint Mick

A Visit From Saint Mick (Randyjw; December 13, 2022)

 

‘Twas the night before Keithmas, when all through the land

All the peeps had been stirring, including the band

The speakers were hung by the road crew with care,

In hopes that Saint Mick soon would be there;

Enjoying the time, we sang Christmas carols,

And all wished we could play bass, just like Darryl!

With Ron in his kerchief, and a horn on Matt’s lap,

We settled our minds to a mid-day’s small nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I rose from the sofa to see what was the matter.

 

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash

The sun on the crest of a Silver Cloud

A rainbow’s reflection was cast all around

And what to my wondering ears should I hear?

But Mick T, Steve, and Bill, and so much good cheer

And a spry little driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in this moment it must be Saint Mick.

More rapid than paparazzo the Stones they all came

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Sasha! now, Mike! now, Bernard and Tim!

On, Chuck! on, Lisa! on, Blondie and Karl Denson!

It sounded like angels had arrived in the hall;

And Sarah Dash’s voice soaring soulfully amongst them all;

Nicky, Stu, Ian, and Billy tickling ivory

And a sweet shuffle sliding from dear, ‘ole Charlie;

And the sweet, plucked strings made by Brian as harpist;

At the lighted console, a plethora of puppies and Saint Mick

And then, in a twinkling, I heard and then saw,

the prancing and dancing of each little paw;

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the skylight Saint Mick had come in with a bound.

He was dressed in faux fur, from his head to his feet;

And his clothes were all finished with sparkling beads.

A trundle of puppies he had snugged on his back

And he looked like a peddler just opening his sack

His eyes — how they twinkled! His lips red like cherries;

On the front step to greet him were Leah and Merry!

A bunch of poinsettia he held in his teeth

And the mistletoe and holly to hang up beneath

The puppies were cute with their little round bellies,

Making the children laugh, they all shimmered like jelly.

He was happy and lovely, a right fun-loving self,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And made merry with laughter; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his chin,

And giving a nod, he left with a grin;

He sprang to his vehicle, giving the harp a wail,

And away they all went on some more happy trails.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Happy Keithmas to all, and to all a good night.”

 

(Based on the poem published anonymously on December 23, 1823 and attributed to Clement Clark Moore: “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” (a.k.a “Twas the Night Before Christmas”).

 

 

Ms Texas Sunshine

Ms Texas Sunshine (Randyjw; December 10, 2022)

 

Ms Texas Sunshine:

I really have no poem for you…

But, I just wanted to let you know

that you, somehow,

got under my skin…

I think about you,

now and then…

I wished I’d’a known

I would’ve missed you like that –

I didn’t (now I do)…

anyhoo…

things ain’t the same ’round here

without’cha

(and your little dog, too)

Hope you’re doing okay

with the job, the hub, and new babe

Say hi to your mom for me

I’m still sniffing incense

hanging on corners, without sense,

and hope you don’t miss being here

But find a great life for you there

 

Bye, but not forgotten

Love, Ran

 

 

Arrogant B

Arrogant B

 

the calf is fatted –

yet the people living in cars or streets

stay tatted and ratted

Like locusts descending

trying to eke out their meager rations

devouring all in their path

muttering and screaming

yelling and swearing

in sympathy I sigh

and roll my eyes:

too many homeless, like me…

and for that,

I hear that I’m an “arrogant b”

 

 

 

Brainwash. Rinse. Repeat.

 

Brainwash. Rinse. Repeat. (Randyjw; November 18, 2022)

 

 

 

Joy

Joy (Randyjw; October 15, 2022)

 

You bring me more joy than you could ever imagine;

 

I only just wish that you could say the same.

 

 

For Sake

For Sake (Randyjw; August 30, 2022)

 

The crazy rush of love

with it’s surreal feelings of dopamine highs

you can’t think straight or breathe right

being distracted all the time

 

and the same effect

when you fall off the clouds

hurting with the pain of a heart attack

so real, but no x-rays found

 

Seating plans changed

and I couldn’t keep up,

that’s something which you already know

and what shouldn’t have been,

conspired to bring you down

and took on another life of it’s own

 

I’m glad you found

what you sought, after all

it’s my penance, my doing, my fall

You might think I’ve lost it;

I haven’t; it hurts…

but, would you really believe me, though?

 

Love being blind

is a future excuse

for that sight which is seen in hind

The character faults

which just couldn’t be seen

Wasn’t warned to let sleeping dogs lie

 

Those things I’d hoped you’d never find

Those things that I now realize

Will always be stuck in my heart and my mind

when my honey just closed his eyes

 

 

 

 

Chismosas

Chismosas (Randyjw; July 20, 2022)

 

Si Uds. están hablando de mí

En que Uds. me ven de la manera,

las cuales misma,

en que Uds. se ven a “la otra”:

 

Con todos sus prejuicios…

 

Si hay alguien

que existe: sin casa –

que no puede ir a la playa

adonde demasiado sol

se agrava el cancer de piél;

 

también se agrava la talle y las rodillas

con el movimiento, flujo y reflujo,

de las ondas del oceano

 

Conocen Uds. a muchas putas?

porque yo no soy como una de “ellas”

Pero, todo de todo los que Uds. hablan:

Los chismes por teléfono, todo el tiempo

 

 

By The Way, Bam

By The Way, Bam (Randyjw; July 20, 2022)

 

I don’t see how you can blame him

for being the way he is

the foundations shook from the beginning

being poured on concrete too thin

 

The bad luck problems were at least attended

through extended family and friends

and the good sense to knit all the chaos together

through the core of one family domain

 

But so much criticism heaped upon him

and all this venom upon your tongue

Osmosis didn’t work past hedonism

and you gave up before you’d begun

 

It’s no wonder that you wind up

with another victim

the guilt-ridden survivor,

salvation’s sister

 

The fair-haired striver

the over-achieving girl wonder

who will try, and fail, often

to protect her brother

 

Disadvantaged at birth

through your choices and hers

far worse than one dog’s life

unlearned and untaught

 

Written off as unworthy

a hopeless, lost cause

just an aberrant freak-show

with no stands of applause

 

There’s still some time left

You can teach him how to begin

So, why are you so against it

When, after all, he is your son

 

 

Fire Water From Fiji

Fire Water From Fiji (Randyjw; June 20, 2022)

 

Whoops; there I go…

Oh, no!!!

 

Need a poem, here, but don’t have one.

Maybe…

 

Back to signs and photos, AGAIN…

 

No endorsement, officially, and sorry to product picture, but I do like the stuff:

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Your Health

 

For Your Health (Randyjw; June 20, 2022)

 

 

 

Stripes

Stripes (Randyjw; May 18, 2022)

 

So, When will this flag,

kept flying at half-, ever

be returned, full-staff?

 

 

 

The Need For Ink

The Need For Ink (Randyjw; May 18, 2022)

 

I sent love and gratitude off to my exes

the other night

An air-kiss, from an airhead,

without regret

Too long in paying the price

and thankful for the experience,

nevertheless

Still really hope that they have a nice life

and would be ecstatic if that be so

And thank those

who have come into my life

Just for being there

and helping me to heal

I can unbottle my tears;

they flow freely, now

Sometimes, coming unbidden

even when I feel like they shouldn’t

I realized, today, that tears may be only a judgement

When I cry them,

it’s for others

and it makes me sad to see them

acting with such disregard

But, then I realize, too,

that theirs may have been caused

by something I’ve done, too

In some respects, I’m way too emotional;

and, in others, it seems (to others)

that I’m not that way, at all

[(even though I am);

Yeah – what a mess!

Added afterwards]

I write to tell you this

and to re-read it to myself

‘cuz I’ve led a hectic type of life

burning a bunch of candles at all their ends

Sometimes we never get to say our “sorries”

and we wind up paying our penance

through “cosmic happenstance”

or self-inflicted manners of making amends

But, maybe we should just accept whatever,

and whomever,

that has crossed our paths

for, in so many ways,

we have wished this upon ourselves

whether consciously, or not

And so, perhaps,

we should see all that:

What we might reflect on

as lost opportunities

as love most found and profound

And, now, yes,

I have to write for several reasons

The need for ink,

now my executioner’s sword

Not quite right, enough,

to exactly help others – – –

But, maybe so,

even so, I can hope that so

Physical, emotional,

a rehab overall

a long, slow overhaul

to, in the end, say,

I’m okay; after all

And you can be glad

not to do anything at all

And be happy not to be caught

where you chart your path on your own

There’s no guilt tripping here

you, or I, could ever impose

and it’s not wrong

to just bumble

or be,

all about life

and what one decides,

or what one wants

They might mesh,

or collide,

or, go off on tangents,

or continue in wavy or straight lines

So, here’s where I stand,

and also, it’s how I fall:

Had another dream-state –

don’t know if I was half-awake,

almost asleep,

on the border of exhaustion,

a wishful visualization, or what

Well, there we were

like an umbilical tether,

but, really a physical heart-to-heart

Your pouring your whole being into this

so that you could help me get better

You know, I might still wish how

things could’ve been;

But, I know they can’t

as much as my obsessive longings

find voice – so, I’ll channel them by these means

Regardless; I hope there’s no ball and chain

If so, just break it and let go

And, this other non-sequitur,

where-else it would have

no other place to go in a poem…

The amazing night sky

where some nights ago,

I saw how G-d could teach us

to draw:

actually, man has done better than that:

these were 2-D, and somewhat kind of flat –

but, for my purposes,

and because I’m no real artist,

but, just a dabbler, at that

several images, floating on by:

Faces, on about a 10° incline,

shadings, totally incredible,

in black-and-white; No, grey

Then, another one:

scary-ish, ’til I gave it time

understood, I think,

for all the emotions it implies

Yeah, I got it; I get you, too

I’m happy in you being you

Maybe, one day,

I’ll recount those other sleep dreams

Where now, my shuffling uncertainties

are just left, behind me

But, I’ll still “seek” my star-man

and perhaps find karmic messages

in these now exasperated sighs

Like when I shopped again at my local convenience store

hearing “Grease” on Muzak

and laughing out loud, like a loon

Hey, cosmos, thanks for that!

And, as for the physical, the Eros, the id and ego (all you, take that!)…

As it isn’t, and is:

Re-establishing literal connections now

in my head, my heart, and mind

Not even concerned in the slightest

to even try to make this rhyme

I power through this

and then I’m felled with poetry and song

I’ll just pick myself up again

and, once again, just soldier on

 

 

 

Joven Y Viejo

Jóven Y Viejo (Randyjw; May 15, 2022)

 

Siéntanse alrededor de la mesa para cenar

entre toda la familia

y con tus abuelos

y, Por eso,

y porqúe,

Este es la verdad,

y ésta es

una de muchísimas razónes

para la salvaguardia del todo

La razón entera, y la única, sobre todo

No dijes a los niños,

Salgan afuera, y Juegan,

dismissivamente

Escúchense a las historias de las anciénes

y haga un espacio para ellos –

sobre todo lo que ellos quieren hablar

Pero, además,

pregúntales al lo que exíste en el silencio

Gane el tiempo, Viene el tiempo

y no pueden ganar el tiempo

de la futura

 

 

Each One

Each One (Randyjw; May 8; May 15, 2022)

 

He plucked a pink carnation

from the bouquet he was bringing his mom

as he travelled the short-distance bus line

which, yet again, was to bring him home

He kept on finding that someone

whom it appeared that he could uplift

by presenting the stem of one flower

to each person with whom he shared each gift

He shared some of his family stories

though it seemed he may have been outcast

and he saved one morning glory

for when he reached his mom, at last

Surprising his mom with his presence

a family gathering of utmost joy

Mu son, she said, you’re my greatest present –

for these flowers are each of my boys

Blue

Blue (Randyjw; May 14, 2022)

 

Is it “overkill”

when eight patrol cars respond

to one shoplifter?

 

 

Share this:

(Randyjw; May 6, 2022)

 

I know, now,

you’ll be okay.

Flash-forward

twenty years

as if only

several days.

The woman

gets on the bus

I’m seeing her

with the same face

A content, lovely spirit

grown into her natural grace

We gaze and smile at each other

brief connections

in only minutes

the moments that tend to stay

I rambled on

in pretentious polyglot

with too much information

as I do, right now

and, in your love,

you allowed me to

let me “help” you;

When you left,

I know you did this before –

and that it wasn’t déjà vu.

(I liked your bag, by the way)

and, Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

… __ __ __ …

… __ __ __ … (Randyjw; April 29, 2022)

Please catch my drift;

Not for the words I write,

or for how they seem

But, as the reality,

for what they really mean

 

 

A Little Dit And Dat

A Little Dit And Dat (Randyjw; April 29, 2022)

 

The last one.

Could have been you at an earlier age,

when you were young.

I don’t know what has compelled me

to even see that this trio

of windowed opportunity

had a brief beginning

a middle,

and an ending,

that’s the one.

But it does.

Confirmed in symbolism,

in non-sequiturs,

in sentences

strung together

with no apparent reason

other than

a soliloquy

of a random and ordered

linear progression;

of timing,

of sequence

All sorts of emotions

playing out

of me.

There he sat –

behind the glass..

the wisest and

kindest of looks;

sensing his presence

after so apparently

a long time;

so lost in thought,

was I…

He placed his hand on the glass;

he knows….

what?

I don’t know;

just a sense that he knows my whole soul.

Yep,

this kid could’a been you;

maybe it was – – –

Some time-travel

reincarnation

of star-smashed

destined souls.

The letter

the roar of a pair

of fighter jets

racing ahead

Such a grand thing

that we can fly

anywhere

and anytime

within our minds

and solely with man-made

human wings

Reminds me

of the time I visited my Dad

ah; at his so-called

final “resting” spot;

such a strange day for me;

like trickery;

the sprinkler seas

parted to let me through –

when I wanted –

my feet lead me

around the cemetery.

The plane passing overhead;

a symbolic departure

of Dad passing;

Yeah – I have a hard time

of letting go;

I said, “No!!!!”

And in an impossible

reversal,

the plane shot out

of the clouds

on the same trajectory

but now in the other direction.

He came back.

Maybe he stuck around,

but he was always free

to come and go.

— … —

(added May 8, 2022:)

Aaah, G-d,

how I love him so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passover 5782 (2022)

Passover 5782 (Randyjw; April 15, 2022)

 

Passover – 5782…

Something I hope not to do

and wishing the same for you.

 

Happy Happy,

(and many more)

 

 

Boy On A Bike

Boy On A Bike (Randyjw; April 14, 2022)

 

Another one.

I can’t tell what is, what’s to be, or what has been done.

All I can see is what should supposedly seem

as a stroll in the sun

instilling “unreasonable” fear in the boy

he might never remember,

and which might never come undone.

 

The calm, encouraging attitude

at loggerheads to the task:

the boy won’t pedal,

as you ask,

 

the rickety training wheels

over the cobble,

hobbles momentum

he instinctually feels,

unnoticed

 

And, instead of pushing,

he keeps his legs straight

The graded descent going down to the lake

in the heat of a hot, hard noon

 

And, he’s not at the point where he could actually tell you that – – –

 

Instead, he compromises

to save face; to not anger

and to stay in good grace

He loudly diverts your attention;

He points in another direction

 

Me, I cry later…

and he,

he saves himself – –

at least, for the present moment

 

---

This drawing is from another time, and I didn’t have time to finish it. They’re separate incidents.

The boy I write about, above, is something more recent.

 

Girl In The Park

Girl In The Park (Randyjw; March 28, 2022)

 

You walked over the hill

a moth drawn to the flame

again and again

in nature, each nature

following its will

 

A realization, still

that same meets same

Your friends trying to draw you away

(Oh, girl – would you just go?)

yet you still remained

Your parents and guardians

issuing dire warnings

(Ah, please, little one – this is getting out of hand)

There was nothing I could do, kid

except to tell you, thanks

 

What advice could I give you?

all they mean is to keep you safe

I could see jail time looming

for this seeming inappropriateness

but doing nothing

(things getting out of control)

and a side of my own medicine staring me smack-dab in the face?

Maybe you thought that party was boring

the formulaic gatherings

(Oh, G0d, girl – no…. not the homeless girl in the park)

Maybe your parents are too self-absorbed

to just chat with you and listen to

what you have to say

with their undivided attention

 

Maybe your sense of truth and justice

won’t win out, when trying to hear

another perspective

‘cuz it’ll be turned against you

due to your sweet and trusting nature –

I wonder,

were you born in December?

 

And maybe you’ll just never get it into your head

to realize that in the dark

there sometimes really are boogiemen

 

And despite what happens to you

you’ll still never learn

and you’ll have to get a bit scrappy

and wonder why this ever occurred

 

Look, kid,

I couldn’t tell you or intervene

This is a letter just to yourself

as well as it is to me

 

Nope, I wouldn’t kidnap or kill you

that’s just your parents’ overconcern

because to love and protect you

they’re overgeneralizing to help you learn

They do need to tell you specific scenarios

‘cuz you might not dream them yourself

It’s too bad that you’re not like your little friend

the sweet, but firm, diplomat

You were just being nice when you

came wandering over

to speak with me and voice your mind

In my dottering old age, anxiety and instinct kick in –

Hurry up and break out before they’ve gotten your soul

by breaking in

 

I can see you’ll need to break the grip

being good, pleasing others,

societal expectations, the inner conflict

Though I’m not a parent,

you know, I also, too, was a kid

you kindof haunt me

like my mirrored projections

and roads to hell being paved with good intentions

You’ll be hurting, and they’ll be hurting

(just remembering the sweet, kind smile

from the woman sitting in the corner)

 

Who needs a wonderwoman costume

It’s somebody else with its whistles and bells

Live life as you – express your truth

and trust what your heart has to tell

 

 

 

Lessons Of Cinderella

Lessons of Cinderella (Randyjw; January 19, 2022)

With apologies to Disney

(or not,

considering the so-considered antisemitism we seem to always recall;

but, then again,

the given inspiration,

for the incredible fantasy-land,

fairy tales, Fantasia,

an “American” institution,

the art….

Not even sure

whether to blame you,

or thank you…)

Another facet,

or lesson learned…

(Hating that,

but only accepting it,

because it comes from

You!

It’s okay;

you may hate this,

but, I am laughing,

too…)

So,

As is said,

“If the shoe fits…”

And it did!

Rrrrrrr – 🙂

 

 

 

Share this:

(Randyjw; January 18, 2022)

Ah, you always beat me to my own mind:

I gotta be first off the starting line,

but, there you go,

with a nod and a wave,

zooming on by

Oh, Tag! I got it.

We’re both good sports

Glad I’m not too competetive

It’s still fun, though, to rev up the engine

 

Outtakes: The Adopted Dejected (Son And) Daughter

Outtakes: The Adopted Dejected (Son And) Daughter (Randyjw/Rachelgv; January 11, 2022)

 

He explores me to the core of my soul

allowing the veins of rock iron ore

to tumble and gleam like polished stone

 

 

 

On Being The Butt Of A Joke

On Being The Butt Of A Joke (Randyjw; January 8, 2022)

 

At one end,

they might say that

flattery will get you everywhere

 

and, as for the other,

you might say that

flatulence will get you nowhere

 

 

Share this:

(Randyjw; January 8, 2022)

Am I really mixed up, or were you here?

the cut, style, and color of your hair

Oh, I had another dream

this one, at least, better than the first

Full of symbolism, but not the worst

Oh, G-d! I’m still running around this world

as the same jerk I never realized I was

though I really was once a good kid

Now, I’m just some kind of

confused old lady

my fickle heart torn

reflecting on old loves and new

Starting way back, from the time I was young

Embarrassed as hell, having had more than one

and that I can’t even fully remember

everything that always transpired

between the two

And how I ran roughshod around

people growing up

just trying to be popular and cool

and, you know, I kind of really don’t get the movie

Goodwill Hunting

I only saw it recently

and, like Ben, I went around thinking

I was supposed to try to move on

and up and forward and out

but, like Matt, kind of felt like the

whole point was the small-town way of a “townie”

community, friends and family

and I didn’t do it and it’s wrecked my life

That movie sneaks up on you

like years, and life

I wasn’t thinking it was all it was cracked up to be

until the end; when it hit me

(like years, and life)

and then I sat in the library

my body wracked with sobbing tears

I had to silently (as best I could) cry

(like I used to do so often as a kid)

I don’t know; maybe it’s strange,

but that’s why I get the whole “martyrdom” thing

I’m sorry to you

and to several of my friends

who’ve gone along by the wayside

To my family — heartache, love, and sorrow

all around

Maybe sometimes we should just let

communities grow organically

and not impose ways they don’t know

upon them

Maybe just let them be

On the other hand, it’s so confusing…

if knowledge is supposed to mean

freedom or power

blissful ignorance or craziness

can sometimes be a relief

So, I’m kind of stuck in a hellish limbo

Wanting to break out, but not knowing how

because I have no end goal in sight

and I seem to be so way behind my time.

