Swan Song

Day thirty….http://www.napowrimo.net/

“They say that all the swans in England belong to the Queen”…..

When she was just a little girl,
she wanted to take over the world.
They told her she wasn’t qualified,
with crocodile tears…she cried and cried!

She stamped her feet and went quite red,
and the Palace guards shook their heads.
“Whatever a Princess wants, she gets”
the Royal household placed their bets.

So they told her she could own every swan,
though the King felt rather put upon.
You do know she was Daddy’s girl,
the sweetest child with delightful curls.

To this day in her Queenly glory,
she recounts the same old story,
that swans were never really her thing,
she was just trying to vex the King!

I wonder who will be next in line,
to inherit this feathery goldmine?
Perhaps the Princes’ will draw straws,
or hand them over to some worthy cause!
THE END

©AllysoAlly2018
Image courtesy of PixaBay

Lost in translation

Day twenty-nine…..http://www.napowrimo.net/

“It is impossible to over-emphasize the immense need humans have to be really listened to, to be taken seriously, to be understood.”
― John Joseph Powell, Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?

For Sylvia Plath….

I’m in a quandary,
I cannot interprete your words,
maybe “The Elm” beguils me with her knowledge!

Yet, I’ve been to the bottom, below the dark earth, to the tap root.
I know seas of dissatisfaction that thunder insanity,
I tell you its nothingness, mere trickery of the mind.

For although this dark place exists,
don’t consume your own poison,
don’t rain toxic thoughts.

Tell me, have I misunderstood you,
do you suffer the atrocity of sunsets?
Are they endings, I see them as beginnings!

It is only in darkness that love is a shadow!
Love is not an illusion, it’s within the soft flesh,
to be breathed in as your soul’s friend.

I will try to see beyond this darkness that echoes in you,
and engulfs your form.
I will try to understand you.

Let me tell you of the moon I see with different eyes.
Not a moon that drags me, or diminishes me,
but a moon that spills merciful light on me.

Let me hold you tenderly, when bad dreams possess you,
until your cry subsides. You can flap back to belonging,
Be not terrified of the dark thing that sleeps in you.

This may sound trite right now, in present darkness.
Look beyond this realm of knowledge, beyond malignity.
Use my rose-coloured spectacles…they work just fine!

Then speak again to me, in words I understand…

 

Return to sender….

Day twenty-eight…..http://www.napowrimo.net/ #postcards

Mosi-oa-tunya………I’m not there….I’m right here aren’t I, scratching down words for twenty-eight days, racking my brain, hell-bent on finishing. Rummaging daily through my own garbage trying to pick out the sparkly bits, hidden in life’s debris, and sometimes only finding tokens….Right now I’d like to crunch my pen under-foot and make paper jets of these smudged words. Then I’d take the first flight out of here, to watch the moon rise over Devil’s cataract. I’d skid bare foot through the rain forest and swim to the very edge, like a daredevil, and if i fell in, I wouldn’t be at all surprised. Melancholy would dissolve on the green hotel lawns, as I lounged beside the pool, drinking Pina Coladas. But instead I’m baring my soul right here, hoping for some kind of cathartic experience or at least to rescue myself from hum-drum mediocrity. I’m no prisoner scratching notes on blank walls. I’m an adventurer on a quest to find myself, floating down the rapids, memories thundering over, clinging for dear life to the hope that one day I will get there……Ally

©AllysoAlly2018

how do i breathe

Day twenty seven…..http://www.napowrimo.net/

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise!”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

how do i breath                  you ask
through the lungs of God i say

how do i even stand
when hope
has passed away

i float on Angel wings
in sanctuaries of grace       the sun shines on my countenance
and bestows its healing rays

why do you even pray
when tears don’t evaporate
because i am alive           i say
and eternal love prevails

so in the deepest silence
even in a masquerade
how do i honestly breathe
please let the sun explain

the motion of the earth never passes away
trees and flowers obey
regenerating another day

how do i wake each day        when i am still afraid
how do tears dry
when i feel betrayed

the sun touches my window       its existence i can’t evade
and the universe tells me
there are no mistakes

so tell me                       how do you breathe
when life dissipates
with a grateful heart                i say
and what remains
i appreciate

because, in the sun’s light       i fly
to love that can’t be erased
and like the moon i reflect
each sunrise
i celebrate

©AllysoAlly2018

Starry-eyed shores

Day twenty-six….http://www.napowrimo.net/

“You were born a child of light’s wonderful secret— you return to the beauty you have always been.”
― Aberjhani, Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black

The air feels like remembrance,
on shimmering sands
of recall.
Inhaling childhood visions,
my senses are enthralled.

Beneath the azure firmament
where squealing gannets glide,
a profusion of pungent seaweed
drifts in
with the tide.

I’m transported
back in time,
to a stop-over in my dreams,
as I gaze at taupe
sand-dunes,
gently moving in the breeze…

In a caravan of promise, where time stands still,
beyond waves that echo,
eagerly getting my fill, of the warm salty ocean,
and the balmy sea air,
surging through the breakers,
bliss beyond compare.

The taste of vanilla ice cream,
swirling on my tongue,
savoring sweet confections,
when I was very young!

