May
20

Informed

All the world is
far removed from me
much as I
want to touch it.
Vicariously only
can I engage just now,
from my hovel
through my window
into cyberspace.
I see what people
want to show
of the lives they lead.
Who’s killing, loving,
having a
Chernobyl meltdown;
mentally challenged brothers
get the book
thrown at them
while great villains,
not so much.
Political strife,
economic difficulty
moral bankruptcy
foreign governments
posture to save face.

Short of everything
and still properly sated,
I return
to myself disconnected
as the muck of the world
sloughs off me
settles to the floor
where I can sift through
to find
my poetical fodder.

© 2011 Shari Lynne Smothers

Apr
06

Rescued

Morning sun enters
softly insisting I wake;
“Nightmare’s over—breathe.”

©2011 Shari Lynne Smothers
#5 for National Poetry Month Today’s poem, a Haiku, to share in the magic of National Poetry Month. Always a silver lining, bad dreams are yet another reason to appreciate waking up. I’ll have to see about catching up before I get too far behind.

Apr
04

Optimism

Up the water spout
went the itsy bitsy spider
searching out a drop
to end its drought.

Down came the rain
overdoing the thing.
But the tiny spider
only rode down
a wave, didn’t try
to catch on to anything;
reveling
in the crazy
ride to the bottom.

She made it in
breathless
drenched
empty handed,
with only
a grin for what
was to come:
The challenge to
again try her skill
at Water Spout Scaling.

© 2011 Shari Lynne Smothers

#4 for National Poetry Month

Apr
03

Premonition

Early morning I heard
a word
whispered
from somewhere
I couldn’t see.
Its impetus unknown
detracted not the least
from its clear sound.
My concern was
what it meant
as I moved into my day.

The word whispered
on the early morning air
was
trouble.

© 2011 Shari Lynne Smothers

#3 for National Poetry Month

Apr
02

Lackluster

We are again
friends.
Hurt, disappointment
wound shy of
the deep dermis of us.
It was me
hoping it would die.
Guppy on dry counter
flailing, gulping at
water not there.

It floundered
til I found I
couldn’t stand it
put it back in water.

So here we are, you
swimming in oblivion
to your almost demise, me
looking in, feeding
you…us…occasionally…

Again.

© 2011 Shari Lynne Smothers

#2 for day 2 of National Poetry Month. I thought about titling this poem, IT IS WHAT IT IS, but that’s way overworked. MELANCHOLY was sadder than the poem felt or was meant to be. LACKLUSTER seemed to cover what I intended. You may not hear it, but for me lackluster seemed to draw in and accentuate the irony, like ‘just friends.’ You know, because there’s really nothing just about true friends, right?

If I choose to revisit this, to revise it, the title will likely be one of the first things I look at. Among other poetical aspects, titles will likely always give me pause.

Apr
02

Relationships

Seeing clear
lines that shape
my life
all around me,
I reach out
can almost touch,
engage the fabric
solid and detailed.

Suddenly it
shimmers
   melts
      morphs
becomes something
altogether else.

Almost too shocked
to look away
too enthralled to
pull back,
I manage
to not connect and
turn away to
a new direction.

Trying again to know
all that’s around through me
I reach out again
in faith and trust
hoping to connect
before next dissolution
even if only
for a little while.

© 2011 Shari Lynne Smothers

My #1 NaPoWriMo poem. I wrote it yesterday but got busy and never came back to finish and post. Good thing there’s no pressure :)

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