Temporary amnesia is frightening enough

but half a life stuck on auto

is frankly a life wasted away, too much

Can you ever have compassion on me

I think you do, but myself, not so

Wishing I’d learned this from the very beginning

instead of quite late at the other end

(aw, figures… in writing the

last line, the ink ran out from my favorite pen)

 

 

Share this:

(Randyjw; October 2021)

Requited love that just isn’t the same

when we were young

and never learned there was a game

 

 

Share this:

(Randyjw; October 2021)

So long I’ve waited to hear those words from you

while you grew to love me, but never knew

That all the time I’ve loved you

seemed for naught

as we grew old

our minds and bodies wasted

the togetherness — set apart

 

 

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie

 

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie (Randyjw; January 8, 2022)

 

Then, again,

the flip side to being Cinderella

is feeling like a princess in your eyes

A rose, from off the cake,

which I had, and ate that, too

And under the pine I sat

after walking a way

in my dilapidated shoes

and a ring to remind me

like a coach to whisk me home

Yes, my heart and the moon twice full

 

 

Twelve

Twelve (Randyjw; January 1, 2022)

 

Twelve years, is what it takes*

(*I didn’t tell you)

Multiply by number of traumas**

(**That’s just me;

but, for others, it’s different)

And from some…

you never recover***

(***losing battles, but secretly smiling)

 

 

 

This Leading Line

This Leading Line (Randyjw; September 16, 2021)

I live with

a zillion consequences

of poor choices

and former past actions

Letting you in

where you’ve already been

Is where I can’t help myself

I’ve already been consigned

I do, so, know this well

and it’s verboten to

accompany beside me

On this personal journey

to Hell

No Soul

No Soul (Randyjw; September 16, 2021)

I felt like a hypocrisy

to rail at G-d

to draw, closer

and higher

but not looking

where I was going

with blinders on

To be the light

while losing a heart

closing out humanity

and living in the dark

I rebelled

shook my fist and yelled

Truly discovered love

live in a self-made Hell

wrote it and posted it

Thirteen minutes later

I felt a horizontal roll

taken from my heart

At first,

I felt lighthearted

Because, that’s what I was;

what I am,

and what I’ve become

Soulless –

Undeserving for the things I’ve done

Torn out by the One who

put it there

into the

one who

made it whole

Your Mom

Your Mom (Randyjw; September 8, 2021)

 

 

 

Same Shirt, Different Day

Same Shirt, Different Day (Randyjw; August 21, 2021)

 

I tremor with the autumn leaves

accosted at turns

by cold hearts and minds

molested, then restrained,

during the light of day

I pray that it’s all just a passing phase

 

 

Senderas

Senderas (Randyjw; August 13, 2021)

 

Camina con las ancianas

cuyas escobas

barrieron las senderas

en que pisaron tus pies

 

Al lado de las antiguas

en que se fallen

las cuerpas

 

Ni enfrente,

Ni detras

 

 

 

 

Law

Law (Randyjw; July 14, 2021)

How can police enforce the laws,

if they’re not lawyers?

They don’t seem to listen

to reasoned argument…

Just come and take you, if they want,

despite logical excuse…

And how can lawyers make sure

the laws are being upheld,

or, more specifically, enforced,

when they see only courtrooms,

And not streets…

if they’re not even police?

Yachad, b’Yad

 

Yachad, b’Yad (Randyjw; June 6, 2021)

 

 

Enough of my “own-ness,” for right now, on this paper

I speak out for others in “righteous” anger

You say you care for others, but only your self-same “color”

the ventriloquist’s strings being pulled by the Arab nations

 

Our cherished notions grant freedom of speech

Like children, we’ve grown-up from babbling, to real

We celebrate each soul for their unique formations

and daily greet passersby, of all combinations

 

Allied in pain with the African people

who’ve known the yokes of the mosques

and the foreign church steeples

fight against brothers divided by tribes

the lands from the sun turn to sand, or go dry

 

Oh, where is the outrage over Mauritania?

who trade slaves, to this day, but world silence remains…

 

Joining with your oppressors

will not bring you strength;

they’ve been leading you

unwittingly to the lion’s den

 

They’re killing the Christians,

they’re misogynistic,

and really against “others” —

Please, don’t you believe them

 

Who was beside you in the Civil Rights?

We’ve joined you and fought, so that all have “real” rights

And where were the others, during all this time?

They weren’t there; they’re just giving you more of their lies

 

In “private” conversations amongst themselves

Like the Ku Klux Klan, they repeat the same filth

I’m alarmed by this supposed “democracy”

now exhibiting this raging hypocrisy

 

Are your eyes closed or open —

Or, haven’t you really noticed?

that the “woke” hate the Jews;

it’s their only main focus

 

Wake up! Are you sleeping?

Or just going through the motions?

Under the Democrat’s administrations

we’ve had the worst race relations

 

Their bigotry sees you through the lens

of low expectations

But the reality I see

doesn’t meet their exhortations

 

And, back at my end,

the thieves steal my own story

They claim my heritage as theirs

as they’ve stalked us throughout history

 

 

They’ve stolen religion from books

which precedes their own time

claiming ours is now theirs,

with the facts turned around

 

They project their hideous methods and means

onto us; What is said is, instead

their own actions and deeds

 

They’ve expanded from Arabia

to slay Africa by the sword

they’ve attacked Europe, joined Hitler,

and lost so many wars

 

Expropriated works by others

never developing their resources

like oil, and books that were

written by others

 

We’ve helped them and tried to show them

better ways

than by murder or trying to

gain world domination

 

They call it “taqqiya;” a form of double-speak

Such lies as advance their cause

by Holy enshrinement

and Hudabiyya

 

By their very own language and

by their holy book

the truth of Israel “being for the Jews”

is quite freely admitted

 

Even today, when they rage,

to “Kill the Jews”

the phrase “Khayber all YAHUD”

in Arabic points to Our Truth

 

Tribes Benjamin and Yehuda

of all of Israel

point to our heritage, religion,

our culture and land

 

for that area which they want and rename

the West Bank

We have lived here, in Israel,

despite claims of our total exile

 

By being quiet and not refuting

wholesale lies of our dispersions

and our land being granted

to terminal losers

 

I know we’re supposed to “play nice”

with our murderous neighbors

but G-d warned us of Amalek

and disobedience shows we haven’t learned

 

Which is the worse transgression?

Let’s try and do our best

And know when our enemies are our enemies

and our alleged friends are really true friends

 

Don’t come after me, execute, or excommunicate me

I’m speaking my mind, standing my ground,

and you can check:

I’m doing so Biblically

 

For some of us, in Exile, have never forgotten,

and have always wanted

to be back in Israel

and have done so, throughout the ages

 

Possibly by adapting to new countries

via customs or “assimilation”

For without much historical education,

or through insidious modes of revision,

 

The wording of being in so-called exile for “two-thousand years”

can’t account for Bar Kochba, Yavne, Rehovot,

two versions of Talmud:

Bavli and Yerushalmi

 

The external sources all point to

our being there

How else could they all have attacked us,

if we weren’t really there?

 

Religious, Zionist,

Who cares how we’re called!?

We are one, under G-d,

Yachad, b’Yad.

 

Update (June 30, 2021); see also:

 

(https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/06/why-dont-christian-black-lives-matter-raymond-ibrahim/)

 

Update (August 23, 2021); see also:

 

(https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/why-rename-judea-and-samaria/)

 

 

No Poetry And Few Words

No Poetry And Few Words (Randyjw; May 18, 2021)

You’d think with all my general rantings and ravings that I’d have plenty to write about in these times; but, no… too much bullying in personal space and cyberspace has really hurt me emotionally. My poor living situation leaves me physically struggling, which heightens the effects of stress, poor nutrition, rest, etc., plus grief in the loss of death, connections to others, personal and general war against my people on a continual and escalated basis. I’m still fighting racism and antisemitism, though… That’s what I do.

Anyways, I’m listening, now… reading… your words, still… And, yes; they have an impact. Music, and uplifting videos (at least for my purpose) are my present coping and enjoyment mechanism. Especially humorous ones.

I discovered this cool music/animation video recently (check out the themes!) – it’s my way, right now, and at least that I can handle, of reaching out to you.

Habibti Ensemble / Edom:

(https://youtu.be/TLi-_EXDTQ0)

Words Elude Me

Words Elude Me (Randyjw; April 20, 2021)

Unleashed

Unleashed (Randyjw; March 24)

 

I’m unleashing my shackled mind;

my shackled mindsets.

I’m about the experiential definition now.

The characteristics.

 

 

Those Little Things

Those Little Things (Randyjw; March 8, 2021)

 

Just the little things,

as I walk on my way…

“Echoes of my Mind”

heard as I shopped for the day

 

But who could have formed

that  “O”  “X”  from the clouds –

on this side, seen backwards,

I wonder aloud

 

G-d, with a message

that must be heaven sent

and I’m thankful I saw it

a vision well-spent

 

Calm Water

Calm Water (Randyjw; February 26, 2020)

 

I don’t feel the miles

but just the sweet, undulating

waves of the balm

propelled by your smiles

enfolded in calm

 

 

Holidays Of Another Tune

Holidays Of Another Tune (Randyjw; October 24, 2020)

 

I’m dreaming of some hot, buffalo wings

Just like the kind I used to eat

With some bleu cheese and celery

it’d sure be merry

and would be something of a treat…

 

 

Scars and Always

Scars and Always (Randyjw; October 17, 2020)

 

Cry, Cry

Cry all you want…

as for me, it’s long-lasting;

too hard to move on

 

The Adopted, Dejected (Son and) Daughter

It started out as a love poem, and then grief, anger, (and love) took over.

Real? You want real? Back to writing on paper the way I feel.

 

The Adopted, Dejected (Son and) Daughter (Randyjw; April 14, 2020)

 

He explores me to the core of my soul

my first breath, a cry, because I did not know his name

a desire to be held and to be loved for all time

and thousands of singular steps I chose to take*

 

To be held onto, so much, that I was formless, spineless

The peacemaker, a Cinderella

a pleasant woman of sorts

 

My mind, not mine, but mindless

to be good, to cause you to never let me go

 

A displeasing result, to follow orders not of my making

to be chastised and berated

as the consequence for these actions

 

To be belittled, when little, to assert my independence

withheld from affections

and confidence slow-whittled

 

My heart was broken many times,

at the thousands of disappointments seen in your eyes

at the casting aside of other peoples’ lives

and the callow reflection deemed grand of the statusized

 

I chiseled away and acted out

became a wild child

and, as a feral adult,

 

maintain the thin skin

of my childhood sensitivities

and cry like the unloved, unwanted thing

that never seemed how to learn

to reconcile all these things

 

It wasn’t to some other

as if it happened on-screen

my judgment was stunted

and became a bad dream

 

I was good, I was bad,

and my fairness was had

’til it left not much more

than a shell in its wake

 

What once calciferous deposits

took years to build upon

now come shear to clear translucence,

no less fragile, still more strong

 

For I treasure the love you intended

and realize your anxieties at being a parent

Never understanding when to let go, and

Being fiercely overprotective

 

For I know, now, how much you molded me

Being denied the history of my family

Cutting me off and denying me to the end

Did you cut off your emotions when I was ten?

 

I think it was before

at the elementary school doors

Wanting not to be thought uncool

being kissed by a parent

 

I’m sorry I hurt you

I’m sorry I repeated the scenario at college

I never learned

and how I have yearned

 

I have made a lifetime of making apologies to you…

but, when is it your turn?

 

How it has been, since that time

so way back when

that instead of your smothering,

wet, sloppy coffee kisses**

I’ve had to be always the one

to take the first initiative?

 

To be the one to offer a kiss

to your turned cheek, unreturned

To be the one to say I love you

with stone cold silence my reward

 

I’m sorry for wanting to be loved

I’m sorry for wanting to fit in

and never finding a place

It was presented as shielding me

but I was intelligent, so caught on

 

Maybe you should have allowed me into

the inner sanctum

Made me feel as if my thoughts

might matter

Instead of allowing me to be a

forever-child

Instead of a body that’s now grown?

 

Telling me hardly anything about

anything going on?

Hoping I’d forget things, until I

was reminded later on–

 

You chose me, remember?

Well, maybe you can’t quite recall…

The joy you must have felt

after all those years

waiting for oh so long

 

I’ve pieced together

the subtle clues you extended

one, maybe at seven

and another, through my social security number

 

The gifts you gave

lay in my jewelry box

admired in my own way

rifled through and taken

in front of me, while I watched

 

You re-gifted them to others

showing me that I must value them so little

heedless of sentimental attachment

or any comfort of nostalgia

 

And a choice of a better-days Bambi

or a bedraggled tiger

to give to the kid who fell down

off his bicycle

 

Nothing to hold onto,

nothing to hold on

and you sit and remain there

with your voicemail turned on

 

No, I didn’t cause your cancer

as you so like to claim

where both you and significant other

chose to pinpoint the blame

 

Of saying you’d disown me

when I was a teen

because I’d wanted to learn

who my birth parents had been?

 

Denying you’d said that

and so many other things

like saying a former boyfriends’ two children

weren’t like having the real thing (your own)?

 

You didn’t believe I could be hurt

by extrapolating in the frame of an adoptee?***

 

Denying me knowledge that my father

was dying

Then telling me to rush over

the miles

and watching his morphine-addled

last hours (okay, a bit more, but…)

 

Telling me no, I couldn’t get a cot

and stay by his bedside until he was not

Looking over my shoulder to see

the devilish grin****

of the nurse plumping his pillows–

and knowing that this was the end?

 

I said never, ever, do that to me

ever again

and break the news not alone to me

but with a posse of relative(s)/friend(s)

                                                       (the second because it rhymes)

 

And you promised, but repeated the same

scenario with my brother

I suspect you hid his cancer

over a year with your continued

trips back up to Boston

 

And hearing the news, of my brother again, with

a cousin present

and learning of your own battle with it

and more Aunts with you, yet

 

Asking if I could speak with you

alone

to receive a three-ply no

rather than a shared mother-daughter

moment?

 

Did you harbor a bunch of resentment

when you, one day, outed the fact

that my Aunt’s heirlooms from

the two of yours mother

my Uncle declared he won’t give back?

 

And I wanted to keep peace in the family

and said you shouldn’t act this way

because I still wanted a family to have

and thought it too high a price to pay

 

But, I guess you’ll teach your lesson

as you’ve done the same to me

Is it a cycle of abuse

or some form of reverse psychology?

 

You’ve always, but maybe twice, tended

to side with anyone but me

Encouraging me to lie, and listening to you,

saying it was me?

 

With your significant other

you made some kind of a devil’s pact

and when, at the beginning you

mentioned this “deal”

I was completely and utterly aghast

 

Everything you’d made with yours and dad’s

hard work

went completely to their family

leaving out my bro and me

 

In cryptic fashion, you mentioned

you tied up your money

I said, whatever it is, I don’t

care about me, just take care

of my sibling (brother)

 

Then the trips away started

with one reason or another

never knowing it might have anything

to do with my brother.

 

And I went to him, solo,

I couldn’t know why you’d delay by weeks

I used half of my savings,

the rest with you, upon my return

 

and my job you belittled, was apparently

good enough for my friend

who came to your workplace with her mother

discussing they wouldn’t hire me again

 

Yet they had, in the past, and had

given me a raise

and had fired many others

and where I had still remained

 

You said I was homeless just to spite you

but I think three years’ way too long

and know the mother I thought G-d

a human with problems all along

 

And so this Chillul Hashem

goes back to the secular

self-loathing Jew I tried hard to be

When I wanted so much to fit in

that I assimilated and then lost me

 

I still have that feminist streak

and that veneer of American society

and I apologize for denying your heritage

and trying to mold you in some ways

more modern

 

When you weren’t with me when I

went to my brother

over your dead body you

said you wouldn’t put me as proxy

He passed away and then I came

to help you, too

And you chose then to show me a

paper

that showed us both as proxies to him?

 

And if that wasn’t enough

throughout the years with your significant

other and kin

You’d promised everything that was yours

would be left to me?

 

And slowly, continually, and surely

you kept giving away

everything little by little

to always everyone else?*****

 

And then they’d flaunt it before me

and wave it before my face

Saying Look what your mother gave me

All a pathetic and hurtful disgrace

 

So, your significant other renéged

on his deal

I’ve been through that before

and can sympathize with how that feels

But do you think I should trust

his daughter’s call to confirm with her my

personal information to get “back”

into your will?

 

… she statedly said three years or so ago,

before my life and apartment fell

When I told her I wanted to speak with you

she said, “She’s not speaking to you! Get it?”

 

and now, with my phone and email hacked,

my phone uncharged and likely deactivated

it took months to get a replacement

and I still can’t even use it

 

And you, also, now in your fourth living

place in the in the past year or so since

he passed away

the last time I visited you, you

seemed quite happy that I came

But since I call from the soup kitchen phone

and service is banned now due to the virus

I still keep getting your voicemail

and my own phone number might’ve expired

 

On a cool and early morn when I had

a bit more to my energy

and free buses to assist me

on my seven-hour journey (2-1/2 hours walking)

 

I learned his daughter now you’d given

over power of attorney

regardless of the fact of COVID (19)

that I wouldn’t get to see you

 

I don’t know whether she’s provoking me

or whether it’s to you of credit deserving

whose oversight of the daughter

to visit

was left off the list by design

 

I found out when I visited last

and they told me who it was

and I’d need to go to Court

whose time might come

after you’re gone

 

I asked them to call that daughter so she can put

me on the list

Her reply, to them, was I

should call her

meaning no, or some blackmail,

or something

 

That daughter married three times

my cousin was also once homeless

and somehow they’re better than me

the adopted, dejected (son and) daughter

 

 

* (post script: everything became all mingled and intertwined)

** (sorry; I can’t change this; it’s central to my memories)

*** That it would leave scars upon me for all of eternity? (Added: April 17, 2020)

**** (of “Joanne, or Johanna”) (Added: September 30, 2020)

***** Their family (Added: September 27, 2020), my cousins (Added: October 17, 2020), and your friends (Added: September 27, 2020)?

 

Beautiful Halo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Halo (Randyjw; February 23, 2020)

 

 

I’ve lost my poetry, for awhile

I don’t know when it will return;

I guess when true smiles

return to my face

In signs and thoughts

imagined of the nearness

of your soul to mine

 

And,

 

In the meantime,

without this heaven on earth…

Yet, with nothing lost,

I have this beautiful halo you misplaced

and unerringly dropped into my heart.

 

 

(https://youtu.be/BeMJoRppPDw)

 

 

I Have A Wish (and A Dream…)

I Have A Wish (and A Dream…) (Randyjw; November 4, 2019)

 

 

 

Untitled

 

Untitled (Randyjw; November 14, 2019)

 

I recently remembered this long-forgotten poem I’d written at a young-adult period during my lifetime. I guess that deep, and recent, grief in my life has somehow jogged this from the recesses of memory. I thought I’d include it here, now. I believe this completes my entire work-to-date now, except for individual poetry written to individuals, which may have never made it to these pages.

 

 

When I am torn with grief

and aching for a love I cannot yet understand

You smile, knowingly,

and say you understand.

 

Accepting this statement at face value,

I go on.

 

Once again, the hurt swells up inside me;

tugging. tearing.

 

I dare not return while the crowned king

reigns his one-man kingdom.

 

 

The Arrowhead And The Gate

 

The Arrowhead And The Gate (Randyjw; November 14, 2019)

 

There are no longer any words I hold

that are my own

I shape yours in hidden poetry

taking flint to flint

etching sentiments into

sedimentary stone

 

 

 

Indulgent Deluge

Indulgent Deluge (Randyjw; May 17, 2019)

 

Oh, brother…

Look what you’ve done

Opened the faucets

and let the water run

 

Now all the tributaries

merge into one

When the cascades fall

it’s the time to run

 

 

Collab

Collab (Earlier; Rachelgv and Yassy)

 

I wonder why we love but it happens
Always when you least expect it
We will face it
and surmount all the odds

– a collaboration by Yas and Rach
called …. ____________ ?????

 

 

Shomeret

Shomeret (Randyjw; August 8, 2019)

 

The afternoon’s reflection:

a grown-up girl

Both woman, and warrior

with a sidelock curl

 

 

Shomeret (Hebrew):

 

The afternoon's reflection:
A grown-up girl
Both woman, and warrior
with a sidelock curl

Shomeret (Hebrew):

השתקפות אחר הצהריים:
ילדה בוגרת
גם אישה וגם לוחמת
עם תלתל בצד

 

 

Shomeret (Spanish):

 

El reflejo de la tarde:
una niña adulta
Tanto mujer, tanto guerrera
con rizo lateral

 

 

Shomeret (Hindi):

 

दोपहर का प्रतिबिंब:
एक बड़ी हो चुकी लड़की
स्त्री, और योद्धा दोनों
एक साइडलॉक कर्ल के साथ

दोपहर का प्रतिबिंब:
एक बड़ी हो चुकी लड़की
स्त्री, और योद्धा दोनों
एक साइडलॉक कर्ल के साथ

dopahar ka pratibimb:
ek badee ho chukee ladakee
stree, aur yoddha donon
ek saidalok karl ke saath

Will Look

Will Look (Randyjw; July 31, 2019)

 

and beneath the

lash-fringed eyes,

the shyest broad smile

brings peace and

contentment to mine

 

 

Too Little, Too Late

Too Little, Too Late (Randyjw; July 31, 2019)

 

Too little

too late

from the more that was in my heart

But found no privacy

to say

 

 

Antennae

Antennae (Randyjw; July 21, 2019)

 

I feel the sadness,

and, seeming,

but probably unlikely,

futility.

 

Like a broadcast transmission,

pushing through space,

forward with expansion,

for which no higher being ever captured.

