“One Day I’ll Fly Away” Photography by Hayley Roberts
One Day
“With a deep, visceral ache, she wished her true form might prove to be a sleek and shining one, like a stiletto blade slicing free of an ungainly sheath. Like a bird of prey losing its hatchling fluff to hunt in cold, magnificent skies. That she might become something glittering, something startling, something dangerous.” – Laini Taylor
I dreamed I was a bird – a sparrow
pecking at bread left in mercy on the snow.
I dreamed I was a hawk soaring over the
tops of trees and looking down at earth,
I dreamed I was a crow hopping happily down the road
and calling out loudly to the other other crows
to explore the shiny things I saw
by the side of the road.
I dreamed I was an eagle in a two ton nest
looking after my eggs.
I dreamed I was a falcon hunting down my prey
on the steppes of the Gobi desert,
and returning to the arm of my falconer with meat in my beak.
I dreamed I was an owl soaring under the silent stars
and between the trees. gliding, gliding.
I dreamed I was a bird
born wild and free.
I had all these dreams and more
as I became a bird –
For Shay’s Friday Prompt…Ask a question The question is from one of my favorite books ever by Philip K. Dick. It also spawned two of my favorite movies – Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Gaff: “Its too bad she wont live, but then again who does?”
Do flowers dream while they sleep
curled up in cold winter’s soil?
Do cicadas dream while waiting to hatch
seven years hence?
Do birds dream as they sit on their nests
waiting for their eggs to hatch?
Do stars whisper secrets to each other
as they glide in their courses?
Is the moon sad when she goes dark
and reflects not the sun in her darkness?
so many questions I have.
Yet no answers do I receive.
I beg the sky, the night, the dew for answers.
Yet no answers do I receive.
Do Androids dream of electric sheep?
Only Philip K. Dick knew the answer to that.
Gardenias
You used to play the piano when you
could not sleep –
The sound filled the house.
Smell of gardenias filled the air.
Someone else lives there now.
They cut down the gardenia bushes
and planted stylish shrubs.
I dreamed I had died.
I wonder if gardenias grow
in the mountains of Japan.
For Hedge’s 55. For those of you who have never heard or, never listened to a cardinal, I am including the music they make. This is also posted for Poets United Poetry Pantry. Happy Mothers Day to you all. If your mother is still alive, let her know how much you love her. My mother died last June. I miss her every day.
Nap
Ninety-three degrees at noon.
The scent of white clover is heavy.
Sitting in the shade on my back porch –
A cardinal on top of the birdhouse –
spot of blood against the greenyellowblue
Chirpchirpchirp.
The sound follows me down into my dreams –
Chripchirpchirp
Like a tiny temple bell – but
I can’t find my way back home
I am posting this on dVerse Poets Pub for De’s lovely prompt on Quadrille Monday. She requests that we use the word “dream” – dreamer, dreams, dreaming, dreamed – make the noun a verb or the verb a noun – it’s all good! A quadrille is a poetic form that came about a couple of years ago when we were making changes to refresh the Poets Pub. the form has exactly 44 words not counting the title. You must include the prompted word in your poem. Come read these wonderful humming bird tiny poems. I am also posting this to Real Toads Tuesday Platform. Here are the links for both: http://dversepoets.com/2017/08/14/quadrille-38/ and http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-tuesday-platform_15.html
Crayola Dawn
I see the dawn before the rest
of the world awakens.
I came to this dawn through the moonlight
of my dreams.
I dream of the world in argent shades
and awaken to the Crayola dawn –
It is cool this morning.
I am at peace.
For Poets United Midweek theme – tranquility. Komorebi is the Japanese word for one of their specific aesthetics – it means: light filtering through tree leaves – the quality of the light as opposed through direct sunlight, light through clouds, etc. The word is used to denote that particular quality of light and the emotions of tranquility, serenity. Come visit at Poets United to read more poems based on the lovely prompt of tranquility – http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2015/11/poets-united-midweek-motif-tranquility.html The Japanese poetic form is Bussokusekika – Footprint of Buddha
komorebi 木漏れ日
in this cathedral
of trees preparing for sleep –
last dreams of summer –
light filters through the leaves –
gentle golden lullaby
spring will soon return – now sleep.
Today at d’Verse Poetics, Bill is our conductor! He has been bicycling on trails that used to be regular train routes. He is prompting us to write about trains. The tickets are free. Come and climb on board and ride the rails with us: http://dversepoets.com/2015/07/21/poetics-all-aboard
Summer night – humid
Air stands still – distant train sounds
Travel and nestle
In my dreams of going somewhere –
to a place of long ago.
