if someone
just shows
a sarcastic smirk
then it's better
to look at
the clouds
next time
those beautiful
encouraging
white clouds

"The taste speaks to some darkness deep in my soul where a sleepwalker stands bathed in the light of an open
refrigerator, swigging the sticky liquid, like bourbon, straight from the bottle."

#TodaysPoem #poetry @poetry
Maple by Elaine Equi from Out of the Blank (2025 Coffee House Press) https://tinyurl.com/bdptyeve

Poetry Brothel Chicago Fuses Verse With Burlesque, Acrobatics And More In 'Immersive Cabaret'
#Chicago #Poetry #Culture
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/04/09/poetry-brothel-chicago-fuses-verse-with-burlesque-acrobatics-and-more-in-immersive-cabaret/

Colonel Mustard in
the hall with the grapes of wrath
killed Mrs.Peacock

#dailyhaikuprompt - mustard - grape
#haiku #poetry

Riddle-Poem 4/9/2025

Some say I up and quit the plains
For good, that scorching heat, hard rains,
Hail storms and locusts drove me out.
They claim my days of bustin’ drought
Are done, that I’m in California.
But other folks are quick to warn ya
I’m coming back with education
In forestry and irrigation.

Riddle-Poem 4/8/2025

I’m mentioned in a quaint and little
Nursery rhyme – perhaps a riddle –
That names but doesn’t specify
Exactly what I am. So why
Does everyone assume my shape
Is round and oval, like a grape?
The words alone do not convey
What Tenniel’s illustrations say.

Spring leaves of מָרוֹר
Sprout from bitter roots, still bearing.
Fifteen medics killed.

#DailyHaikuPrompt - "mustard" #haiku

"maror" - מָרוֹר - (pronounced "ma-ROAR"). Meaning "bitter herbs" (like mustard leaves, though often substituted with horseradish) are a symbolic element of Passover Seder, which we'll join this weekend along with millions of Jews around the world. Maror represents the bitterness of enslavement.

Passover is about freedom and enslavement - the story of our Exodus from Pharoah's Egypt.

At our Passover Seder we'll talk about freedom then and now. Holocaust stories - stories of our families' escapes, and of those who did not escape - are woven together with stories of the czar's pogroms, Pharaoh's enslavement of the Jews, and the exodus: ten plagues; ten commandments; an idolatrous betrayal; a bonus copy of the ten commandments; what-have-you.

It will be no mean feat to talk about hostages still held in Gaza at our tables this Passover; nor the atrocities of Trump and Miller and Musk - sending our people to some Salvadoran prison hell. But we Jews must not avoid the conversation that breaks our hearts: Israel's targeted killings of civilians; torture and murder of prisoner's of war; destruction of cities, mosques, hospitals, homes; AI targeted bombings of blameless households; a moment now where supplies are blocked, and tens of thousands are trapped and starving, terrorized by strikes that might hit anyone, anywhere.

We need to talk about what power we have and how to use it.

I wrote this after being inspired by a conversation about the parts of people left behind. As a musician, melodies are how I connect with people.

https://open.substack.com/pub/suswatibasu/p/the-music-he-left-behind?r=5rxnp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

This is the animal that never was.
Not knowing that, they loved it anyway:
its bearing, its stride, its high, clear whinny—
right down to the still light of its gaze…

—Don Paterson, “Unicorn”
after Rilke’s “Die Sonette an Orpheus”
Published in POETRY (June/July 2004)

Today, 9 April, is #NationalUnicornDay

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?volume=184&issue=3&page=73

This is my church
This is my mass
Under the birch
Next to the grass

This is my prayer
This is my song
Breathing this air
Where I belong

The #MastoPrompt for Wednesday 9 April 2025 is:

#elegant

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

An einem blühenden Baum
Vorbeigehen und
Glücklich
Sein

#haiku 7-5-2-1 #dailyhaikuprompt #poetry #lyrik als Ausdruck von Überwältigtsein
Gute Mitt-Woche heut!

A wintery sun casts a cold eye
On spring
There's a chill in the bones of the morning
And we are on the delicate edge
Between wild winter
and glorious summer
The skylarks are quiet
And even the light
Of my Curlew friend
Seems dimmed.
Yesterday was beautiful
Peacocks danced
Over shining dandelions
And the sky was blue
Now there's a heart-shaped gap
in the mist
And I can see
Where the wild geese flew.
#poetry

I am a
Poorly
Written
Poem
Dedicated
To no one.

When the ocean comes to you as a lover,
marry, at once, quickly,
for God's sake!

Don't postpone it!
Existence has no better gift.

No amount of searching
will find this.

A perfect falcon, for no reason, has
landed on your shoulder,
and become yours.

- Rumi (trans. Coleman Barks)

Hey, one of my poems just dropped today on Emerge Literary Journal. https://emergeliteraryjournal.com/pyrocene/ #poetry #PoetryCommunity #poem #IndigenousCreatives

Who wants a free sci-fi and fantasy poetry book? With photography? Happy poetry month! Here you go https://a.co/d/9klRdRe #poetry #poetrycommunity #freebooks #books #fantasy #space #scifi