 

Re-Made

Re-Made (Randyjw; July 13, 2019)

 

Why do we take this pain

and internalize it, until we have

nothing to say?

 

Maybe we’re just too hurt;

Maybe it’s the way we’re made.

 

xo

 

 

 

Heart

 

Heart (Randyjw; July 12, 2019)

 

I wish you could read with my heart

the unstoppable, beating thoughts

you, only, love

 

 

 

One Breath

One Breath (Randyjw; June 24, 2019)

 

You leave me breathless;

Wanting, Lacking, and restless…

(peacefully rested).

 

 

Save Face

Save Face (Randyjw; June 21, 2019):

 

Before valuing another,

Don’t be hasty to rely on the opinions of others

Though they speak loudly

and with seeming authority

Someone that cares will be their own heart- and fact-checker

 

 

 

 

 

A Dream Uncovered

A Dream Uncovered (Randyjw; June 19, 2019)

 

Unveiling the moon

of her shrouded mysteries

illuminating

 

 

Randy’s Reviews: Tears of the Moon – by Nora Roberts

Beauty and melancholy intertwine in the Irish folklore, music, and deep ties to its land. Among its people, a haunting longing within the heart and soul can only be quenched by returning to the roots of all connections: G-d, Love, and Country. For Brenna O’Toole and Shawn Gallagher, each learn to find the fulfillment of their deepest dreams and desires through a gradual understanding of the meaning inherent in all three.

 

 

(https://youtu.be/2IFBtpfY5kM)

 

US Vets

 

US Vets (Randyjw; May 11, 2019)

 

FREEDOM. LIBERTY.

What would you give for these? Ask

any vet you see…

 

 

MEMORIAL DAY – – May 27, 2019 (Randyjw; May 5, 2019)

 

 

Star Spangled Banner As You’ve Never Heard It:

mona rose

Published on Jul 6, 2013

(https://youtu.be/YaxGNQE5ZLA)

 

 

 

Freedom Is Not Free – A poem by Kelly Strong:

CoquiDave

Published on Oct 12, 2006

(https://youtu.be/jHl5Pf6mc60)

 

 

 

Memorial Day Tribute:

Dennis Henry

Published on May 23, 2013

(https://youtu.be/NOcl17HIa7c)

 

 

 

TAPS:

Norick Hapa_On_A_Moto

Published on Dec 9, 2015

(https://youtu.be/nb2EDrrqgOk)

 

 

Calm

Calm (Randyjw; May 26, 2019)

 

Like Saul to David,

calmed with tender, soothing tones

played on the kinnor.

 

 

These songs by Yehuda Katz have a rather collective, soothing effect:

 

Yehuda Katz – Bachatzi Halayla (Midnight Escape):

(https://youtu.be/u0UN_06tess?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

This next one is by Shlomo Katz:

Shlomo Katz- Od Yishama (There Will Be Heard) (composed by Reb Shlomo Carlebach):

(https://youtu.be/_DbMc-xbYOQ?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz – Woman of Wisdom and Valor (Eshet Chayil) (composed by Reb Shlomo Carlebach):

(https://youtu.be/nb73TalRKYw?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz – B’Simchah Rabah (We’re So Happy) (composed by Reb Shlomo Carlebach):

(https://youtu.be/d30TDPPxs3A?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz – Calling Out to You (Elecha) (composed by Reb Shlomo Carlebach):

(https://youtu.be/cH_Vv9Sr9qc?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz V’hamagal –  Libi U’b’sari:

(https://youtu.be/wEQYpCcnmnE?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz – Loving Life (Mi Ha’Ish):

(https://youtu.be/geMyb2pImuM?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz – Reflecting Light (K’Gavnah):

(https://youtu.be/UWOz_gWJXP4?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz – All Together (composed by Meir Banai, Yair Nitzani):

(https://youtu.be/b7X_ENnjvNw?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz – Purple Royalty (Shoshanah Ya’Akov):

(https://youtu.be/ygEvI8SrXgo?list=PLMsoBWRyDM56WNWnS31I7XJ5VIQbRoAXZ)

 

Yehuda Katz – Dancing in Mezeritch:

(https://youtu.be/qhooIOY71RY)

 

Yehuda Katz – Hand in Hand (Yamin V’Smol) (composed by Reb Shlomo Carlebach):

(https://youtu.be/5so_kNsFDlE)

 

Yehuda Katz – Nigun Lewis (composed by Reb Shlomo Carlebach):

(https://youtu.be/7Yvh0Pgsgk4)

 

Yehuda Katz – You Are the Kind (composed by Reb Shlomo Carlebach):

(https://youtu.be/YHAezU-oMhE)

 

Or:

https://newsnotes1.wordpress.com/2016/03/05/shema-yisrael/

 

 

If I Forget Thee

If I Forget Thee (Rachelgv; May 25, 2019)

 

A prayer to G-d:

Peace upon Jerusalem,

doves upon its walls

 

——————————–

 

Im Eshkachech (If I Forget Thee) (Rachelgv; Hebrew Translation / May 26, 2019)

 

T’filah L’Hashem:

Shalom Birushalayim,

yonim al hashurim

 

 

Love (Ten)

Love (Ten) (Randyjw; May 22, 2019)

 

The unseen art, of dabblers, and love,

in the negative space on the wall

was filled to existence by tenderly painters

trading places when the other stalled

 

 

Fuschia Blooms

 

Fuschia Blooms (Randyjw; May 10, 2019)

 

Fuschia brush my ears:

caresses near the soapdish

blushes cheeks and hair

 

 

Turquoise

Turquoise (Randyjw; May 10, 2019)

 

Sunlight pierces the branches of mangroves

the blue heron sailing a vast expanse for the other side

At the bank gleam shining pairs of faceted rainbows

partially submerging preying alligator eyes

 

Junebugs arrive early

and mayday beacons, like fireflies, bioluminesce in neon green

A striped mullet arcs and twists his agile body,

silvered underbody draped in pearlescent sheen

 

Sugar kisses coat the cypress swamp,

of which the water was filled and drained

And now sits the still glorious eagle

in its place where the plantation stands

 

The cypress canoes lay now silent

on the trails, filled with tears, which man tamed

A seminal tale for the Seminole,

at the time when the full moon waned.

 

 

(https://youtu.be/6cR-h8FU7rI)

 

 

 

 

Chamesh

 

Chamesh (Randyjw; May 9, 2019)

 

Chamesh is a five-fingered luck sign

of both Jewish and Arab design

To which I added further images

of symbolic peace doves of Israel, in mine

 

 

Two birds in the hand

and the world, as a pomegranate

solely… to wish each soul

A good year!

That’s all…

dadnabbit!

 

 

Love / Amor (Nine)

 

Love / Amor (Nine) (Randyjw; May 9, 2019)

 

Verses in reply

from seemingly simple lines

Layered depths to mine

 

 

No Contest

 

No Contest (Randyjw; May 9, 2019)

 

Of the bad I’ve done

No excused crimes of passion

emits from forked tongues

 

The judges human

don’t look at goodness in sums

but each act, as one

 

Opening statements,

intent, and motivation

Leave the jury hung

 

The courtroom drama

supporting evidence flung

considerations begun

 

Intimidation

the cross-examination

A gavel bangs down

 

So, put to the gun,

Not for, but because… of love,

I admit to none

 

 

Wingwoman

 

Wingwoman (Randyjw; May 9, 2019)

 

Birds on a wire

at times don’t face each other

but love, together

 

 

Can’t Chew Gum

 

Can’t Chew Gum (Randyjw; May 9, 2019)

 

My heart skips its beats

Even while managing to

trip over my feet

 

Love cont

 

Love cont (Rachelgv; May 3, 2019)

 

Pick for me

another song

and let me grasp

at shadows

that have already gone

While nights grow shorter

and the days grow long

I’ll be seeking your starlight

in the rise of each dawn

 

 

Let Us Be

 

Let Us Be (Randyjw; April 15, 2019)

(to the tune of The Beatles’ “Let It Be”)

 

When we found ourselves upon the Nile

bondsmen to our slavery

Built up Egypt’s cities

men unfree

 

And while the whips rained down upon us

beating us relentlessly

chained into our bondage

misery

 

Chorus:

Let us be (x4)

G-d proclaims His answer:

Let us be!

 

But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened

and he had no eyes with which to see

He who rules above us

Elokim

 

So G-d sent down ten plagues amongst us

sparing us eternally

G-d would let us worship

finally

 

(Chorus)

 

Then Egypt wound up devastated

livestock, land, and progeny

but now set forth to our freedom

Liberty

 

Still Pharaoh’s woes had deepened

and he suffered economically

the wage paid for those slaves

had come free

 

(Chorus)

 

The chariot army trotted

G-d endowed the rod and let us flee

by dry ground we departed

through the sea

 

And Moshe let the rod down

and two walls were one in unity

Pharaoh’s army drowned,

all but he

 

(Chorus)

 

In wilderness we wandered

seeking solace and a destiny

and false gods we created

Idolatry

 

And G-d called Moses to the Mount

and gave Laws for eternity

And Torah’s words of wisdom

set us free

 

(Chorus) (x2)

 

 

Doubtless

 

Doubtless (Randyjw’ April 15, 2019)

 

It would be close to impossible

to believe

that the silent conversations

I hold with you – –

without you

Aren’t expelled through

the ether

where they eventually

reach you;

it’s doubtless

Want them, or not,

there they are

before your heart

 

Communion

 

Communion (Randyjw; April 14, 2019)

 

Aching beauty

often finds expression

only in communion

when our souls become one

 

 

Old And Homeless

 

Old And Homeless (Randyjw; April 12, 2019)

 

You came out from the library,

looking forlorn

Garbed in like clothing

my father had worn

Then stopped on the walkway

and set your bags down

And you stared, and you stared

at that man, like your son

The man walked away

without once looking round

But you watched over him

as he gained further ground

Then you turned and went over

to sit on the bench

Your glasses were perched

and your shoulders were hunched

And looked around, aimless

Not knowing what to do

While here you sit, blameless,

Bereft of him, too

 

 

Love (Eight, I Think; But, Who’s Counting?)

Love (Eight, I Think; But, Who’s Counting?)

 

Feelings lead me

to paralyzation;

to the realization:

that I’m in love.

 

Scribed

Scribed (Randyjw; March 17, 2019)

 

Tell me

of this art

Is it the nib-side

dipped in the inkwell

or the feather end

stroked across the heart?

 

Geek Speak

Geek Speak (Randyjw; March 12, 2019)

 

As much as you might cause it to break

is at least as much as the cause of it’s ache

 

---

 

 

 

From The Depths

From The Depths (Randyjw; March 4, 2019)

 

Silencing a voice.

Why would you wish to, when by

love it sounds by choice?

Sky Writers

Sky Writers (Randyjw; February 25, 2019)

 

A connection, electric within velvet sky,
the rumble of thunder
shared teardrops and smiles

 

Mid-Air

Mid-Air (Randyjw; February 22, 2019)

 

 

Somewhere,

beneath the clouds

and ground,

 

the vastness of silence,

Like Love,

 

 

holds

without uttered sound

 

 

 

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Syllove

 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-refracted/201708/52-ways-show-i-love-you-identify-the-meanings-silence

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_of_silence

 

 

 

Night Light

Night Light (Randyjw; February 17, 2019)

 

When the moment is right…

It’s always right.

Night after night.

 

 

 

Liquid Amber

Liquid Amber (Randyjw; February 10, 2019)

 

In a zephyr state,

there would no space remain

between us

 

Pressed,

as the wax seal to paper,

or your fragrance

in amber

 

Fused,

as our blend

became one

 

Hebrew (Reverso translate):

 

במצב של צפריר,

לא יישאר עוד מקום

בינינו

לחוץ,

כמו חותם שעווה על נייר

או ניחוחך

בענבר

התמזגו,

כמו תערובת שלנו

הפך לאחד

 

Hindi (Reverso translate):

 

ek zephiyar raajy mein,

adhik jagah nahin rahegee

hamaare beech

dab gaya,

mom ke roop mein kaagaj ke lie seel

ya aapakee khushaboo

embar mein

inakaar,

hamaare mishran ke roop mein

ek ho gaya

एक ज़ेफियर राज्य में,

अधिक जगह नहीं रहेगी

हमारे बीच

दब गया,

मोम के रूप में कागज के लिए सील

या आपकी खुशबू

एम्बर में

इनकार,

हमारे मिश्रण के रूप में

एक हो गया

Spanish (Reverso translate):

En un estado de céfiro,

no quedaría espacio

entre nosotros

Presionado,

Como el sello de cera al papel

o tu fragancia en ambar

Fusionado,

como nuestra mezcla

se convirtió en uno

Liberation

Liberation (Randyjw; January 27, 2019)

 

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Working Definition of AntiSemitism by International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance:

 

https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/working-definition-antisemitism?usergroup=7

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Am poem – Anne Frank

by Natasha Hashemi and Claire Hawer

 

(https://youtu.be/2p-a_mCO_JA)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

From Where I Come (Rachelgv/Randyjw; February 22, 2017)

 

From where I come

is by my ancestry.

By Adam and Eve

through Terach and Abraham

 

And, yet, again, in

further meanderings

 

Ur-Kasdim, and into Haran

in captivity in exile

by the rivers of Babylon

Asarah B’Tevet

 

By the well of Dotan

to the right of Pharoah’s rod

at Rameses and Pitom

in fields of Padan-Aram

 

and maybe by Paran

the cities of Shushan

released with help from King Ahashveros (of Iran)

who would assist us in rebuilding the Temple

 

We commemorate in memory

that the woman he wed to wife

Hadassah, known as Esther,

the Jewish Queen that saved our lives

 

And this is known as Purim

it’s also part of the Jewish story

and Chanukah you’ll know

by our defiance of Roman glory

 

From Egypt, in Goshen

having first lived in Knaan

through Avram’s sons and Yosef the one

and led out again by Moshe

 

And that’s the story of Passover

when we were freed from our bonds

When G-d redeemed us and saved us

with ten plagues to our oppressors rained down

 

When he brought us to the mount

and to the wilderness of Zin

and gave the commandments of Torah

the Sukkot and the Mishkan

 

And that’s the backgrounds of the holidays

of Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot,

of simple days under desert stars

happy in Simchat Torah

 

And back again

to the Holy Land

promised to us

and delivered by hand

 

Through Inquest, Expulsion,

and auto-da-fe,

through Kristallnacht, Holocaust,

forests and Babi Yar

 

In Zion, and Jaffa, Carmel and Ashdod,

Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem

In Ashkelon, Aza, and Yericho

in Hevron, and Shiloh, in the fields of Machpelah

 

By Isaac, by Jacob,

and all of his breed

and Rachel and Leah

and Ruth and David

 

Because where I come from

is where I have been

and by all of  G-d’s miracles,

Here I Am

 

Abstract By Design

Abstract By Design (Randyjw; January 16, 2019)

 

Sitting in this chair

Invisible to the air

Open to your ears

 

(https://youtu.be/H22E86nIc2s)

 

(https://youtu.be/U-UwNhvqg2Y)

 

 

(Above photo uploaded April 24, 2017; YouTube choices made April 25-26, 2017 and Draft post saved)

 

Figure Eight

Figure Eight (Randyjw; December 7, 2019)

 

Graceful figure-eights:

The signs of infinity

etched upon the lake

 

 

 

(https://youtu.be/mYodsmj02Y0)

 

Nirvana

Nirvana (Randyjw; December 27, 2018)

 

 

Nirvana attained

at the heights of ecstasy;

Yet, more still remains

 

 

Moments

Moments (Randyjw; December 21, 2018)

 

Moments are all they are;

and moments all they might be…

But, the nicest moment’s I’ve spent so far

have been moments I’ve spent with thee!

 

 

Twin Gems

 

Twin Gems (Randyjw; December 13, 2018)

 

By the eye tonight

dust trails streak across the sky

night showers of light

 

In The Woods

In The Woods (Randyjw; November 29, 2018)

 

I finally got it!

And I’m out of the woods now,

warmed by your jacket

 

Life Soul

Life Soul (Randyjw; November 24, 2018)

 

My life soul,

I feel your pain

and my heart beats out

rhythms synced to your name

In grief gone silent

like the whisper of breath

an unending torment

alive yet in death

 

 

 

Winter Blanket

Winter Blanket (Randyjw; November 19, 2018)

 

A frosting begins

The doe, beneath mistletoe

Winter settles in

The Rock And The Dock / Et Ha’Selah V’Et Ha’Mezach

The Rock And The Dock / Et Ha’Selah V’Et Ha’Mezach (Randyjw; November 12, 2018)

 

Tihiyeh

mi she’atah rotzeh

lihiyot

Al kol mah

she’at

huh ha’kol bishvili

 

---

(Todah L’Google-translate assist)

 

English:

Be

who you want

to be

For everything

you are

is everything to me

 

 

A Dream Encounter

A Dream Encounter (Randyjw; October 30, 2018)

 

I’m taking us back into retreat

to the hideout, where I found you

in my dreams

Where you slipped beneath the

coils of the bedsprings

And the sleep-sofa cushions

were your impregnable fortresses’ walls

and its ceilings, with seams

Needing a refuge in defense of

the patronage of adults

their silly questioning and our

requisite performing,

like monkeys in a ring,

well-meant intent

yet keeping on to prolong our intrinsic suffering

Awake, these many days onward

and jumping in to join you

to wave a gauzy white banner

of surrender

with which to wrap us, immobile

and dampen our senses

Pretend to numbness

while reveling in a cocoon

of pure whiteness and stillness

The onslaught is tough, my friend

It attacks us on both ends,

from without and within

You grab my hand and have brought a friend

hurtling along before I can quite react or think things through to the end

It hadn’t gone as I had thought and it had not been as it seems

but I don’t know if it’s just the devil in my thoughts

or an actual one that turned up in my dreams

My life on the outside has suddenly plummeted rather steeply

At the moment, I’m muffling us in muted suspension

til we can unravel our protective coverings and take to discovering things more deeply

 

Spicy Nights And Morning Fragrance

Spicy Nights And Morning Fragrance (Randyjw; October 27, 2018)

 

Like Icarus,

the angel wings were melted

upon nearing the sun

Caustic, and intemperate,

searing, scalding one

No love potion

or witches’ brew

no incantations sung

Just a plain girl’s heart in love

by this spell of magic that was wrung

 

 

Stop Of The Clock

Stop Of The Clock (Randyjw; October 18, 2018)

 

Time pulls me down

like quicksand in its grasp

seeking stronger purchase

more days that scurry past

 

And G-d , who, in his pleasure,

creates both night and day

For man, who, in his measure,

turns such things to disarray

 

Both good times and regret,

the betrayal of a friend

Can this clock we aughtst forget

with each tock ticking ’til the end?

 

 

Night Blooms

Night Blooms (Randyjw; October 17, 2018)

 

Hanging in white space

amidst this gaping absense

Life without fragrance

 

 

Untendered Words

Untendered Words (Randyjw; October 6, 2018)

 

Words, themselves, can’t be returned;

but solely exchanged in dialogue.

 

And coined words cast

from minted minds:

Uncommon cents – –

So hard to find.

 

---

 

(but you, reader, deserve the most tender of words)

 

Ode To Hillel

Ode To Hillel (Randyjw; October 6, 2018)

 

Dream large, and hold lofty goals

embrace the day, and all it holds

remember to do so, manifold

Save the world, by saving one soul

 

 

A beautiful article inspired around Hillel:

 

Astor, Yaakov. “Me, Myself and I: Ethics of the Fathers 1:14”; aish.com; June 5, 2004:

(http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/48893292.html)

 

 

Glide-By Viewing

Glide-By Viewing (Randyjw; October 5, 2018)

 

Dreamily floating by

on top of apricot clouds,

watching the world glide by

Disguise

Disguise (Randyjw; October 5, 2018)

 

Blessing in disguise – –

Seen just with the days’ eyes;

With time, realized

 

 

Dance Of The Cranes

Dance Of The Cranes (Randyjw; October 2, 2018)

 

Dancing of the cranes

introductory ballet

both plea and plié

 

 

Sun Spot

Sun Spot (Rachelgv; September 28, 2018)

 

The day is so bright – –

fallen leaves reveal the light;

Thank you for this sight!

 

In Our Dreams

In Our Dreams (Randyjw; September 24, 2018)

 

In dreams, words run free.

In dreams, they can say what you want them to mean.

In dreams, words can be want you want them to be.

The dreams I’ve dreamt, is the me which is meant.

 

(for Asha)

 

Old Soul

Old Soul (Randyjw; September 23, 2018)

 

Is my old soul yet learning

to embrace the pain

When it still keeps returning

to face it again?

 

 

A song my father sang, and played on the piano (three versions, below):

 

Autumn Leaves / Nat King Cole (English):

 

( https://youtu.be/zNBbDJdstZQ )

 

Les Feuilles Mortes / Yves Montand (French):

 

( https://youtu.be/Mvi7mFpSO1M )

 

( https://youtu.be/Ur9XthDjkq0 )

 

 

 

Seashell Trail

Seashell Trail (Randyjw; September 17, 2018)

 

Seashells strewn

across the sand

Like breadcrumb trails

we drop by hand

 

A Service To Speak Thus

A Service To Speak Thus (Randyjw; September 13, 2018)

 

Whatever painful truths

lie within,

an honest expression – –

there it is.