You all have watched more times than you wish, probably, my posting of World Order videos. This is one of the newest and to date, is one of the more serious ones. Filmed on location in London, the guys do have wonderful moments of fun: eating fish and chips, riding in the top of a double decker bus, a tribute to the Beatles and of course, reactions from the people around them. In their personal notes they do say “…on location in this great country…” There are scenes from vintage WWII film coverage of battle. No, they are not commenting on the wrongness of the war. Look up the definition of “informal empire” for yourself. I could go on and on about the symbolisms in their choreography for all of their songs, but I will not bore you with that. Suffice it to say, the world has moved a long way so that a Japanese music group can film on location and in some tricky places. Sudo dings his own country/perceptions in several of his videos. In the channel lineup at the end of the video, click on my all time favorite, Last Dance. I think this is the most beautiful of words and choreography and an excellent companion to this video.
Genki Sudo, former MMA World Champion, underwent a vast change a decade ago and now signs his name as Peace Walker with a vision of unity, We All Are One. This shows up many times in a fun way – the people and children who imitate the boys as they dance in their public venue.
So here is the takeaway: The words to this song. Sudo has written a song with more English than any of his others making the meaning more accessible to more people:
“Your life is in motion So don’t turn back Believe in yourself…”
Let me see a raise of hands: how many of you have ever received messages that maybe, you aren’t quite good enough? Well, look at these words and listen – Believe in yourself. The video is both a message and a warning to us and it is also a hope for us…The words are as intricate and arresting as the choreography. …”Find hope…” …”Dream of freedom…”
Now sit back and enjoy the video. The English lyrics became a major ear worm to me this week. The choreography is more contained in this song – closer in with more clockwork precision. I confess to seriously working on some of the choreography in the privacy of my back yard.
The final dance sequence is staged in front of Lord Jacob Rothschild’s Mansion, Waddesdon. This was built for his ancestor, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. The Blue Flag with five arrows that flashes near the end is the flag of the Rothschild Banking Family.
But….Your life is in motion So don’t turn back Believe in yourself
Peter Pan could fly.
Mary Poppins flew with her umbrella
To lift her high into the blue horizon.
I knew I could fly.
At night when everyone was asleep
(everyone in the world but me!)
I would crawl out my bedroom window
Across the strong branch of the old oak,
Nestle into my special place
In the crook of the tree
And stare up at the stars
Or watch the snow falling on a silent world
Or feel the rain against my skin…
I looked up at the sky
And knew I could fly.
One day.
One day
I climbed out the attic window
And out onto the roof.
I had my grampa’s
BIG English umbrella.
I opened it w-i-d-e
And waited for a good wind
And…
I
Jumped.
And hit the walk
In front of my grandmother
And the guests who had come for tea.
I broke an ankle.
I survived the lecture.
But I knew I could fly.
One day.
Foot in a cast, chained
to my room.
I looked out my window
and longed for the wind,
the blue sky…
My father said,
here is a way you can fly
and he put into my hands
a thick pad of paper,
newly sharpened pencils.
Let your words be your wings.
and so, I wrote.
I flew.
Years later I stood
At the highest point on Fuji
One could climb.
I looked up at the blue sky.
I stretched out my arms
And the wind blew in my hair.
I pulled out of my pack
a pad of paper and pen.
I wrote.
I closed my eyes…
I flew.
At dVerse Poets Pub, Gabriella wants us to write about our call or vocation or that of someone else.
Slowly I walked to the river, night sounds surrounding me: crickets, cicadas, the solemn conversation of a family of owls.
The array of stars dazzled in the black sky – a basket of glittering diamonds cast extravagantly on velvet. I stood, entranced by the amanogawa, the Milky Way, river of the heavens, and the stars reflected on the surface of the river.
As the waves gently lapped at my feet, I looked to the river in the heavens, then to the river on the earth. I sailed away on the river of earth to the amanogawa, without a backward glance.
I was an avid fan of the British series, The Avengers. Every Friday night, I was in front of the tube eagerly awaiting the first notes of the opening theme. And then….Alhough it was The Avengers, to myself, I called it, The Emma Peel Adventure Hour.
I watched in fascination, copying her moves, the way she walked, practicing for hours until I finally was able to do a passable imitation of her woodsmoke and honey voice. I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up – I wanted to be Emma Peel.
I was on the fencing team in high school and college, I took some martial arts, I practiced that walk that was like an elegant tigress. Alas, when one is only 4’10”, wears glasses, and is the school geek, it is hard. But in my dreams, oh in my dreams!
Many things have changed through the years. But…I still want to be Emma Peel when I grow up!
kanzen sakura 