And the blazing sun sparkled,
touching my pasty skin,
I soaked up the radiance,
of belonging to my kin.

At night
the swells rumbled,
as if the ocean was at our door
and the distant cosmos sparkled
on starry-eyed shores.

the remembrance is alive,
in an illustrated feeling,
holiday narrations,
and the innocence of being!

©AllysoAlly2018

Warning: A work in progress

Day twenty five….http://www.napowrimo.net/

What would your warning label say?

Caution: makes up words.
Handle with care: cries frequently.
Fragile: has been hurt.
Safety warning: may eat your cake.
Doesn’t bite unless provoked.
Don’t disturb when day dreaming.
Subject to outlandish behavior.
Explosive when ignored.
Loves direct sunlight.
Not suitable for normal thinking.
Keep away from aggressive persons.
Authorized to play and have fun.
Intended for silliness.
Do not remove cats, dogs or children.
Install as much laughter as possible.
May contain affection.
Do not crush: wounds not healed yet.
Addictive when taken with grace.
Always take with a little wine.
Contains a lot of chocolate.
Do not enter without a hug.
Keep right side up: leaks when mishandled.
For best results; show lots of kindness and love.

©AllysoAlly2018

Elegy

Day twenty four….http://www.napowrimo.net/

It’s been so dark, the nights,
and so grueling, the days.
Missing you. My salty tears,
plunge my despair.
There’s an ache, so deep,
without your presence,
without your thinking mind.
We shared so much, and explored realms
only some dare go.
Questions filled your soul.

Late night conversations,
messages of light, out of the darkness.
Now an empty space, an abyss!

The desire for answers, pressed in.
Questioning the hard steel rails,
while green fields of promise,
lay before you!

You were loaned to me, I’m thankful,
my shooting star, up close,
you burned with the fire,
of wakeful dreaming, a radiant presence,
that some did not recognize,
in the very cold light of day.

In a sometimes heartless, unconscious Earth,
you knew sorrow. You believed in truth, always,
and you desired to change the world!
But no one was listening, though you
made strides, in secret, where no man saw!

You struggled with hurt, and loss, and rejection!
But now the heavens acknowledge your greatness.
Always written, in the stars,
inscribed on the everlasting firmament!

In death many saw your light, your sacrifice,
of open wounds,
and those who knew you, gasped,
at such a loss, of one so generous, so kind.
Questioning the passing, of one so great?

Here on earth, your work is done,
you have gone back to the source,
to the light, to belonging.
To where there is no shame, no fear!

You forgave, the neglect, the judgement,
because you knew you were far from perfect.
And now that you have crossed,
to where the light is bright, clothed in glory,
every dream fulfilled, every question answered,
and your soul is at rest,
I can hear you say “I’m safe home Mom”!

©AlysoAlly2018

Gossip

Day twenty three….http://www.napowrimo.net/

My Mother always used to say, “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it!”

They just keep talking at me. I don’t want to hear a word
they’re saying. These echoes of my mind, submerge me in
a sea of voices, comments, the screeching din of gossip. On
every corner, on roads, on bilboards, on pages, on screens, a
cacophony of harsh tones, dialogues of malice. It disturbs the
equilibrium of kindness. Revealing secrets to the wind, even
the trees would be ashamed of. Loose tongued utterances, which
cannot be recalled, or gathered, or even undone. Distorted words
reverberate on sanctuary walls, hideouts, were the innocent
huddle in hushed tones. Perpetrators of hearsay speak out
in jarring malevolence, of what they think is true. The dissonant
language of gossip, suffocates the joy of everyday life.
*Because the house of a louder talker, leaks……..
* African proverb Zulu Tribe

©AllysoAlly2018

The Stars were rearranged

Day twenty two……http://www.napowrimo.net/

No one knows what has been taken from you
When the silence of absence deepens.
― John O’Donohue

Shaped by heavenly aspect,
infused with sacred breath,
seperation poured out,
the hopelessness of death!

An existence I’d known,
had ceased to be,
beneath celestial oceans, my eyes could barely see!

I was stranded in a universe where the stars were out of reach,
and darkness was gathering,
my heart had been besieged!

Auguries and sightings foretold illusive dreams,
I held remembrance
by any mystical means.

I did not feel favoured,
the night my life changed,
so at the behest of the Angels,
the stars were rearranged.

Andromeda shifted,
I returned to holy dust,
stars found new positions,
the entire cosmos hushed!

In the chasm of the slipstream where bright stars had been,
I inhaled a new perspective,
in heaven’s time machine.

It took me to the night, my life was realigned,
to supernatural presence,
forever intertwined.

With love’s illumination, and gracious sacrifice,
black-holes of sorrow,
led to portholes of paradise.

So I said to the stars, go back to your home,
I’m at peace with the cosmos,
I’ll never be alone!

Image courtesy Pixabay
©AllysoAlly2018

Unreal reflections

Day twenty one……http://www.napowrimo.net/

Mirror
what do you see
entirely an echo
inner beauty that is unseen
intoxicated by the images
window dressing reality
deceptive reflections
just a facade
mirror