 

After Dawn

 

After Dawn (Randyjw; September 13, 2018)

 

Leaves holding on.

Each gust of wind

an arduous effort

in the gales of the storm.

 

Leaves coalesce,

becoming one;

brown underfoot

and as dry as the dust.

 

All seasons do come.

Even the green will turn

when trees fluoresce

into gold and orange.

 

After moonfall,

on bared branches

nests the solemn owl.

So the sun does set

as it will, after dawn.

 

 

Peace Be Upon You

Peace Be Upon You (Rachelgv; August 31, 2018)

 

Go, and sit there where you need

Bring your poetry and read it her

by the still water in the light of day

Open your heart and your eyes

to let fall all the water that may

Kiss the book, and turn home

in gentle sleep and dreams

Let peace come, and wash it away

 

Astral Rejection

Astral Rejection (Randyjw; August 29, 2018)

 

I decide to visit you this evening

Embarking on the astral plane

which will fling me into space

on this hologrammatically incorrect journey

where, in seconds, I arrive at my destination

Now a glitch in the reservation system

perhaps due to some human kind of communication error

changed the arrival gate,

along with the weather

And now my soul clinks back

against unanticipated glass

these veins top cool, white marble slab

a rather unexpected reception

---

(Just writing the way I feel,

of fictional fantasy fancied unreal)

 

Ecstatically, Esoterically One

Ecstatically, Esoterically One (Randyjw; August 29, 2018)

 

I’ve never been so happy

than deepest in my thoughts with you

where, here, you’re with me, too

 

Shell On My Shirt

Shell On My Shirt (Rachelgv; August 29, 2018)

 

Of the oceans we’re apart,

this shell on my shirt

a home within my heart

 

Susim

Susim (Rachelgv; August 29, 2018)

 

B’susim, anashim,

u’zeekeinav, achareihem,

ba’rechev rochvim

 

 

Translation, English:

 

Horses (Rachelgv; August 29, 2018)

 

On horseback, men,

And their elders, after them,

in carriages riding

 

 

Again

Again (Randyjw; August 25, 2018)

 

How do you know

when love is true?

Again and again,

it comes up “you”

 

Sequel

Sequel (Randyjw; August 25, 2018)

 

At the risk of repetition

and the sense of deja vu

I’d love the following edition

provided it was you

 

Platinum

 

Platinum (Randyjw; August 21, 2018)

 

I emit peace and contentment

that’s taken my lifetime to embed

The frenetic pace of youth

that’s solely appropriate to age

like a noted piece of poetry

from a younger day’s continuum

The dispenser of advice and wisdom

of greater depth through experience

And here I am right now

Wholly radiant in platinum

 

Partake

Partake (Randyjw; August 16, 2018)

 

Indulge me

in an utmost joy

of temporary pleasure

Elevate me

with eloquent artistry

to escape the banality

Experience heights

of enlightened sensories

apart from the everyday

Live a lot

equally well with humility

and not solely fraught

with an overwrought decadence

___________________________________________

 

Drowning myself in gluttony with this chocolate cake and ice cream. Someone violated my sleeping space yesterday morning and stole my large sports-team duffel bag with many of my belongings. This self-treat was just what I needed to make myself feel a whole lot better!

 

The Dance

The Dance (Randyjw; August 15, 2018)

 

Leaves curl in piles swept on the ground

The rain drops in misty shrouds all around

Ambling down the windswept avenue

I smile and walk, awaiting that dance with you

 

Life On The Outside

 

Life On The Outside (Randyjw; August 11, 2018)

 

Birds of prey cry out,

born just the other day

Already circling the skies

they fly from tree to tree

Like the hawks, are men

casting a leering eye

through the walls

of my bedroom,

which should have been

I didn’t ask to be here

I didn’t expect that a lifetime

of working

Would land me curbside

on a stoop of brick pavers

A graffitied backdrop

replacing sheer curtains, instead

If you want, you can check

you can see my verifiable record

from when I started my labor, underage,

and how it continued mostly nonstop

And you can screen my drug-free blood

and wonder why these pincushion-like arms

all red and bumpy, and gnawed on by ants and mosquitoes

Have never experienced the wrong shot

Berate me all you want

through your zip-coded status

or your caste-creating lot

I’ve shunned that kind since childhood

having grown up in that spot

But, I will not forgive you your disrespect

your lack of manners, uncircumspect

inviting yourself bedside, beyond my front door

to wake me and grope me through invisible walls

My body isn’t yours for the taking

My head and heart already found a home within

Stop accosting me and assaulting me

And get your dog’s poop cleaned up from out of my yard

I might sleep near the sidewalk, in dark, outside

So I will pray to G-d I might live through this night

---

The stark realities of being a homeless woman, tired of shelters which warehouse people for the money, and instead now living on the street in order to have more freedom to look for work and attend to daily needs, means the presumptions of most people, whether homeless or otherwise, that:

 

1) You choose to be living “the homeless lifestyle”;

2) You don’t want to work;

3) That you’re a drug or alcohol abuser;

4) That homelessness automatically makes you a “lady of the night,” willing to do anything for a couple of dollars, if you’re a woman.

 

I can assure you that none of the above are true. I have been accosted by men more times than I can even begin to recall. There is a chauvinist power trip aspect by the homeless men over the homeless women, using a pretense of protecting the woman, when, instead, they try to take everything they can get from the women. The men will invade the privacy of a woman and baldly interrupt their private attendings. The men will also wake or keep a woman up, so as to deprive them of sleep. While I have worked for years to, while not negative, to at least keep my credit neutral, I now have several unexpected emergency room visits to out-of-network hospitals resulting in major unpaid medical bills to mar my credit, and which I cannot now pay due to homelessness and lack of employment. One such major bill is due to the lack of food and sleep deprivation I was experiencing, caused considerably by these circumstances. Yesterday morning, I woke up to two different men, both of whom had snuck up while I was sleeping and did G-d knows what – – some of which I became aware as I awoke and they were lying next to me. I was being groped. This happened TWICE, yesterday; and it’s not the first time this has happened. I’ve had it up to where three different men have come, basically in succession, to harass me by various means and methods. I am feeling very disgusted, ashamed, harassed, angry, sad, violated. Even surrounded by other people, they didn’t wake up when it was happening one time, and I was loud. Other people will not “get involved” because of the “snitch factor.” Too many people are being stabbed, shot, and killed. Believe me; I am not here by choice, but, unfortunately, through consequence.

 

I pour out my feelings online – – to people, about people, about who I love, or who or what types of behavior (terrorism, chauvinism, anti-Semitism, etc.) I don’t. If someone can love someone, without happening to have a consummation of a physical nature, but love them in heart and spirit, isn’t that enough? Who can decide that answer other than the parties involved? Certainly not by bullying from any outside peanut galleries, wouldn’t you agree?

 

Thank you, angel girl, for coming to my rescue in the midst of this difficult-to-say writing, just as I was beginning to cry. I appreciate the food and cold drinks you brought. It gives me a moment of sustenance and caring, away from danger. Thank you for sustaining me.

 

I thank those, as well, who are working to help stop just such abuses towards women: you know who you are. xoxo.

 

 

Rainy Day

Rainy Day (Randyjw; August 11, 2018)

 

To You, L-rd, I pray

Provide a dry place to stay

Have it rain at day

 

Soul Song

 

Soul Song (Rachelgv: August 11, 2018)

 

Matzati Et

She’Ahavah

Nafshi

a verse,

3:4 – –

from Song of Solomon

on a ring:

I Have Found

That/Him/Her

(in)Which/(in)Who(m)

My Soul Loves

 

Art/Ant Colony

Art/Ant Colony (Randyjw; August 7, 2018)

 

Art appreciation

tends to be a never-ending hedonistic endeavor,

needing deeper and deeper fulfillment and realization,

to the point, sometimes, of desensitizing.

You know…

There’s some poetry in that last bit;

perhaps I’ll beg off now

and get that written.

 

On: 76 And 86

 

On: 76 And 86 (Randyjw; August 6, 2018)

 

Honored,

and by your behest

Wishes…

granted,

at your request

Seek,

What you sought to find

Found,

At the place

where your thoughts have led

Surety,

for this closing line

Granted,

that those aren’t mine

 

Stitch

Stitch (Randyjw; August 4, 2018)

 

Dredge paper

lightly through the water

on the plate

Fingertips press

gently adhere the

flour from the tray

Like a bridge

span the gap

don’t fall through

the widened crack

Knead,

needing what

a papier mâché fix

to stitch this heart

 

Love Transcends

Love Transcends (Randyjw; August 3, 2018)

 

I said goodbye

It’s not the end

My love remains

For Love transcends

 

iwwi

iwwi (Randyjw; August 2, 2018)

 

Meeting

was always

a long,

slow

goodbye

Something

this great

Just takes time

 

Angel In A Vehicle

Angel In A Vehicle (Randyjw; July 30, 2018)

 

An angel came driving in,

and brought with her

another batch

of frozen strawberries – –

plus, even more goodies…

Some frozen blueberries

and some simply dreamy

Coconut whipped topping

as airy as marshmallow

all fluffy and creamy

(and, not incidentally,

Kosher Parve)

Recently following

a wingless pair the other dusk

who served the self-same things

with some hot sauce

And a smoky leg thrown on top

 

Ideal vs Real

 

Ideal vs Real (Randyjw; July 30, 2018)

 

In a virtual world

it’s easy to forget

that the actual world

can be dangerous yet

 

 

From The First

 

From The First (Randyjw; July 30, 2018)

 

I can understand

Why man tries in good measure

to sublimate the senses

from the experiences of their pleasures

For in abundance

there is a deadening

an insatiable hunger

jaded and desensitizing

I, myself,

am a simple woman

A shout-it-from-the-rooftops

type of person

I often wonder

Could we be together

without needing to talk,

ever

To be content

hand-in-hand

On our walk

arm-in-arm

I think I could

And I think I could

transform

since G-d made two of the one

both the trumpeter- –

and the mute- – swan

But your wanderlust

and your creativeness

might dim

And all swans must take

to the wing

But they always

have a reckoning

And a remembering

of Gan Eden

 

 

Bookends

 

Bookends (Randyjw; July 30, 2018)

 

Simple things,

enjoyed alone

Shared with you

in thoughts and poem

 

What We Leave

What We Leave (Randyjw; July 30, 2018)

 

What can I concede to you

All that I am

All that I have

Nothing more

For in the end

All that remains

all we can retain

are our memories

held in store

And even they,

Sometimes, go

 

Chill With Me

 

Chill With Me (Randyjw; July 29, 2018)

 

Do you know the extreme joy

and the sensual pleasure to be had

from half a box of icebox strawberries

delivered by curbside service

on a sweltering day

When going from sensory deprivation

to a state of heightened elation

brings a waterfall of tears down like rain – – –

It’s everything that they say

 

 

Poet

Poet (Randyjw; July 27, 2018)

 

Capturing

the exact nature

and essence of

the aura of being…

The words of poetry

and the heart’s

attempts at

futilely reasoning

 

The Final Account

The Final Account (Randyjw; July 24, 2018)

 

We’ve worked all our lives

put in the time

Now in our prime

retirement’s mine

 

At our jobs all this time

Time not now on our side

Can’t get hired in our prime

And no home to call mine

 

Twin gentlemen

in the same situation

Laying on the beach

without any vocation

 

The telltale difference

the final account

One with a checkbook

the other without

 

Sand Dancing

Sand Dancing (Randyjw; July 23, 2018)

 

Okay,

My bearded man

Wear your jeans

and bare your feet

and let’s spin turns

around these sands

 

Full

Full (Randyjw; July 21, 2018)

 

You’ve filled my heart

shared expansive horizons

brought tenderness back in my life

You left interpretation open

to extract what I want

a perfect relationship found me

And lines to read between

and dreams to remake

the nuance of meaning

through mindscapes you paint

Through song and words once spoken

I’d keep on searching still

Wide open and unbroken

because you’ve left it full

 

---

 

Warning:

Discordant, jarring song choice,

but one I used to like:

 

Roam (Lyrics) – B-52’s:

(https://youtu.be/zVBMBhufaC0)

 

Harmony

Harmony (Randyjw; July 20, 2018)

 

Striking the right chords

Like heaven to the seventh

Notes of one accord

 

What Of Now

What Of Now (Randyjw; July 20, 2018)

 

Do you dream of a future

as yet to unfold

For, this I would like to know

Yesterday I lived a day ago

Right now is all I can hold

 

Keep Warm

 

Keep Warm (Randyjw; July 11, 2018)

 

The dark space

enclosed by the closet

for your coat

the hanger just dangling there

devoid of its soul

 

Restless Grey Matter

Restless Grey Matter (Randyjw; July 11, 2018)

 

I miss smoking

I miss smoking and poetry

and when you’re not around

I miss the urgency of the thought

the adrenaline-propelling acts

of living dangerously, dramatically

expending all that I’ve got

and the pivot of the fulcrum

teetering toward the side

of where I’m not

The time warp

where the world just stops

and the arms reach out

taking in vagrants

and fragrance

the carouselled stallion

flies off of its mount

How a grey day filled with rain

looks from the inside

the sheafs of papers

and the sweep of ashes

as they fall, non-committal-like

by the ashtray- and feature-less wayside

To seek vibrations in the water

the rippling undercurrents

with their possibly frightening and existential monsters

Enjoying it and living it

conjuring it, envisioning it

before some heedless reason

or aught reckless diversion

compels one or another

to ending it, mid-season

 

Drawn Emojis

Drawn Emojis (Randyjw; June 25, 2018)

 

Language And Thought

Language And Thought (Randyjw; June 22, 2018)

 

Energy of thoughts

in recognizable language,

transformed into binary data,

so easily read.

 

The generation of this independent process,

to begin with, though,

an act of G-d

inside our heads.

 

The Roar Of Thunder

The Roar Of Thunder (Randyjw; June 15, 2018)

 

Sometimes,

nothing is needed to say —

nor can it find the means

or the proper venting

with which it can even be said.

Listen with your ears

to the low rumbling of thunder

as the clouds rub together, instead

Stand in,

as the black clouds gather

the rain pitter-patters

and the lightning subsides again

Watch the petals roll

over concrete pavilions

in a burst of storm rain

blown by a sudden wind

Seek shade by the pine

to hold private conversations

in the mind

Whether that would be

thought to be by myself

or else with someone

I dream of by my side

 

 

The Tree Swing

The Tree Swing (Randyjw; June 12, 2018)

 

When memories are repressed

and feelings are surpressed

sometimes, it’s a way to cope

Do you hold to the lifeline

or plumb deeper depths

somtimes you must let go the rope

 

 

Paths Unknown

Paths Unknown (Randyjw; June 10, 2018)

 

Echoes.

No soul in sight.

Sprawling through the canyon

on a dark and empty night.

Falling from the edge

of a dream-landscape in blue-grey

an airless container

caught in shadows of summer

and labrynthine tunnels

bisecting caverns below

The thought connections…

Close,

but needing to be broke,

the being remains,

its contents now drained,

a cry of the soul,

perhaps,

releasing the hollows of its vessel.

A bonded echo

still reverberating and slow

carried off, as yet,

into paths unknown.

 

Fuming

Fuming (Randyjw; May 26, 2018)

 

You know there’s a first-world problem

If the difference you can’t tell

between a pest-infested

arc-sprayed rotunda

and the smell of a

garlicky szechuan

 

Hands In Front Of The Fireplace

Hands In Front Of The Fireplace (Randyjw; May 17, 2018)

 

In the litany unearthed of words

the decrepit, soulless descent

beckons to the ravens of the dirge

for the covenless lovers’ lament

Yet not one has singularly proven

on brooms there fly real witches

so, mine a nameless, blameless surge

across an endless Night of Bridges*

 

---

 

*

Shayne, David. “The tragedy and triumph of the Palmach, on the 75th anniversary of its founding”. blogs.timesofisrael.com; May 17, 2016:

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/75th-anniversary-of-the-founding-of-the-palmach-arose-in-tragedy-and-ended-in-triumph/

 

Puzzle Piece

Puzzle Piece (Randyjw; May 11, 2018)

 

What in this issue is akin to a jigsaw —

starting with rigid borders and one-sided ends

working my way from the easy parts backwards,

so revealing fine details of the pictures within

Tiny pieces that all look uniform

one head, two arms, and two little legs,

subtle, yet varied among form and gradations

the two nestled perfectly is how you begin

Others join on to string right and then left

extending the base to a single-formed line

Continue around using only the straight-edge

until you have completed the silhouette of your design

Now gently find way to apportion the remainders

the commonalities between and what sets them apart

Take one in your palm as you cherish and savor

the distinctive striations and distinguishing marks

Learn subtle expressions displayed by each

shadow of a boat or the shade of a gull

lucid peach light in the lover’s eyes

tilt of chin in the fading sun

Aha! and to complete the process some time past begun

you grasp the last piece and you think that  you’re done

You carefully turn it to place in that spot

and, ever, went missing

that darn elusive last one

 

Ecosystem Of Words

Ecosystem Of Words (Randyjw; May 10, 2018)

 

Words are just fill-ins

Igniting ecosystems

Catalyst begins

 

Poetic Science

Poetic Science (Randyjw; May 7, 2018)

 

Poetic Science:

Speaking volumes without sound

in utter silence

 

The Sky Is Not The Limit

The Sky Is Not The Limit (Randyjw; May 2, 2018)

 

A child sees the clouds

and exclaims aloud

they exist where the sky is the ceiling

Though the days will arrive

when she’ll soon realize

yet a universe slowly revealing

 

From My Chest

 

From My Chest (Randyjw; April 24, 2018)

 

Having got(ten) it

from my chest

I’ve made the bed

perhaps to rest

 

 

Love (Seven . . . )

 

Love (Seven . . . )

 

The one thing you’ve asked for

You’ve always had

You’ve held it close

in the palm of your hand

 

 

Shellter Skelter

Shellter Skelter (Randyjw; April 23, 2018)

 

Through many years

was its love displayed

to create the home

the crab had made

She wore it proudly

on her back

constructed soundly

to thwart attack

Forgotten was her underside

the tender part she tried to hide

As each day brought a new growth spurt

her hardened shell began to hurt

Of the many, and plentiful, beautiful designs

Only one she particularly had in mind

A sweet and soft-shell kind was he

she cracked his shell to break it free

And now the two were both laid bare

in salty oceans that they shared

The one, despaired, a hermit she

in soft-blue shells she couldn’t be

 

Locket And Loaded

Locket And Loaded (Randyjw; April 21, 2018)

 

When you unlocked it

and set it free  ~ ~ ~

You didn’t know

that around my neck

with the locket

came both keys?

 

Yom HaZikaron / Yom Ha’Atzma’ut

 

Yom HaZikaron / Yom Ha’Atzma’ut (Randyjw; April 17, 2018)

(Reposted May 1, 2019)

Soldiers, warriors, heroes, victims

mothers, fathers, siblings, children

departed, terrorism, so many gone, in memoriam

never forget, ever learned?

millions strong, remembering

Israel Stands Still

 

Israel Stands Still (Randyjw; Originally Posted: April 22, 2017)

Israel stands still

when the siren sounds across the land

recalling the fallen

the never again

You are not forgotten

but remembered again

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Siren of Rehovot, Israel (2012):

 

(https://youtu.be/M_Dc2D2va_A)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Am poem – Anne Frank

by Natasha Hashemi and Claire Hawer

 

(https://youtu.be/2p-a_mCO_JA)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eli Atah – Shlomo Gronich and the Sheba Choir

 

(https://youtu.be/CidvVpPMQQ8)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

In Happier Days (Randyjw; Originally Posted: April 23, 2017)

 

Through the slavery of Egypt;

through the auto-da-fe’s; the pogroms;

through the Inquisition; the Crusades;

and the exile of Babylon.

 

The destruction of our Temple

was more than the razing of a building;

it was the attempt to destroy through deicide

what they couldn’t destroy within.

 

The burning of our skin

in the synagogues

as they torched us alive in flames

worshipping false G-ds with idols

and blaspheming the Good L-rd’s name.

 

They eradicated us en masse in genocide

and overtook the Holy Land,

What they didn’t take, through Holocaust,

was that G-d would foil their plans.

 

G-d knows how to make it rain,

blessing, in its proper times.

As much as is done for the earth,

He has done, as well, for our minds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Rebirthday: Eternal, Israel

 

Happy Rebirthday: Eternal, Israel

(Randyjw; Originally Posted: 05/11/2016)

 

Eternal:

Yom HaZikaron

Remembrance Day (Memorial Day)

 

 

Israel:

Yom HaAtzma’ut

Independence Day

 

 

Yom Holedet!

Happy Rebirthday, Israel.

Always Eternal.

Eternally Yours,

 

HaTikvah (The Hope; a poem by Naftali Herz Imber; also it is the Israel National Anthem)

 

Kol od balayvav pnima nefesh Yehudi homiyah

Ul fatey Mizrach kadima

Ayin L’Tsion tsofiyah

Od lo avdah tikvatenu

HaTikvah shnot al payim

Liyot Am chofshi be’artzenu

B’Eretz Tzion V’rushalyim.

 

(HaTikvah “The Hope” translation from “My Jewish Learning”:)

As long as within our hearts

The Jewish soul sings,

As long as forward to the East

To Zion, looks the eye —

Our hope is not yet lost,

It is two thousand years old,

To be a free people in our land

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

 

Hear The Israel National Anthem, HaTikvah, on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6Q4XL4oRIRE

 

See excerpts of Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, proclaim the State of Israel, with HaTikvah in the background: https://youtu.be/XTSpfNoHpzU

 

Sea Reverie

Sea Reverie (Randyjw; April 15, 2018)

 

Icons of my memories

scattered like treasures found at the bottom of the sea

Glinting lights reflecting their proximity

awaiting discovery via divers of the deep

 

Dark Ocean Ink

Dark Ocean Ink (Randyjw; April 14, 2018)

 

Within the inky black depths

of submersion

riding hollow currents

sightless to the

seafarer’s excursion

Not yet letting forth

that which will give me propulsion

Milk of pearlescent

expellant liquid jets

flowing midnight blue

on anemoned coral cushions

 

The Fan

The Fan (Randyjw; April 12, 2018)

 

Unravelling the fan,

She picks it up

and the dance begins

From a darkened corner

merging with the light

shadows play in the sleight of hand

Concealing the darkest of sweltering nights

Castanets, tambourine and violin

music adjoining in a slow and urgent rumble

Stiletto heels, jasmine, chrysanthemum,

wooden floors echo their vibrations in the ensuing crescendo

 

Rattle And Roll

Rattle And Roll (Randyjw; April 7, 2018)

 

These bones are old

They creak and crack

and resist unaccustomed movement

They’re unquestionably

inflexible

and inhospitable to contortion

They’re staid

and plaid

wrapped in mommy jeans

and flannel

But, they’ve got my back

a metaphoric match

to the orb intellectual

 

Completing

Completing (Randyjw; April 6, 2018)

 

 

In your poetry,

 

words needed,

 

inspiring,

 

completing.

 

Breathless

Breathless (randyjw; April 6, 2018)

 

 

When the stars fell,

so felt the sense of breathlessness…

 

 

the air expelling

a force exhaled

 

 

In this vision I’ve held,

 

your outstretched hand

acts as a dream-catched net

 

 

gathering each gasp of breath

with infusions of air

 

Wrap: A Five-Word Story

Wrap: A Five-Word Story (Randyjw; April 3, 2018)

 

The greatest gift is returned.

 

Awaiting Silence

 

Awaiting Silence (Randyjw; April 1, 2018)

 

Wandering at night

Lone paths of peaceful quiet

Awaiting silence

 

In Deep

In Deep (Randyjw; April 1, 2018)

 

Think not that I feel?

 

Yet my eyes drown in depths of

a wetness that’s real

 

 

Reach

Reach (Randyjw; March 31, 2018)

 

We stare at one another

 

seeing the truth of souls laid over

with daily fare and bother

 

absent reason for need

to posit motive or to wonder

 

absorptively inherent

a mind at ease in aura’ed comfort

Vessel of my heart

divulges its apex in one pulse completing

 

The laggard I have been

caught in mimicry’s firm-taught lesson

Held back, but not withheld

the two-step forth and back of beating

 

Existential the external vessel

beneath the surfaces of skin

harmonious contents

simmer and glimmer

and reach without

as well as within

 

Yes Deer

Yes Deer (Randyjw; March 21, 2018)

 

A pair of “Yes Deer”

sweetly nuzzle in the wood;

Know what? I would, too.

 

Held

Held (Randyjw; March 21, 2018)

 

To capture anything,

it would seem,

takes a master and servant

There must be one

to rule over

a sentient being

To be held and to hold

in a mutual version

takes the two to interpret

their heartbeats’ translations

 

Reading Stars

Reading Stars (Randyjw; March 21, 2018)

 

Surveilling the sky

and holding your palm in mine

Night twinkles and shines

 

Smoky

Smoky (Randyjw; March 17, 2018)

 

Intensity can wane;

Was yours subsumed

from heated passions spoken – –

in flames, consumed?

 

Yet, I hold no blame.

Mine is there – –

ignited embers whitened

stoked by red-hot flames.

 

At Either End

At Either End (Randyjw; March 10, 2018)

 

Filled to overflow

this sentimental vessel

a heart with two holes

Cognizance

Cognizance (Randyjw; March 5, 2018)

 

water and time

both slip through your hands

washed away

in the shifting sands

 

Some things can be held

and others cannot

Unchained selves

of the human heart

 

On Your Birthday

On Your Birthday (Randyjw; March 3, 2018)

 

Joining you in presence

of heart and spirit

if not reality,

this almost virtual gathering

 

Wild Horses

Wild Horses (Randyjw; March 2, 2018)

 

(https://youtu.be/ZjepYI-i1zk)

 

 

To

 

To (Randyjw; March 2, 2018)

waking walking waltzing

tango tangled talking

rhyme rain remarking

flying feeling freeing

 

Wish

Wish (Randyjw; March 1, 2018)

 

I wish I could paste that star back in place

take it in my hands and hold its face

arising crimson

the covers seem nebulous

and dawn blushes boldly

in fuschias and orange

only the cold moon can wane its predictable phases

or the sun shine long in its eternal gazes

Tho’ I’d shorten the days not to strengthen the light

rearrange constellations to lengthen the night

irradiate my hands and let them burn, then scar

to let it play in the heavens —

so I wish, from afar

 

Good Cop

 

 

 

Good Cop (Randyjw; February 25, 2018)

 

 

Writing and Reading

One citation for footnotes;

the other, speeding

Microcosmic

Microcosmic (Randyjw; February 25, 2018)

 

Causing much damage

wearing open-toed sandals

and kicking ant-hills

 

Love In Letters

Love In Letters (Randyjw; February 25, 2018)

 

The post in your box

Could never fully reveal

the depths of my heart

 

Heartbroken

Heartbroken (Randyjw; February 25, 2018)

 

Hearts on a pendant

Added to my collection

break the chainlink charm

 

At Starfall

At Starfall (Randyjw; February 25, 2018)

 

It was way past twilight

and I was helpless to stop it

My body lurched as if I could

jump into the sky

to run up on high clouds

in maybe four steps or five

For it was but a moment

a chance encounter

with a bright star that shined

and I watched it plummet

as it fell towards my horizon

A meteor shower in which

I would bathe at any hour

It was really 1:24 or 1:25

in the morning

More or less, give or take

I’d do both, and all

really

to help that star from its fall

and to have it reawake

 

Heart

Heart (Randyjw; February 14, 2018)

 

For all the love your heart can hold

May you receive one-thousandfold

Because your heart is open wide

the love you give is multiplied

 

Pine

Pine (Randyjw; February 13, 2018)

 

 

Come near to the window, my darling,

where the light silhouettes your form

Sleep softly in safety and comfort

as the sun greets your face in the morn

 

Arise by the river at daybreak

refreshened by droplets of dew

and dip of your cup from the sourcespring

capped by nectar where wildflowers grew

 

Lay down in the canopied bridges

where the sun sparks the earth with its light

Yet the wind flirts with birch and deciduous

clouded mists graze horizons of pine

Soul Seek

Soul Seek (Randyjw; January 26, 2018)

 

It seems we always return

to some specific times and moments

the point of crash at which

love, death

horror, or regret

leave with their lasting impact

impart their never-ceasing

cycles

of alternate endings

remembrance

forget

 

Smile In The Sky

Smile In The Sky (Randyjw; August 24, 2017)

 

Quiet

smile

cry

hug

 

No sound for

quite awhile

 

Now you know why

 

Solo

Solo (Randyjw; January 11, 2018)

 

First attempts

inexperience

later life

more relevant

Made-up songs

once begun

self-same audience

only one

 

New Buds

New Buds (Randyjw; December 31, 2017)

 

When the leaves were ochre

and crossed with white

they glittered in

their golden light

 

but when they turned

to gloss of green

their pointed leaves

were stars unseen

 

Extinguished

in the wisps that rose

that time

when it was time to go

 

So by my leave

I once detoured

to know that grief

forevermore

 

But cut and cleared

the new buds grew

and blossomed

into something new

 

And down that path

begun with roots

grew something more

from little shoots

 

Words

Words (Randyjw; December 31, 2017)

 

Sometimes words are too little

to express the overwhelming force

of the emotions I hold inside

 

Words left alone

leave the soul to grow

to form and mold

and sometimes to cry

 

Midnight Tonight

Midnight Tonight (Randyjw; December 31, 2017)

 

Whistling as they pass by

Colors streak the midnight sky

And rose from earth into the night

Fluorescing in their powdered light

 

Shello

Shello (Randyjw; December 27, 2017)

 

You didn’t know

that I watched the sun rise

with the same view as you

Only, just from the other side

Framed by two palms

just the memory to remind

no photo could beauty capture

because it can be seen only through your eyes

 

Lengths To Go To Catch A Wave

Lengths To Go To Catch A Wave (Ranyjw; December 27, 2017)

 

the full spectrum

seen by few

coverage obscured

in a clouded view

unseen by the naked eye

wavelengths penetrate the human mind

 

Winter’s Embrace

 

Winter’s Embrace (Rachelgv; December 1, 2017)

 

A last, loving glance

the feather trailed slowly over his face

shuttering the seaside home

for winter’s strong embrace

In another time, perchance,

gathered in a state of grace

details memorized

the slipcover slowly pulled into place

Her heart,

Etched with every meaning,

would always recall

every smile, and every greeting

as it had always,

knowing every line of his face

by every guise

through all our weathered seasons

 

---

 

(Celebrate my birthday tonight, won’t you?)

 

Fall

Fall (Randyjw; November 13, 2017)

 

For every fall

there is spring

and lonely winters

summer brings

 

The patterns

already set

only single days

remain to be met

 

Forevermore

Forevermore (Randyjw; October 29, 2017)

 

The torch in my hand

in my heart

and at the door

remains lit

always

and forevermore

 

 

 

Ocean

Ocean (Randyjw; October 27, 2017)

 

Like the ocean,

I wish you would always flow

Sometimes high,

Sometimes low

Sometimes raging

other times mellow

Seeking the inlet

never having to go

 

A Butterfly Kiss

A Butterfly Kiss

(Randyjw; October 25, 2017)

 

Catching butterflies with a net

The catcher has caught nothing yet

At times, elusive, as often they get

Weaving through dreams, at last they met

 

Love (Six)

 

Love (Six) (Randyjw; October 24, 2017)

 

When I was young

the kind of child I was

was patient, kind,

sensitive, blind

No faults to be found

with others’ minds

Everyone had their reasons

for doing what they’d done

No excuse was unaccepted

all songs were to be sung

Without judgment,

black circles and white

melted and melded then turned

In the overlap of the Venn diagram

the colors indistinguishedly merged

they began to fade slowly to grey

and morals quite often

would vanish this way

Inside that narrow path, then

those footsteps led away

Selfless giving

aspired to selfish living

imitating others, these days

Taken advantage of

and trampled like a doormat

Why was it that others

could easily prosper

while doing exactly just that?

My love was given

in this same vein

deep in devotion and true

Beyond the duty,

the convocation

for worse

as abuse only grew

There came a time

deep inside my mind

that said love shouldn’t hurt like this

I didn’t know how

I could break forever vows

although something was wrongly amiss

I held on and on

thinking I was crazy or wrong

but I found I was right, as I thought

I learned to be strong

it was there, all along

a one-sided marriage won’t work

I understand martyrdom and sacrifice

my Middle East mind is complex

but born in the US, a feminist

It seeped over and deeply within

I, unfortunately, won’t die “just because” of love

there’s no point in just ending a life

were a bullet be shot in between of us

I’d die happy having been your wife

---

 

Can’t Stop; Sorry, But Not

Can’t Stop; Sorry, But Not (Randyjw; October 24, 2017)

 

I see you in posters,

dancing, from behind

I imagine you smiling

with that great humor of mind

I see us laughing

to some shared story in rhyme

I think you’re great

engaging my cray-cray in-kind

 

Tigress

Tigress (Randyjw; October 23, 2017)

 

I don my armor

My claws grown long

I sharpen them

along the tree-bark’s spine

my painted plates

Like a Svengali tiger

my weathered sight

like a Swarovski hide

Four sabres my teeth

revolving at the corners

and Mystical east

of ardour and amour

That prey within

lying dormant or hidden

my warrior dragon

over your Shaolin

Come, try me now

you hated malady

Your furrowed brow

will be smoothed by my melody

Out of control

You may rage at my being

But my stars I throw down

til they soothe savage beasts

Out you go

there’s no room for spots

for my favorite stripes

are the ones he’s got

 

---

 

 

Depths

Depths (Randyjw; October 22, 2017)

 

Surround me

Surround me

let me drown

all completely

Taking in like water

til my last breath leaves me

 

My Not So Secret Secret

My Not So Secret Secret (Randyjw; October 22, 2017)

 

Yes, I admit

The secret I’ve kept

Is the one

you’ve guessed

Others, you may surmise

keep dropping their disguise

Because you either know me

or the nature of humanity

and have revealed them

to great embarrassment

Yet, others remain under lock and key

Though whether they’re uncovered

will be my ultimate discovery

 

Polarized

Polarized (Randyjw; October 22, 2017)

 

When the water looks murky and brown

make sure to continue and stare

Just remember to keep looking down

for you’ll see what you never thought there

 

———————————————————-

 

 

Eternal Flame

Eternal Flame (Randyjw; October 22, 2017)

 

I wish it was me

but, sometimes I say

that it just can’t be

Once upon a time

there was so much life

but now it seems

that I’m on the back side

of infirmity

In a spinning spiral

a downward-facing trajectory

the solemn solo

of this timeless duo

will still, though,

believe in eternity.

 

 

Bud

 

 

Bud (Randyjw; October 20, 2017)

 

And so it was true

And I’m not really sure

How you knew it was you

but you took it and formed it

and nurtured what grew

serenaded the moon

and divined the truth

watered the seed

to sprout life anew

And that’s how I know

that for love to grow

You need caring and hope

so that it will be so

 

Above All

 

Above All (Randyjw; October 18, 2017)

 

Man can plan

and G-d can laugh

harvest wheat

apart from chaff

Join the deluge

with His tears

crying buckets

with our cares

Foil plans

of foes’ attacks

Curtail man

and set him back

Strew his path

with rocks or gold

display His wrath

to see unfold

Calm the seas

and stay His hand

What are we

but foolish men

 

Home

Home (Randyjw; October 16, 2017)

 

Watching the embers glow,

as they warm both soul and hearth

Kindled by the sparks from your heart

in this cozy place called home

 

Re-a-lized

Re-a-lized (Randyjw; October 13, 2017)

 

I won’t wait

for the hush of a goodbye

I won’t wait

for my final tears to be cried

The essence of everything

I’ve tried to verbalize

I hope will, by now,

have been truly realized

 

MATCHLESS

MATCHLESS (Randyjw; October 12, 2017)

 

DON’T

DROP

THAT

MATCH;

YOU’LL

MELT

MY

WAX

!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!

 

---

 

(Devil-Randy on-duty, today………………………………………)

 

Value(s)

Value(s) (Randyjw; October 12, 2017)

 

Self-worth is not equal to shelf-worth;

You are priceless —

neither priced less, nor prized less.

 

 

Flame

---

 

Flame (Randyjw; October 12, 2017)

 

If I could hold a candle to yours,

that would then touch mine,

the flame combined

would be enough to blind

Burnout

Burnout (Randyjw; October 11, 2017)

 

All this time

I was looking down

My beautiful stone

was on the ground

Perhaps it formed

inside the earth

as it was born

and given birth

Its name derived

from worldly kings

the malachite swirls

of green within

No fool’s gold found

inside this stone

Its polish ground

by hand, my own

Perhaps it burned

from out of space

to rock my world

ignite my place

But had I known

its magnetic field north

my orbit flown

had been off course

I couldn’t right it

I was done

I melted in

forever sun

 

---

 

Update / October 18, 2017: I had it in my mind about gemstones and jewelry materials, like gold, platinum, tritanium, etc. possibly coming from combustible matter exploding in space, etc. (Yeah, sure…. Right…) Anyways, I just finished reading an October 17th article indicating this possibility: Hotz, Robert Lee. “Neutron Stars Forge Gold”. The Wall Street Journal; October 17, 2017; Page A3.

 

Israel had this thought even earlier — twenty-eight years ago!

 

Israel, David. “LIGO Detector Confirms 1989 Hebrew U. Prediction that Neutron Star Mergers Produce Gamma Ray Bursts”. JewishPress.com; October 17, 2017

LIGO Detector Confirms 1989 Hebrew U. Prediction that Neutron Star Mergers Produce Gamma Ray Bursts

 

Julian, Hana Levi. “Gravitational Waves Detected After Neutron Stars Collide 120 Million Light Years Away”. JewishPress.com; October 16, 2017:

 

Gravitational Waves Detected After Neutron Stars Collide 120 Million Light Years Away

 

Empty Seat

Empty Seat (Randyjw; October 10, 2017)

 

Of a lullaby I wish

the chords of my Life’s fate were met

Softly calming, gently strumming

peaceful and sleepful as they would be yet

For now in the coda

it is embarrassingly revealed

that the maestro felt the tunes of the dance

without learning to master the parts for the lead

 

Gone AWOL

Gone AWOL (Randyjw; October 6, 2017)

 

The heart lies missing

in my chest

I wonder where

its laid to rest

Perhaps you have it

by your side

Keep it

if you so decide

For when I kept it

to myself

It sat there

like a doll on the shelf

But as you’ve tended

perfectly

It goes just where

it needs to be

 

The Cycle

The Cycle (Randyjw; October 6, 2017)

 

A little boy

made ready his gun

pointing his forefinger

raising his thumb

The Indian said “How?”

galloped forth from the band

As he shouted, “Kapow!”

drawing forward his hand

The trigger he pulled

aiming straight for the head

and shot that old Indian

Black Bull dead

He became a cop

when he tired of that game

All the stealers who’d rob

placed in jail cells that day

So the boy now grew older

the familiar refrain

The Army needs soldiers

they’re calling your name

And as he lay dying

from real guns, not toys

His mother knelt crying

for her little boy

 

Under Construction

Under Construction (Randyjw; October 4, 2017)

 

And sometimes

as opportunities arise

I wake up

with the evening’s stars

and the morning sunshine

still in my eyes

Incense

Incense (Randyjw; September 27, 2017)

 

Upon the ground

lay ten joss sticks

still in their plastic

Kissed by the moss

and then by my lips

Fragrance of earth’s incense

to perfume my bed

A visit by a stranger

never again

but one now known to me

in my heart and my head

 

Ring

Ring (Randyjw; September 27, 2017)

 

Most beautiful thing

your long, bronzed arms and the sight

of your wedding ring

 

Close

Close (Randyjw; September 7, 2017)

 

In delusion,

I once believed myself

void of most unattractive traits

reserved quite wholly for those

of small mind and selfish faith,

thereby inclined

and now

In seclusion,

I find that

my standards of grandiosity

may once have been

and now are not

Yet, I know they are attained

by one, and just the same

my preference falls

to imagining you here

despite the absence as clear

as the reality

which I ignore

For there has to be

some residual enduring hope

some alternate duality

whereby with which to cope

in sewing together

separateness

yet feeling you so close

 

Tree Monster Waving “Hi!”

Tree Monster Waving “Hi!” (Randyjw; September 3, 2017)

 

Once upon a time

in a land that wasn’t mine

I had a funny dream that made me start

The vision I could see

was something foreign as could be

for it came right from my mind and not my heart

But minds play funny gags

full of tricks right from the bags

you can buy in little shops right off the Ave

For I could swear I saw this tree

that was waving right at me

and that’s something no-one else had ever had

And there, right in plain sight

it was giving me a fright

this tree monster that was wildly waving its way

for I knew not how to read

if its leaves were rustling, “leave”

or if, instead, I should look how the tree did sway

Was it scary? Does it bite?

I know not its genus or type

But, I do know it makes shade that’s cool and dark

And I know G-d has plied His trade

in all good things that He has made

so, I guess the skin upon its trunk was just its bark

🙂

 

The Art of Creation

The Art of Creation (Randyjw; August 30, 2017)

 

The author raises his writing hand

flexgel poised, as if in thought

“What comes next,” he mutters;

“And is it parenthetical to the plot?”

 

The artist reviews the spaces

of the blank canvas he fills at-will

pondering with deep concentration

the emotional voids he’ll attempt to fill

 

The old scribe just recopies the story

he’s written many times before

His smile at the formulaic equation

has him beaming when he reads it once more

 

DC Al Fine

DC Al Fine (Randyjw; August 27, 2017)

 

When the chapters of our lives

reach their final end

the greatest love story written

will have finally been

 

Balance

Balance (Randyjw; August 27, 2017)

 

The universe has a way

to carefully balance

what Man

tosses away

 

 

 

In Memoriam To Miss Pink Hair

In Memoriam To Miss Pink Hair (Randyjw; August 27, 2017)

 

Hypocritical it would seem

to sing your praises

and pass them on

When the same stood by

and denied you your song

that your soft voice was singing

all along

Too late — I’m sorry.

 

 

Love (Five)

Love (Five) (Randyjw; August 9, 2017)

 

Silent nuances in the recesses of my heart

whispered words said alone in the dark

for not in vain were these feelings fraught

nor script to follow through which it aught

by doleful sigh be brought to naught

the hidden treasure never bought

 

Butterfly

Butterfly (Randyjw; August 7, 2017)

 

Some things

as elusive as the butterfly

were never meant to be captured

but, instead given wings

Some tears

that find their way to a fall

are expressions of happiness

not of sadness, at all

Some smiles

can paper over halves that should be whole

My butterfly net

is full of holes

but I hope to catch one, yet

 

 

[September 23, 2019: The original video I selected from YouTube for this poem has since become unavailable. I substitute a different one, here, instead]:

(https://youtu.be/kwl2W-4gI90)

 

Certain Only Of Uncertainty

Certain Only Of Uncertainty (Randyjw; August 5, 2017)

 

If the road to h***

so long ago

was paved

with good intent

then each piece

my heart

were pavers

each fork

in roads

that bent

They were set

on stones of offer

for those who’d

walk its road

tho’ where the

others wavered

the paths

once past

unfold

the present

predicts no future

It only knows

past and now

if you only knew

and had a clue

then it would

let you know

somehow

 

Still Know

Still Know (Randyjw; July 27, 2017)

 

Tell me of your home;

of the child you were

and the places you roamed

 

Let me know

of the lessons you learned

imparted to youth

which the old ones would tell

 

stories regaled

in the tales of the bold

The pieces you kept

at heart’s depth in each fold

 

and what was left

coming into your own

 

I want to know…

 

 

Of Dusk And Us

Of Dusk And Us (Randyjw; July 23, 2017)

 

I see you

standing there

at the balustrade,

arms crossed,

Awaiting again

for love to remain – –

Not the bittersweet loss

that already came…

But the one that will stay

Like the bright light

of the eternal flame

that I hold in my heart

and need release just the same

but, can still

never can

 

Crossings

Crossings (Randyjw: July 19, 2017)

 

Paths cross in events

that are always fateful;

Sometimes they’re hopeful —

at other times, fatal.

 

We might feel invisible…

take them for attractions,

deem those fixations,

absorbing distractions.

 

Both hands and fingers

also do sometimes cross:

that what often lingers

is never lost

 

Love (Four)

Love (Four) (Randyjw; July 15, 2017)

 

For you I hope

all the best in life

children, and home,

a loving wife

Someone to hold you

and someone who cares

someone that’ll love you

who’ll always be there

For these you deserve

and I hope G-d agrees

happiness He’ll serve

to grant you all these

 

Love (Three)

Love (Three) (Randyjw; July 15, 2017)

 

Love One, Me

Love Two, You

Love Three, We

 

Love (Two)

Love (Two) (Randyjw; July 15, 2017)

 

Never thought I’d depend

way too heavily upon

your presence

to pull me through

to the end

Don’t want to guilt you

and you’re free as a bird

to wheel around through the sky

and find better suit

yet

I appreciate your person

and don’t know what I even do

but I try to razz you up

hoping somehow that it helps you, too

 

Deja Vous

Deja Vous (Randyjw; July 15; 2017)

 

It’s strange to find

that though you look

to the world

with solely just one mind

and from just one end,

To discover there

on the opposite side

one who sees things alike

as through the

exact same lens

 

Live Again

Live Again (Randyjw; July 13, 2017)

 

The truce agreed in saying

in truth will be defied

and riches that are gained

may not be realized

 

Unshackle every chain

if freedom you must buy

The body might be lain

but the soul again shall rise

 

A rumor in the main

might mask a thin disguise

A false emotion feigned

compounding every lie

 

Assumptive statements deigned

won’t then materialize

As peace cannot then reign

where vengeful thoughts reside

 

It only causes pain

and hearts to slowly die

This feeling can’t sustain

although it often tries

 

Release the falling rain

held back by clouded eyes

Love is not in vain

in the places hatred abides

 

Share joy and tears again

and live forgived in life

Happiness will remain

in the spaces sadness hides.

 

Longward On

Longward On (Randyjw; July 12, 2017)

 

The long trek

of a thousand feet

the faceless, displaced

the nameless, unmet

The journey to shelter

just past the next hill

Behind, the wreckage

wrought by orders to kill

reaching the crest

the zenith of purposeful mind

test of mettle and will

to leave it all behind

the road in rubble

piled high with remorse

the hilltops beckon

paths trodden by horse

The grey hood shuts out

the merciless night

the amber of daybreak

marks countless days’ plight

Strike the tent peg

to solid ground

a hollow victory

in another round

————————————————————-

Inspired by Yasmin Khan’s powerful imagery in “Blood on the Bluebells”:

blood on the bluebells

 

Love (One)

Love (One) (Randyjw; July 7, 2017)

 

What is this mad obsession

named love,

but a strange sort of possession

inescapably sent from above?

Rushing in to fill

every space and thought;

Ousting all others

and displacing what was naught

I sometimes wonder

whether one should be distraught,

as I sit and ponder:

Does this feeling ever stop?

 

Bows

Bows (Randyjw; June 25, 2017)

 

We take for granted

things we see every day

gifts that are given

in myriad ways

and need small reminders

to recall to the fore

just what exactly

those gifts lay in store

So G-d made a way

to remind us of those

He made sure the giftwrap

was tied with a bow

And when days seem dark

and the clouds pour out rain

remember the spark

in the sky once again

violet and indigo

blue, green, and yellow

orange and red

from the clouds like marshmellows

At nighttime,

you just need to look for the “K”

in Hebrew, it’s “Keshet”

in stars that G-d made

It’s also known

by its constellation name

Orion and his bow

for the one and the same

And some say to tie a string

with bunny ears

looped on your finger

to keep memories near

Visual reminders

help bring dear ones nigh

but I never need any

to remember you by

 

Until We Meet Again

☺🌞🌚🌈❤📺

If Ants Were Angels

If Ants Were Angels (Randyjw; June 2, 2017)

 

If ants are really angels

that crawl upon the ground

My arm would be their ladder

to scramble up and down

and G-d would chuckle with us

for proving we’re both right

No need for spectral vision

when everything’s upfront.

 

I Am Like The Ant

I Am Like The Ant (Randyjw; June 2, 2017)

 

I chose to be alone today

away from the mad world and the petty problems that last just a few days

The distractions that jump in the way

and interrupt what I had intended to say

A quiet space where I can take all the time I want to think of you in my waking day

to look up at the sky and watch the clouds drift my way

to figure out the shapes they’re making and to see what form they’ll take

So, I stepped out with 100% faith

that when I left the trees and overhang

that the canopy would be the sun’s rays

shining down on my smiling face

And, so it was… Yay!

I was sleepy and decided to lay

atop my shower curtain and cover-duvet

since it had been drizzling rain

for several hours and was accumulating

topping off the ground water table

and exceeding its fill, maybe

But, as it had just stopped, it was okay

and I almost briefly slept til I felt cold, wet drops again

It startled me awake

then just as quickly went away

So, back on the duffel bag I set my head

and was about to dream away

when I felt a tickling sensation

continuing up and down my arm as I lay

Like my bat-mitzvah portion on Beit-El

and Jacob seeing angels descend and ascend to the heavens that day

The ants were angels and arose to play

on the top of my brother’s backpack

where they continued to want to stay

and I am like the ant, in case you thought another way

 

Little Buddies Hanging Out

Embody Light (Randyjw; June 2, 2017)

 

 

Little Buddies Hanging Out (Randyjw; June 2, 2017)

 

I miss you so much

The sea my eyes have allowed to flow

have brought out the little elements that were always apparent in your special touch

things that make it so hard to let you go

The earth’s creatures gather

capturing the moistness of this mist

drinking in small measure

the sea my eyes have kissed

the snail steps out halfway

into the world from its comforting home

embodying the light

it has always known

and the ant waves

like it’s a rodeo ride

hanging on for dear life

pretending there’s never

been a single word

in the dictionary

with “goodbye”

its meaning and intent

Little Buddies Hanging Out (Randyjw; June 2, 2017)

 

The Dolphin Play

The Dolphin Play (Randyjw; May 29, 2017)

 

The sea was a keeper of secrets

great things that fell into the vast abyss

taking root along the stretch of coral reefs built

to support an odyssey of an underwater ecosystem

whether the chambered nautilus in its brown and white gown

or the built-up nachre of the mother-of-pearl shell

men who plied these waters all had their tales to tell

The scalloped oyster and its rounded pearl within

or the giant squid and its purple-black ink

from which were written the songs of the pirate’s den

and of those who drowned

in the words of the siren’s song and the depths of the love told therein

The dolphin mate paired with a friend

to somersault in the water and leap in a rhythm designed just by them

dappled sun on their backs and the green bed of the tides

following the main sail’s shadowing mast as their guide

 

Loss

 Loss (Randyjw; May 24, 2017)

 

Sorrowful offerings of sadness

shared wherever you are

across the pond

in a market in Jerusalem

it knows no bounds

only grief which reaches

to all hearts beyond

when humanity is breached

to end another’s song

 

Dedicated to the strength of the United Kingdom in the loss of souls by suicide bomb in Manchester, England, May 22, 2017.

 

Lean-Two

 

Lean-Two (Randyjw; May 22, 2017)

 

Yellow flowers on dainty stems

nod their acquiescence

in the enveloping breeze

and blades of grass

twitter excitedly in silence

as it comes to pass

I watch the sunlight

glint off the roof

of the next building

in the fading day

my new eyes gaze

from ground height

dreaming my life

a different way

But I’m calm

as I go slightly feral

black-and-white kitty guide

leading me to mango

feeling your presence

as I track yellow dust

across the back alley

I’ll trade the mosquito’s hum

for yours in my ear

squashed in this lean-to

with raffia in our hair

 

A Sprouting Seed

A Sprouting Seed (Randyjw; May 15, 2017)

 

Without due favor

it was claimed by some

that the fruits of its labor

would never come

that its surface exterior

was too hard to crack

that its hollow interior

could never give back

But the little tree fruit

grew green, then yellow

destined to take root

amongst its compatriot fellows

It nursed in the pods

and drew strength from its provider

with the nectar of the gods

it grew bigger and stronger

And one day it broke off

from the hordes of the rest

its source shared with love

from the self it knew best

Its milk tasted sweet

its oils of pure notes

its flesh good to eat

of good fiber its coat

And one came along

who discovered this prize

a cherished song sung

and with wizened eyes

Uncovered further goodness

of the one that rolled astray

whether enriched with its present nutrients

or set in earth to be a tree, someday

 

Centaur Angel

Centaur Angel (Randyjw; May 11, 2017)

 

When you want to recall me

just look to the sky

G-d painted you this picture

to remember me by

 

Where You Are

Where You Are (Randyjw; May 11, 2017)

 

Are you parked inside my heart

nobody’s business to know where you are

Are you dreamed in my head

eyes open and awake to the heartbeat timed with mine

Are you the words that make the salt depart my eyes,

Yes, love, you are all of these

regardless where you are

 

Leah

Leah (Randyjw; May 11, 2017)

 

Passed over through obligation

Love of a second-born

a burden to feel the rejection

as fallen chaff to the floor

the scythe slicing through the stalks

Golden rays catch the gleanings

tracing footsteps others walk

life sustained with separate meaning

To see the suffering of another’s soul

is an infliction of a deeply made wound

embodied in my name of Rachel

I feel Leah’s spirit in the stars and the moon

 

Karma

Karma (Randyjw; May 9, 2017)

 

My heart only thinks of you

there is none other I would care to give it to

A friend, whether old or new

can share some of the recesses to make it more full

My life, without you, is riven in two

We each give our lives to one another

when we spend time in thought or in being with the other

If doing so, rather than grasping my straws to stay alive and give us more

has no worth and you just choose to rattle your sword

then, please, do us both a favor and take your trust right out that door

In other than concrete terms, karma will always find its way to seeing we both receive what’s in store

 

cc

cc (Randyjw; May 8, 2017 / Posted: May 9, 2017)

 

The world is full of people’s pain

Reading of yours adds to mine

If I could spare yours, I would

If I add to your sorrow

I have nothing to gain

I’ve given the best representation I can

of the person I am

and the place in which I’m in

If you’re disappointed in that

I cannot fulfill more of your needs

That makes me sad

Perhaps you may not realize I once stood

where you were

I said the same things and felt the same way

and it saddens me when forever things changed

And I try to impart that to you

through what I relate and the things that I say

It doesn’t change my feelings,

and I would frankly be dismayed

to find that you had to walk in my shoes

and wound up being treated this way

You can’t understand now

nor, if ever, could it be that you may

but what you don’t realize in my love

is that it has to be this way, no other

Most would find this unacceptable

deemed selfish to my own terms, as such

labels would be applied, like ‘conditional’

too-free, yet not, and often, too much

Some people do things and hope to clear a path

it’s the greatest form of love to try to steer one from going down a tested route leading to the deep abyss

I would rather do this and be tormented with your judgement, disappointment and skyview heights

Because as supercilious as I once was,

the least I can do in crossing your path

is to let my own message help to keep yours right

You might not want or need my thoughts

and you might not take it in the right way

You can think what you want, and say what you say,

But, believe me, you cut me to the core and strip me in threads

You have no right to measure the quantity I’ve bled

 

Dusky Blue

Dusky Blue (Randyjw; May 6, 2017)

 

If even for just one hour
It would be really nice
to set aside the limits of men
to express our innermost desires
as we would really wish
allowing our minds to blossom
like the almond tree in spring
and our words to flow
as freely as blue ink in the fountain pen

 

New Seat New Fruit Old Seeds Take Root

New Seat, New Fruit, Old Seeds Take Root (Randyjw; April 30, 2017)

 

The seeds have been transplanted

from container to the ground

into G-d’s safe hands entrusted

for mine were not to be around

If G-d smiles kindly on them

and blesses them with sun and rain and air

I’ll know that I’ve done rightly

by placing them gently in His care.

 

Wishing you the best, my little grapefruit seeds. May you stay well, and, not just alive, but to thrive and set down roots in the rich earth I’ve carefully created for your home. Love you, tamid va’ed. xoxo.

 

Trust Your Doubts

 

Trust Your Doubts (Randyjw; April 30, 2017)

 

Run like the wind

When you’ve become entangled in something which leaves you no way out but to sink further within

then gather your courage, stick to your will and your guns, and get out of there just as fast as you can

When the answer becomes as clear as day

and you were made to question what the heart had said with the little protestations it had relayed

don’t let the mind be reeled in by the veneer of a cover in which you will continually doubt the decisions that you’ve made

You will learn that you had always been right and your previous life and self will have to be buried in their proverbial grave

Dig yourself out and relocate to another location

find another place from which to try to rectify the mess from the bed in which you’ve laid in a new, safe haven

and be ever careful not to inflict these same mistakes on the next ones you encounter, as such

for when you accepted the union between controller and user, their problems and your baggage will join to taint all those you touch

 

Under Shades Of Blue

 

Under Shades Of Blue (Randyjw; April 30, 2017)

 

Believe in you. That’s the best you can do. Believe in a higher power, if that’s your truth.

Knotted with another version, another person, another hue, make sure to color balance correctly, to get the proper, total view.

🌈

 

Candelika

 

Candelika (Randyjw; April 29, 2017)

 

There comes a time, sometime,

when weariness sets in

and you just keep getting

beaten down,

again and again

It’s hard to dredge up

that energy

to keep you going

through the fire and the rain

but you must somehow

learn to put a foot in front

of the other, just the same

It might be a step between

living and final rest

but existence is certainly

much better than not

And that is what drives you

just to be and do that well

because the candle that

dances with a small flame, at first

survives with the fuel of hope

and that each dark corner it will have brightened

will have been the worst, already past

And each moment, it steps anew

in emboldened waltz of enlightenment

and learns many steps, and dances

wildly and crazily on its own

 

~~

 

Instant love.

(https://youtu.be/YK3_puJbPOs)

Am I right?

 

Beams

Beams (Randyjw; April 28, 2017)

 

Thoughts of you occupy my being and soul

In every day and every hour,

In every ray and every flower

and take me over completely whole

 

I can do nothing else but feel the merge

that you’ve astrally travelled to fill my vessel

with the eternal essence of your soul

this evening, internally, as your weight settled close by my bones

transported by satellite telepathy across mere electrons through their nodes

 

Sometimes, you feel like a light touch

with me when I need, yet freely leaving as you please

I said, “please… don’t go…”; but I felt that you did and then were

slowly sliding away, and it was okay,

as it is a special thing, which only certain two can share

for that moment, which can stand in time,

will be its own testament to what was then,

what will eternally be,

and what might never repeat again.

 

It is; it was; and that is all that really matters —

this circle of life, and atoms, and hearts that shatter continually, and often, together.

 

Filled With Surprise

Filled With Surprise (Randyjw; April 28, 2017)

 

surprised it didn’t go away

surprised that it held fast

surprised that afters had their say

to find that it did last

surprised that it would give you space

surprised it let you breathe

surprised that when you turned around

and found it couldn’t leave

surprised to learn it swayed and bent

surprised and light of air

surprised to find that in the end

what oddly kept it there

 

Happy Birds

Happy Birds (Randyjw; April 28, 2017)

 

Little birdies in a nest

in a lemon tree

little birds of happiness

paired like you and me

 

Little birds flit to and fro

and fly because they’re free

Little birds can come and go

because they simply “be”

 

The Sabra

The Sabra (Rachelgv; April 28, 2017)

 

The desert waits patiently

drying the earth

the spectre raised mired

in the realms of a red sand

an aside cast of mirth

though never forgotten

by the lost blossom

put forth by the sabra

in which whose lands

the real inhabitants

of this scorched birth

were laid

the thirst, when drunk

its quench would slake

no salty bitters

in the mirage

of an oasis made

 

Massachusetts Shore

 

Massachusetts Shore (Randyjw; April 28, 2017)

 

P-town and scrimshaw;

horseshoe crabs and seaweed;

clams in the sand;

driftwood fleeting.

Feelings of nostalgia…

the salty, cold-air

all-encompassing;

seagulls and sea terns

skim the bay

the dark Atlantic

on an out-of-season day.

 

A Kindof Feivish High-Five

 

A Kindof Feivish High-Five (Randyjw; April 27, 2017)

 

Out of breath

galloping ferociously

hanging on by the coattails

with the horse you rode in on

bumping along wildly

flapping errantly in the breeze

hanging on by the skin of my teeth

to dangling threads set on edge at your sleeve

Wheeeeeeeee!!!

 

BaYom HaShoah Hazeh

BaYom HaShoah Hazeh (Randyjw; April 23, 2017)

 

Today we mark a day to honor the lives of those who have perished

Usually, we celebrate G-d’s miracles in our lives both freely, or at His call

This day, this rite of our gathering is to celebrate those whom G-d has cherished

And G-d marks and joins us, on Yom HaShoah,

For six million Jewish,

one-and-a-half million children,

the skies are opened

and the deluge falls

 

Advice About Advice, Wink

 

Advice About Advice, Wink (Randyjw; April 23, 2017)

 

Unsolicited advice,

in my humble opinion,

is usually not-so-nice,

yet, freely given!

 

In Happier Days

 

Some days are meant to be sad ones; this one seems to have been pre-ordained. It is Yom HaShoah — a day chosen by the Jewish people to pay tribute to the lives of our brethren taken during the Holocaust. It is a day of introspection, of reflection, of reverence. It is very much our own day: not specified by G-d, not referencing another faith or culture into which we’ve found ourselves immersed, by dint of the paths our ancestors were forced to take in the course of our exile along the roads of our history.

 

We’ve seriously felt the pangs of this struggle in our experience of isolation in our collective acceptance within the larger society. The rejectionism is duly noted, as well, when you see, on an individual basis, patterns left evident in repeated avoidance of Jewish subject matter, fully negating heritage, faith and identity, in the process. Guilt by association toward those of the Jewish faith, along with the cowardice to stand by fully-invested toward those of the same, tells me more in silence about the person it reflects, than it does about anything else. It tells me, really, all I need to know.

 

I paid my respects yesterday to the ancestors of all my people, the six million who were murdered through the callousness of others. I’ve already known this pain, which sears itself into my heart. I relived the collective memory of the Jewish people.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

In Happier Days (Randyjw; April 23, 2017)

 

Through the slavery of Egypt;

through the auto-da-fe’s; the pogroms;

through the Inquisition; the Crusades;

and the exile of Babylon.

 

The destruction of our Temple

was more than the razing of a building;

it was the attempt to destroy through deicide

what they couldn’t destroy within.

 

The burning of our skin

in the synagogues

as they torched us alive in flames

worshipping false G-ds with idols

and blaspheming the Good L-rd’s name.

 

They eradicated us en masse in genocide

and overtook the Holy Land,

What they didn’t take, through Holocaust,

was that G-d would foil their plans.

 

G-d knows how to make it rain,

blessing, in its proper times.

As much as is done for the earth,

He has done, as well, for our minds.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Today I woke up to the cold, grey sky that such a day deserves. A chilly rain was falling, as it had been for awhile. And not to mix the profane with the Holy, but rather to integrate the lessons we learn through living, within our societies, I was struck by the recognition of my life (and mortality), by observing it, as if an outsider, in the story of the brief life of Erin Moran, who has come to the end of her life, here on earth, at the age of 56.

 

Erin Moran was an integral figure in our society, featuring as a star amongst one of the top-rated, most-iconic television shows of all-time. The American classic, “Happy Days”, created by Garry Marshall, started its 11-year run on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network, beginning in 1974. The show became synonymous with the definition of situation comedy, shoring up the wildly popular format and spurring the successes of other such t.v. shows, like “Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork and Mindy”.

 

The show was set in the timeframe of the 1950’s and progressed through the 1960’s, as well. Centered on the fictional Cunningham family, it portrayed a small-town atmosphere of close-knit friends and family life. Erin Moran played Joanie Cunningham, daughter to Howard (played by Tom Bosley) and Marion (played by Marion Ross) Cunningham, and sister to Richie (played by Ron Howard) and Chuck (played by two, separate people in only the first two seasons). Other ancillary figures included their friends, Warren “Potsie” Weber (played by Anson Williams), Ralph Malph (played by Don Most), and Arthur Fonzarelli (a.k.a., “Fonzie”, or “The Fonz”; played by Henry Winkler); Fonzie’s cousin, Charles “Chachi” Arcola (played by Scott Baio), whom her character would later marry; and drive-in diner owners, Matsuo “Arnold” Takahashi, of the diner’s namesake, “Arnold’s”, and later, Al Devecchio (played by Al Molinaro), who would replace Arnold when Arnold later married, and left the diner.

 

Television, in those days, was also a simpler affair; they certainly don’t make ’em like they used to. Thankfully, the choices were great, because everybody, pretty much, watched the same thing. Unlike the move to today’s individualized programming with a choice of 800 offerings, there was more unity, with less diversity, since there were less than eight t.v. stations on our channels, and we all had a common frame of reference to the same societal cues coming from our t.v. sets.

 

With less choices, people engaged in much of the same activities, as did everybody else. It led to a sense of more cohesion, even though not all voices were always included. In those days, though, minority characters did find a role on these programs, whether in singular roles or series, such as “The Jeffersons”, “Good Times”, “Sanford and Son” and “The Cosby Show”. Diner owner , “Arnold”, was played by Hiroyuki “Pat” Morita, who also famously played Mr. Miyagi (“Wax on; Wax off”) to Ralph Macchio’s character, in “The Karate Kid”.

 

I saw Pat Morita in-person, once, and also had the opportunity to meet Henry Winkler, once, when I directed him to a phone, so he could call his wife. Back in those days, there were no cell phones, either. Imagine the inconvenience, when we had to walk a slight distance to find one. He was a really sweet, kind man. He kissed me on the cheek and called me “doll”, in thanks for helping him accomplish his mission. Yay! I think how sweet he was for wanting to think of his family and being so kind. In typical star-fatuation, I told my mother I wasn’t going to wash my cheek for a week! (Of course, I did, though…)

 

Several decades later, this is kindof my turn-around “thank-you”, to pay a favor of kindness in return, for being so kind to me, back then. I’m sorry to learn of your loss, Fonz. You were a pillar of support for millions of us out there, in the days. You were a guiding compass and a beacon of ethical morals for a world finding their way, both in real life and in the work you relayed. I know, because I have read about it in the past, that your personal life helping others found its way onto the big screen, and into our lives, as a result. I admired that then, and still do, today. To you, on Yom HaShoah, I send you a big “thumbs up” and a long, heartfelt “Aaaaaaayyy!!!”

 

I think of the sadness of Erin’s apparent life, living in a trailer park home, where she was discovered upon her passing. It is reported that she had fallen on difficult times, of late. I, too, have lived under such circumstances, even finding myself living in a cheap trailer home as I sought a divorce. I had one hot pot and one burner to prepare my meals, and the bathroom floor had been repaired from previous occupants, but was still in need of bolstering. It wasn’t even a whole trailer; it was subdivided with a separate entrance. It was just one, small room.

 

Those were very tough times for me. Consequently, they were also the time when I began to make a more concentrated effort to be more mindful of my religion and its practices. My television received just over-the-air signals and seemed to offer limited choices, such as “Friends” reruns, or religious programming. Since I had never watched “Friends” to begin with, I decided on the religious programming. I could glean bits and nuggets, which sometimes related to Jewish teachings, and Seventh Day Adventists followed similar dietary commands and offered wonderful recipes, had I had sufficient money for real food. But, I didn’t.

 

What little I could afford at the cheap stores was often shared with the skinny, hungry dog on the park’s corner lot I would feed in the evening at the return of my shift. Those neighbors finally left and brought the dog with them. There were a plethora of abandoned animals that found themselves a fit with our little community, including one black cat that thought I was their mother, since we had shared similar features; the woman who had been her owner had taken ill, and soon passed away. My neighbor watched over the cat. A hard life is so soon cut short.

 

I made myself a tinfoil menorah at Chanukah. Although I didn’t attend services, I adopted a more proactive do-it-yourself approach to religious observance. I also started to really read the Koren Tanach I had brought with me from Israel. Line by line, slowly and very carefully, I worked very hard at trying to learn the Hebrew which I had begun to fail in my Ulpan classes. I was doing pretty well with this, and it was helping me greatly. It was also a breakthrough time for me in being able to pick up a pen and write, again.

 

I enjoyed writing, when I was a child, and then rediscovered my love for it in middle school. But it eventually became something which my mind endeavored to block. It would take several more decades to unleash the creative juices, again. The ironic portrayal of a group of young Jewish girls, described by CNN as “extremists”, while huddled together as police forces were removing their families and other Jewish citizens from their homes, infuriated me enough to the point of some kind of mental severance of the writer’s block, which my mind had previously erected. It erupted in my release, and in my poem, “V’Atah/After All”. I think it had been some kind of shutdown to deal with other prevailing circumstances, which had overtaken and overwhelmed my capacity to place myself in a creative capacity. I used this period and channeled some of my feelings during this time into some further poetry about Israel and my former husband.

 

This ability to write seems to relate proportionally with my coping skills in the handling of emotional issues or life’s often overwhelming, and frustrating, difficulties. I hope I can hold onto this gift, and not let it slip away, again, drifting in and out of consciousness, as if it was its own comatose mind of some other being, and not my own sentient self. I do often dissociate and fly off into escapism, when realism becomes too overwhelming. I’ve always done that. Books were that world, for me.

 

I need it; this ventilation of expression has become the air I breathe. And you’re right; writing about “it”, whatever that “it” might be, does help, and I do need to do more of it.

 

Eventually, with time, and continuing even beyond that environment, I eventually started to buy only Kosher products, and learned which products in the markets were Kosher. But, I’ve been lately letting more and more of my diligent practices slide. When I’m ready, I suppose I can pick up at any of the multiple places I’ve left off, if I desire.

 

Erin’s life leaves me smack dab in the middle of “hanging on”. It’s incomplete and was never fully realized, yet it’s over. Things didn’t gel or coalesce, the way they should’ve; no further opportunities came her way. It’s a life, left too soon, in incredible sadness. Her aloneness in her last years are evident that she really had no-one. Yes, people care, in a sortof abstract way, but look at what happens. An American sweetheart to many, with a painful realization her reality. I see you, Erin. I see me reflected, also, in the mirror that is you, Erin. And I’m sorry for the life you have, unfortunately, led. Thank you for your life, Erin. I’m hoping mine will be better, because of you. In fact, it already is.

 

Goodbye, Sunshine; Hello, Rain…

 

In the days following this post, further media reports have painted a different picture in their portrayal of Ms. Moran’s last days, based on the words her husband has since relayed, since that time. He (Steve Fleischmann), was with Erin, holding her hand until the end. That is really good to know. It’s also nice to learn that they’d first met about a quarter century ago. That makes me feel better that she, at least, was not quite so alone, as had been originally portrayed. But, it was revealed that she had had squamous cell carcinoma, discovered in her throat, and that the treatments had been pretty devastating further to her body. Knowing this, I really feel your pain, Erin. I hope the ongoing squabbles and behavior will subside now, and that you’ll receive your praises in heaven. Keep being the sunshine, Sunshine.

 

---

 

“Happy Days”; Wikipedia.org:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Days)

 

Oldham, Stuart. “‘Happy Days’ Star Erin Moran Dies at 56”. Variety.com; April 22, 2017:

(http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/happy-days-star-erin-moran-dies-at-56-1202393048/)

 

Israel Stands Still

Yom HaShoah (Randyjw; April 22, 2017)

 

Yom HaShoah, 5777

Sunset; Sunday, April 23, 2017 –

Nightfall; Monday, April 24, 2017

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Israel Stands Still (Randyjw; April 22, 2017)

 

Israel stands still

when the siren sounds across the land

recalling the fallen

the never again

You are not forgotten

but remembered again

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Siren of Rehovot, Israel (2012):

 

(https://youtu.be/M_Dc2D2va_A)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I Am poem – Anne Frank

by Natasha Hashemi and Claire Hawer

 

(https://youtu.be/2p-a_mCO_JA)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Eli Atah – Shlomo Gronich and the Sheba Choir

 

(https://youtu.be/CidvVpPMQQ8)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Magnetic East

Magnetic East (Randyjw; April 21, 2017)

 

Positivity rejecting neutrality

magnetic east heading

reads meteor shower

due for collision

yet under the hour

 

Oscillating waves of

radioactivity

always present,

 

communicating

in the background

of an ironic atmosphere

 

Diffused

in the right amounts,

perfect for habitation

 

when fused

sometimes deadly in

super-concentration

 

and inscribed

in ionic pentameter

 

Missed One

 

Missed One (Randyjw; April 21, 2017)

 

 

 

Miss…..?

 

 

…..Miss…..?

 

 

Is something amiss?

 

 

Excuse me,

 

 

but I think

you’ve gone

 

missing…

 

This!!!

 

Our Earth

 

I just rediscovered this… unposted – – – poem fragment?

 

Our Earth (Randyjw; April 21, 2017)

 

I believe it was you

who started this wonderful wave

which went around the world

an undertow and undertone

of moon and sky and sun

Long before the seeds were planted

the earth was prepared for their bed

dry leaves decomposed and its mulch supplanted

the weeds you replaced in their stead

 

Damaged and Bandaged

 

Damaged and Bandaged (Randyjw; April 20, 2017)

 

recalling rose petals

which drifted to shore

reminders of once loves

who sang songs no more

 

the lockbox was metal

the key turned in the door

the growth of ice crystals

formed to preserve their inner cores

 

Re: Generations

Re: Generations (Randyjw; April 20, 2017)

 

Two stars burned out

at the end of their skies

novas imploding

from their heat in the night

 

On closer inspection

it was discovered anew

faint pulses in the direction

from which the inner lights grew

 

Long-Lost Smile Found

Long-Lost Smile Found (Randyjw; April 20, 2017)

 

I’ve thought I should stop at the Musée d’Orsay, spend serious time admiring the van Goghs;

it’s not for naught that his work found resonance in the heart.

Yet, despite that deft delftman’s build on a canvas, filled with lapis and ruby and gold

I’ve always said there is one master with which I could never part.

 

It has been expressed in its time, without tarry

not the Provincialism of local subject or bid

besting the queue for the Louvre by a parry

a provenance felt straight from the depths of within

 

Mastery in a level recognizable to the trained and not

The better work belonged to the one j’adore

appreciative to discernment in the smiles wrought

shared, yet private, locked behind a separate door

 

The rumors seemed to swirl when the masters disappeared

a heist imagined to the crime, which didn’t fit

the Mona Lisa’s supposed smile turned to tears

when determined that hers had been just deemed counterfeit

 

Upturned corners may have dimpled the cheeks into the famous grin

but the attuned ones scoff at the mental disillusion

called out by the daring one with the actual humor and vision

to stand apart and call other shots, hated by the crowd, for both what she is and what she is not

 

Engraved medallions worn with the mottos and shields of the family crest,

while those on the ceiling of Plaster of Paris feature heavily in the gilded homes amongst the patrons of Trieste

Past collections sold at auction or perhaps stolen by the denizen of its citizens

as if solely ground for the trompe-l’oeil they were passing off the hues of the lead-based pigments rather than the leaved sheets of gold they needed to complete the rest of the tin-pressed foil

 

Following the fakers, or forgers or fakir

unknowing were led to purchases of dubious distinction

While previous effects far past of toothsome wins might indeed have been truly invented

there was still something inherently behind that sixteenth century smile beyond the facade of Leonardo’s modest creations

Palm Song

Palm Song (Randyjw; April 15, 2017)

 

Almost silently,

palm fronds whisper quietly

love songs with the breeze.

 

Like Silk

 

Like Silk (Randyjw; April 15, 2017)

 

Thin, fine, silver threads

stick, twined in canopies’ net

spinned, gossamer webs

 

Asleep In The Sea

 

Asleep In The Sea (Randyjw; April 12, 2017)

 

Coughing, gasping, gulping salt

I spill and tumble,

pitch and fault

while the trawler’s net

reels in the weight of the haul

 

Frail and small

I tremble as a man’s loving hands

sorts with wrapped bands

into buckets and cans

lobster, flounder, mollusk, sole

 

My ochre color belying the

nachre within

He must be a good man,

this fisherman,

to his family and wife

To hold me so gently

and think me beautifully

by kissing my cheek

and saving my life

 

Off to the sea I fall

caressed to the depths

while I stay discovered

and treasured no less

awoken from slumbering rest

with gifts of everlasting breath

of ivory-sunshine scrimshaw

engraved within my chest

~~~~~^~~~~~

°

~~~~

°    ~~~

~~~    °

( ° )   ~~

~~~    ~~~

~~~

 

A Tel Aviv Dawn

 

A Tel Aviv Dawn (Randyjw; April 7, 2017)

 

As intoxicating

as the scent of orange blossoms

before a Tel Avivian dawn

waves crashing

footsteps bounding

souls longing

during an evening’s run

the taste of a delicate

mango Yotvata

and the spray of the

Mediterranean

on the tip of the tongue

hearts racing

along the tayelet

toward the setting sun

where night-blooming jasmine

leaves accompanying perfumed notes

for every one

 

Scent of Grass

 

Scent of Grass (Randyjw; April 7, 2017)

 

The scent of cut grass

freshly lingers and wafts

on breezes left by air currents —

in breaths held aloft

 

Faux-de-deux

 

Faux-de-deux (Randyjw; April 6, 2017)

 

When one can only see

through the clouded lens

of a foregone conclusion

and a seeming end

then the second

never stood a chance

to fit their life

in a dual dance

of a melded blend

 

Mean

 

Mean (Randyjw; April 4, 2017)

 

Words

learned and used

to describe the leanings

of life’s events

are

words

turned and abused

when inscribing the meanings

of their intent

 

My Song, My Dance

 

My Song, My Dance (Randyjw; April 2, 2017)

 

You were never a footnote in my history

nor a chapter of song or verse

not the stanza which remained a mystery

but the coda of my universe

 

Principles of Participles

 

Principles of Participles (Randyjw; March 31, 2017)

 

History is the past

telling a particular story

depending on perspective

it’s wars or guts or glory

In the words of a skillful tale-bearer

the story holds suspense over time

by the ink in the mind of a poet

condensing large parts to few lines

painting what they make out to be seen

though circumstances and situations don’t change

contrasting shadows highlight the scene

it’s just how they’re artfully arranged

 

Friends In Absentia

 

Friends In Absentia (Randyjw; March 31, 2017)

 

Imaginary friends?

That’s for the young

Never had the need

to imagine one

 

 

Salt Entreaty

 

Salt Entreaty (Randyjw; March 31, 2017)

 

If the sea goes out on my side,

does it go to yours?

Does it reach people

on the beaches of distant shores?

Like tears on a journey

traversing my face

they travel and touch

and return back in place

 

Shhhh… Shhhh…

 

Shhhh… Shhhh… (Randyjw; March 31, 2017)

 

The best part is knowing that

when the tide goes out

and departs from the sand

the beach then has something

to look forward to again

 

 

Day

 

Day (Randyjw; March 30, 2017)

 

Forgetting to breathe

Only just beginning to see

listening to the music

of the discoveries

that would have never ceased

to amaze me

had I only let them be

the perfect tunes

and the perfect mood

and the perfect words

to fit the perfect moon

Don’t know what I’m doing

if I’m making any sense

I’m just gonna lie here

in my self-made predicaments

Heart is torn asunder

rent by lightning and by thunder

is it ever any wonder

no, no, no there isn’t one

 

Waves Goodbye

 

Waves Goodbye (Randyjw; March 30, 2017)

 

Why must we always eat

our dinner before our desserts?

And why does it always seem

we’ve shared our last kiss before the first?

Why must I ask these questions,

and why is my everything not right?

And why must I even make mention,

when we’ve never even shared our first fight?

Could I be any more real in my revelation,

or anything less in my feeling of devastation?

Both should be “no,” but they seem to be “yes”;

Why any such answers, excepting the best?

I suppose we get what we give and learn how to forgive

but my efforts half-strength are no fair way to live

My feelings are really still the same

I can’t say that they’ve changed

but, again, I’m the one to give cause for the blame

They were what they were, they are what they’re for

but your full opportunities still wait at your door

to be free to love with no-holds barred would fit you very well

and on that beach, within your reach, lie precious, pretty shells

On the tide, I subside —

goodbye, my good friend, goodbye

 

❤🌚

 

Sinking In

 

Sinking In (Randyjw; March 30, 2017)

 

It’s easy to sink in

to the warm waters of the island we’re inhabiting

never to worry about the waves I didn’t see coming

buffeted from storms that might have been brewing on the horizon

It was easy to find my way

when I followed the gentle sway

of the tidal pull you exerted in the ebb and flow of my day

 

(https://youtu.be/GP16ohxdOBo)

 

Rolling Waves

Rolling Waves (Rachelgv; March 30, 2017)

 

Put your ear where you can hear

the gently rolling tide

rolling tide

in and out

in and out

side by side

side by side

You’ll hear it when its calling

from that shell

from inside

from the swell

that arises

when the tide blinds my eyes

Listen to the sound

of rocking hands as they sway

to and fro

to and fro

as they go

as they go

Look upon the ground

see on the sand

on the sand

what the sea

left on land

lovely shells

for your hand

many beautiful choices

will awash on the beach

swept to shore

at your feet

and one more

also sweet

Grab it while the crest

will bring it close

to your reach

for someone else

to select

from the heap

of the rest

when no more

the sound you hear

comes from the whelk

to your ear

and driftwood rides

out to sea

on the tides

that were me

 

Enhanced

 

Enhanced (Randyjw; March 29, 2017)

 

See me as I once was

and not as I’ve become

if my memory fades

when I’m old and grey

I’ll want you to remember my love

 

I fell in love with you every day

it was never out it was always in

and the best part about it

it didn’t need to be found

it was always there within

 

Some days just felt different

a breathless heart attack

became more static

and during those times

when I could catch my breath

I realized I could also call you

my best friend

 

When I can walk on air

I’m buoyed to have you there

and even as my mind creates you

in my dreams in these scenes

you are perfect

you can never let me down

 

You made my heart break

in so many good ways

You made my soul ache

for future memories that might never take hold

with every word which you said and wrote

while I grew old and faded away

 

What Hasn’t Changed

 

What Hasn’t Changed (Randyjw; March 29, 2017)

 

I’m sorry if I ever made you feel

unwanted or unloved in any way

my prayers were answered

and were made to be real

when you became what I’d wanted to know

and walked in that very day

 

Trees, Please

 

Trees, Please (Randyjw; March 28, 2017)

 

Can we imagine if we were to have guardian trees?

What would yours, and what would mine, be?

From here, or even from wherever I may be (hee-hee), what I can perfectly see

is that yours would show that the weight of the world, which you have borne almost singly,

will have turned to say thank you, for being the crux of its essential being

and while it may have bent forward under the gravity of its unreleasing

foothold in its grounded reality

its life-giving leaves have branched out in complete degrees of a total 360°

chlorophyll free-forming while birds lay there sleeping

In the midst of this graceful entity

you would encounter its heart on its sleeve

enlarged for all its giving and bearing and beating

And through that, would be embodied

if trees had sleeves and bodies

a laserlike focus made up of moonbeams and sunbeams

shot straight through the heart and enlightening

its burning rays in the perfect spot of healing.

And given to thinking, now what would mine be?

Well, the Koran has already named it as the gharkad tree

It’s a form of hedgerow that’s supposed to protect us

to keep us in hiding when others won’t let us

I can already say that that’s worked for me once

but, I have no preference, be it grand or a stump

They’re all beautiful living things made by G-d,

the prettiest fruit tree, the shade-giving log

But, I think that ALL trees are put here on earth

to show us G-d’s love and to show us His worth.

 

What About It

 

What About It (Randyjw; March 27, 2017)

 

Shall we live with passion

following all interests in matters of the heart

or shall we live by pure dictates

societies’ roles for our part

What inspires your compassion

when you never step up to the plate

accusing the downtrodden of blindness

after it’s already sealed their fate

What blessings have they missed counting

by your perfect ten fingers and toes

and why must you gauge their suffering

by standards that are purely your own

Would you trade your crocodile tear loafers

for the bare feet of the soles left unshod

Would you accept pennies for your wingtips and thoughts

In their afflictions no you cannot

These things are glaringly apparent

for you’ve never made reply

to things abhorrently transparent

in the person’s wretchedness before your eyes

I once felt that words spoke more truly than deed

to discover after all was lost

that action most truthfully serves the needs

when lives and truth are at cost

Shall we live in our memories

which may last for a lifetime

or shall we live a life lasting

for memories of all time

The simple issue will never be solved

by writing in riddles, in parable and rhyme

 

Re-View

 

Re-View (Randyjw; March 27, 2017)

 

It was a dark and stormy day

the sky opened up and the howling winds came

the rain splayed against the cornices and eves

buffeting the branches amongst the great elm’s leaves

the house, itself, stood lone and stark

a fortress looming tall as a beacon in the dark

the squirrels nesting by the song of the lark

somewhere in their little cavern in the hollows of the bark

Inside, the cold chambers were being slowly brought back to life

the previous years of dereliction had ignobly exacted their strife

when, first, the mistress had gone

and the master had endured what he could

and the ensuing eras bore upon them and forsooth the gates of wood

The new occupant swept the corners and replaced the shattered panes

what pains had been before were gone, no residue remained

yet, lighted wicks and lamps could not dispel the gloom within

a sadness overtook them in the glades set thick with fern

the darkness enveloped them wholly

the moon gave off its light

the cattails of the marsh glinted solely

upon the waters that reflected the night

a presence emerged in passing

sidling up the weed-stricken path

where used to tend the garden bloomed

but now resembled doom

and from the pocket an object palmed

its metallic edges now rusted

the sharpened blade shone in the light

amidst the stale and musted

approaching the window and blending together

the dark shadows dancing to inclement weather

the face cast in shadows of flickering flame

the arm and blade raised to bear down on the same

the stroke moving deftly against cold, hard glass

restoring the view from old paint on the sash

 

A Nowruz Poem

Happy Nowruz!

Har ruzetan Nowruz

Sad saal be in Saal-ha

Nowruzetan piruz!

Happy New Year!

 

<3__/\__<3

 

Drawn In Song

 

Drawn In Song (Randyjw; March 22, 2017)

 

Heart-shaped is the way

hands draw slowly falling tears

dried upon the face

 

Arrange

 

Arrange (Randyjw; March 22, 2017)

 

The bluff face is eroded over time

its mountainous stature of sandstone and lime

greeted each day by the wisps of the breeze

making its meal of small pieces with ease

Each grain of its being a beautiful beach

was borne on the wind and poured out at your feet

 

Standing On Ceremony

 

Standing On Ceremony (Randyjw; March 22, 2017)

 

The flower tossed and flung

with straight arm

crossed behind the crowd

and was lost as it hung

back behind the line

and was caught by

another

unprepared

for the bouquet

to be shared

with some other

The tulip kissed

as it flew by air

and crushed by foot

as it fell to sole

the rose compared

by another name

a ruse is a ruse

by any other game

 

Two Tears

 

Two Tears (Randyjw; March 19, 2017)

 

When you are sad and feeling bereft

and a tear slips its edge over the rim of each eye

whether coursing from the right or beginning on the left

it matters not, as it comes from the One Most High

He built you with a portable faucet for water

in His perfect thoughtfulness and never-ending grace

whether man or woman or son or daughter

with one tear, for each hand, you can wash your face

 

My Mother’s Rainbow Blanket

 

My Mother’s Rainbow Blanket (Randyjw; March 15, 2017)

 

Skeins of yarn drape the arms

of my mother’s sofa and crepey palms

a final mission of a love-filled vision

to leave a lasting legacy of a mother’s balm

 

When she can no longer comfort me

can’t be beside me

to soothe all my tears and assuage my qualms

my rainbow blanket

will embrace me as snugly

as my mother had

to keep me warm and calm

———————————————————————-

A mother-daughter collaboration. My mother knitted the panels of my rainbow blanket, and I made the tassels and chose the order in which the panels would be constructed.

 

Thank you, Mom.

I love you.

❤

---

 

The Nautilus

Nautilus And Heart (Randyjw; March 13, 2017)

 

 

The Nautilus (Randyjw; March 13, 2017)

 

The nautilus resembles the human heart

comprised of chambers in its connecting parts

developing the shell to protect its inner motion

swimming in the depths of vast and deeply salted oceans

 

Vault

 

Vault (Randyjw; March 13, 2017)

 

What does it take to reach a soul;

to share the words only two can know?

And drawers of love letters penned before —

To whom, exactly, were they for?

A heart reaching out, with blind, bare boldness

should never know the sorrow of another’s coldness

bitten with frost in a state of hypothermia

smitten on a skewer and roasted by fire

Such parries in the dark might make a course

of cold storage kebab derived from a corpse

though crystalline ice might enhance the luster

encasing yet another unpermafreezed monster

 

Happiness

 

Happiness (Randyjw; March 11, 2017)

 

I see ahead to a happiness instead

you’ll eventually share with another

and though it’s difficult now

to ignore what we had

the reward will be so much greater

 

You have to hold on and I know that you’re strong

and take in mind what I have to say

the reasons are long and your heart deserves song

Not a life with but strife and decay

 

We did grab what we got at it’s perfect and right spot

and never could it have ever been better

when my TV plays “Ghost”

I’ll still have loved you the most

though I leave you with solely my letters

 

When my days finally come

at the setting of sun

and the curtains go finally dark

I want you to know

that we both should let go

and let happiness heal your sweet heart

 

Guilty As Charged

Guilty As Charged (Randyjw; March 11, 2017)

 

We always judge,

though we think we’re not

and can never truly know

the depths of another’s heart

 

Weighted on the scales

we can be found to be short

but it isn’t love that fails

to stand accused in court

 

It is meanings and perceptions

the way it comes presented

sometimes it seems deception

and for this can be resented

 

It’s acceptable to reach the decision

when total commitment is withheld

expectations unmet in its faulty transmission

two hearts, once fused, to unmeld

 

It’s understandable to place a simple demand

that presence for each should be there

a one-sided body and argument stands

the invisible — only through air

 

But, sometimes the reasons require more trust

the pre-judged can simply not give

because sometimes simply the essence of love

means releasing the other to live

 

Because sometimes one puts the other above

the interests of self-serving deeds

when really best interests are served with the love

that would sacrifice the whole of its needs

 

And love can yet withstand mighty forces

the winds which change with time

but one thing I’m not sure that love can do

is to ever be changed of it’s mind

 

My Words Are These

 

I recorded various tracks at different locations, and can’t figure out how to get them mixed. I’ve downloaded and deleted so many sound recording apps that haven’t yet worked out. I suspect that soundcloud won’t allow me to redownload my own material, anyways. I’ve set them to private and can’t even seem to change that setting; I think I might need a real computer for that. Meanwhile, I was never sure I wanted to make it public, but keep it just close to my heart. My words say something to that effect. The Hebrew is not from a native-speaker; just a Jewish girl without a real home. They’re also in the wrong tense, coming as if the words were being spoken by a man to a woman. No translation; hearts need none.

 

Tamid Va’ed (Dates approximated: February 26th, 2017: Sound Effects = Train (Not sure if I was going to use it or not; mostly trying to hide my poor voice); March 1st, 2017 = Instrumentals (synthesized: sitar, guitar, flute); March 1st, 2017 = Poetry (Lyrics); March 4th, 2017: Photography (Poetry/Lyrics))

 

Ani ohev

Tamid Va’ed

Yachad yoshev

Pituach balev

———————–

Ani yoshev

Yachad balev

Anachnu echad

Tamid Va’ed

 

Unreined

 

Unreined (Randyjw; March 9, 2017)

 

I’ve died several ignominious paper deaths

at the hands of haste and fire

steel tempered til the blue edges burn white

with desire

 

that which instead forged in backbreaking ire

of the deep black heart desiring to be caught

behind all, which was naught

and tightened in the bodily bridge of a vise which grips

before whatever real time

expires, then slips

 

Though fire breathes with air

the ash will be swept again

and cleared from there

and new fresh scents of spring

will arrive on the dew

in the way that is forward and right for you

 

Earth will be your grounding source

the balm you need to soothe that beast

chomping at the bit,

a bridle not to ensnare that wild

pawing, passionate heat

Calmed at the last through the love of another

 

In Their Voice

 

In Their Voice (Rachelgv; March 8, 2017)

 

Soul sisters in sorrow

your beautiful poetry will not see tomorrow

your expressive voice hidden behind the veil

that only you will know how to wear so well

the silken hair captive to fabrics woven

and the yearning for freedoms still going unspoken

I will be your voice and speak for those

who would choose whether they even wish to speak at all

the hidden women, whose talents languish in shuttered homes

the desert women, whose sullen shadows sit atop shapeless bones

the kitchen women, unworthy to eat before the males are done

Yet I speak for you, all alone

 

 

 

You Don’t Say…

 

You Don’t Say… (Randyjw; March 7, 2017)

 

I have yet to see a Yeti

But, I bet your sights are set

on seeing this Bigfooted creature yet

However, I’ll raise you one of those

pointy-nosed map fish of days of old

with its five-foot long brown body

and a rectangular protuberance like some diminished mast sail on its crown

forget about “X”-ing the spot to track it down

we’ve all seen E.T. and know how that’ll end

But, people I know

snapped a photo of the hyperloop

Or so I’m told

Saw the pic with my own eyes

never thinking to realize

they could’ve downloaded and photoshopped

the thing, like a blue arcing angel on wing

And as for the conspiracy theories

which I was introduced to by my ex numero uno

whose explanations indubitably made sense

except that it was never by the Jews, but against

and so why was it that both two and one had to point out hidden bases in the middle of forests dense

as we picnicked beneath the radiation of metal telephone poles

and those UFO’s

three of ’em, by George, but I always forget one

must have been the abduction (just kidding — and having a little fun)!

One a giant black mass

gliding to the right of the police station,

or was it a fire station,

with a circle of circular lights in its bottom porthole

the other a triangular prism of lights

4-3-2-1, ascending and falling in a vertical line

the cop couldn’t see it through the slit of the turret window

for the tops of the trees blocked the view

but it was reported and, thus, everybody knew

So, Sasquatch and Loch Ness may yet find their fifteen minutes

if these mythical creatures would just cooperate fully with us!

 

Post-Humorous (v.2)

 

Post-Humorous (v.2)

 

When truth related

brings us laughter belated:

“Post-Humorously”

 

Post-Humorous

 

Post-Humorous (Randyjw; March 7, 2017)

 

When the truth after

its posting brings us laughter:

“Post-Humorously”

 

Carousel

 

Carousel (Randyjw; March 7, 2017)

 

The gilded white mare

ascends the painted vertical

to take you on your journey

and seat you in her saddle

 

with flowers in her hair

through galaxies inimical

around and round you’re turning

enchanting wonders magical

 

galloping through air

chasing lions invincible

black stallion astride her flying

wings spread like glorious lightning

 

Life Star

 

Life Star (Randyjw; March 7, 2017)

 

Come in with a bang

Circulate through time and space

and leave just the same

 

Crosstalk

 

Crosstalk (Randyjw; March 6, 2017)

 

I can cross my t’s and dot my i’s

read between the many lines

but, some things simple

I’ll never realize

being an unorthodox paradox

 

I can discourse on mideast policy

be questioned on attendance to conferences on security

converse with those given to nuclear strategy

but on social aptitude be a magnanimous failure of rectitude

 

I can cross my eyes and step over lines

give you advice, but I can’t follow mine

deflect the rumors, yet add to the clamor

and be one whose crazy heart still pitter-patters

 

Nightlight On

 

Nightlight On (Randyjw; March 3, 2017)

 

In the last days

alone at night

lying awake

and staring up

shadows dark

and frightening

flit the ceiling

taking flight

Tonight

as I drifted off

to la-la-land

my phone in hand

I saw a light

it’s color white

and sighed relief

I’d found my peace

And, wouldn’t you know…

All it seems

is that it’s the ambient beam

emitted by the glow

of the telephone screen!

 

Torment Tearing My Heart Out

 

Torment Tearing My Heart Out (Rachelgv; March 2, 2017)

 

Aaaahhh!!! I hear you, too

as you scream across the shore

in my mind, for sure

 

I’m here, and I hear

you, echo of my soul, for

do I not know you?

 

Sides

 

Sides (Randyjw; March 2, 2017)

 

Left or Right: both rile;

insults and accusations

across both aisles

Little Squirrel

 

Little Squirrel (Randyjw; March 2, 2017)

 

I’ll play with you, if

you’ll play with me — chasing each

other up the tree

 

Sea Spray

 

Sea Spray (Randyjw; March 2, 2017)

 

On the dock

enjoying the light breeze

and the kiss of the sun on our sleeves

of bare arms

entangled in the misty sprays

as the rocks meet the waves

and we walk

as the sunset breaks to dawn

and the birds begin their play

 

Towers

 

Towers (Randyjw; March 2, 2017)

 

You! In the towers:

Do you lower yourself down

to smell the flowers?

 

Flare

 

Flare (Randyjw; March 2, 2017)

 

In the heat of

the mid-day sun

two, murmuring

became one

O Scary

 

O Scary (Randyjw; March 2, 2017)

 

Oscar Night fashion

There’s no accounting for taste

It’s all opinion

 

Rock On, Aileron

 

Rock On, Aileron (Randyjw; February 28, 2017)

 

Can you catch me on radar

As I’m flying super-sonar

lane change, again

weaving wheels to highway

meeting arms to air

I swear

I just want you to be happy

The trunk is full

and neither of us have got the room

for a heart of gloom

Let’s take it on the road

fly this car right in the air

Are you a passenger along for the ride

or will you add another wing

Get this car soaring

and take it into flight

C’mon…

I haven’t got all night

but the rest of my life

for you to be mine

No ideas, nobody in mind

Just a song I’ll sing

I’m alone again

Rock on, aileron

Rock on, my heart, and soar

 

Thank You

 

Thank you (Randyjw; February 25, 2017)

 

The words you wrote the other night

made me cry

for all the time I’ve let go by

and all the hurt I’ve kept inside

and for all the things I’ve tried to deny

Thinking I could beat it til it died

It didn’t, and it arised

But I couldn’t even realize

since I kept closing my eyes

and thought it could hide

til my breath caught in my side

What you wrote in those lines

was just the same like I had lived

so the resemblance was no lie

but the scars they still apply

and the residue will always remain

I don’t really feel like revisiting it all again

but, now that I know that this boondoggle is mine

I know what it is, and I’m gonna be fine

 

Thank you

You’re the only one that’s broken through

If you need an ear

I’m here, also, for you

 

Comparable

 

Comparable (Randyjw; February 25, 2017)

 

Are you sure you’ve seen

differences between us I

hadn’t known there’d been

Always

 

Always (Randyjw; February 25, 2017)

 

Believe in Me; And

Believe in You; For I Do.

With Love, You-Know-Who

 

One

 

One

 

We are all the same

We are all one kind

All; one body

All; one mind

 

The Train

 

The  Train (Randyjw; February 24, 2017)

 

It sounds like rain on the roof of the shack

but it’s just the train, going clickety-clack

the long whistle, and the rails below

travel the grand vista as though through a grimy window

Laying on that horn, all the way down

at 3:00, 5:00, 6:00 in the morn, ’til he gets to the next town

and I hear the howling roar of the fiercely driving rain

it sounds like the monsoon or a hurricane

 

Wry Toast

 

Wry Toast (Randyjw; February 24, 2017)

 

Buttering wry toast

fallen on the floor instead;

crummy end of bread

 

Oh, Dear Me

 

 

Oh, Dear Me (Randyjw; February 23, 2017)

 

 

Dear Me:

 

Love me like there’s no tomorrow

and no more sorrow

for our tears

Love me like each breath you take

means what’s at stake

will last the years

Hug me when the bumpy roads

exact their tolls

reversing course

Hold me in your loving arms

and do no harm

with no remorse

 

Love, Me

 

Solar Powered

 

Solar Powered (Randyjw; February 23, 2017)

 

At the beginning

when the Big Bang rang

and the heavens sang

and their bodies flew ever outward

They expanded and wandered

and moved continually forward

until they found rhythm in each others’ orbits

And drawn like the sun

they ellipsed with the one

and their wobbles grew steady and brighter

the axes were crossed

and were no longer lost

making galaxies that much more lighter

 

Pre-Scribed

 

Pre-Scribed (Randyjw; February 23, 2017)

 

When writing the script

it is knowing with hindsight

how things will work out

 

Gratitude

 

Gratitude (Randyjw; February 22, 2017)

 

That was amazing;

You’ve shown me how.

For whatever the reason,

I needed that just now.

It was the exact thing needed,

in the exact right place.

That’s what we receive from others,

and that’s what we give, in its place.

This will be a poem

I’m going to make for you,

and to all the others, like you,

in gratitude.

 

From Where I Come

 

From Where I Come (Rachelgv; February 22, 2017)

 

From where I come

is by my ancestry.

By Adam and Eve

through Terach and Abraham

 

And, yet, again, in

further meanderings

 

Ur-Kasdim, and into Haran

in captivity in exile

by the rivers of Babylon

Asarah B’Tevet

 

By the well of Dotan

to the right of Pharoah’s rod

at Rameses and Pitom

in fields of Padan-Aram

 

and maybe by Paran

the cities of Shushan

released with help from King Ahashveros (of Iran)

who would assist us in rebuilding the Temple

 

We commemorate in memory

that the woman he wed to wife

Hadassah, known as Esther,

the Jewish Queen that saved our lives

 

And this is known as Purim

it’s also part of the Jewish story

and Chanukah you’ll know

by our defiance of Roman glory

 

From Egypt, in Goshen

having first lived in Knaan

through Avram’s sons and Yosef the one

and led out again by Moshe

 

And that’s the story of Passover

when we were freed from our bonds

When G-d redeemed us and saved us

with ten plagues to our oppressors rained down

 

When he brought us to the mount

and to the wilderness of Zin

and gave the commandments of Torah

the Sukkot and the Mishkan

 

And that’s the backgrounds of the holidays

of Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot,

of simple days under desert stars

happy in Simchat Torah

 

And back again

to the Holy Land

promised to us

and delivered by hand

 

Through Inquest, Expulsion,

and auto-da-fe,

through Kristallnacht, Holocaust,

forests and Babi Yar

 

In Zion, and Jaffa, Carmel and Ashdod,

Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem

In Ashkelon, Aza, and Yericho

in Hevron, and Shiloh, in the fields of Machpelah

 

By Isaac, by Jacob,

and all of his breed

and Rachel and Leah

and Ruth and David

 

Because where I come from

is where I have been

and by all of  G-d’s miracles,

Here I Am

 

 

Additional Information:

 

Wikipedia.org; “Joseph (Genesis)”:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_(Genesis)):

“The Bible offers two explanations of the name Yosef: first it is compared to the word asaf from the root /’sp/, “taken away”: “And she conceived, and bore a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach”; Yosef is then identified with the similar root /ysp/, meaning “add”: “And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.”

 

Wikipedia.org; “Jewish Holidays”:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_holidays)

 

Grounded

 

Grounded (Randyjw; February 22, 2017)

 

Please…

 

Add me to your blacklist

Block me from your call list

hang out the vacant sign

say you won’t be mine

 

I won’t chase you from behind

and cannot leave you, though I’ve tried

though I’m hiding in plain sight

I hope never to be found

 

My options all ran out

it’s ironic, without doubt

I’ve run and run around the sun

to finally stand my ground.

 

❤

 

Socially Inept Media

 

Socially Inept Media (Randyjw; February 22, 2017)

 

the phone is an awkward

shape to snuggle

warm but a bit uncomfortable

the cord leaving trails of the struggle

 

nosed the reply above inadvertently

added the alphabet of your name mysteriously

different scenarios in which I’ve created you figuratively

sloshing through the downpours of my eyes’ floodgates interminably

 

Yahoo can supply no answers

and Jeeves has found a better vista

in virtual, and in some seemingly second life

I’ve simply become a word-processing spinster

 

Nariman, Left Out

 

Nariman, Left Out (Randyjw; February 21, 2017)

 

walked the roads and in back

envisaged

the lay of the track

and the bomb’s devices

The windowless alleys and the restaurant

the captainless vessel repainted and launched

Making ghosts of the life of this ship

in murderous image and deed equipped

 

A+

 

A+ (Randyjw; February 21, 2017)

 

Each

according to his “means”,

and the manner in which

the answers are seen.

A

 

A (Randyjw; February 21, 2017)

 

The questions received

and the answers written

are the answers perceived

by the questions given

 

Elusive Conclusion

 

Elusive Conclusion (Randyjw; February 21, 2017)

 

It is good to think,

and to ponder;

To question

and to wonder.

 

Do we pose

the answers to our thoughts

through assumptions

in our blunders?

 

Or draw extractions

from the truths

found inherent

in our natures?

 

The lesson

to be discerned

is in how to pose

the proper question

 

Thank You To You

 

Thank You To You (Randyjw; February 20, 2017)

 

I’d melt myself into a puddle of goo

stick myself to the bottom of your shoe

turn myself upside down and right-side round

rightside-in and inside-out

is there anything else I wouldn’t do

to let you know I appreciate you.

Pong

 

Pong (Randyjw; February 20, 2017)

 

Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.

the sound of you giving me

reflections of thee

 

A Theft, Bereft

 

A Theft, Bereft (Randyjw; February 20, 2017)

 

Sometimes I take

what isn’t mine

atone for sins

and pay in kind

 

Kinetically Coincidental

 

Kinetically Coincidental (Randyjw; February 20, 2017)

 

This time, it’s purpose was meant

and intentional

this theft, a depraved heart bereft

has beat kinetically coincidental.