Seeking the light

banquets, pagan lights, festivity
human tradition lauds creativity

storytellers refine their facile art
fires burn and warm the heart


God's creatures furry or feathered
diurnal, nocturnal all are weathered   
Mother earth protects her progeny
her forte lack of genetic homogeny

migration precludes hibernation,
brumation yet not estivation

living well through the seasons
no matter rhyme nor shining reasons

snow squalls decorate our latches

turkey tracks in snowy patches
quietly broken: susurration
critters refrained from migration

raptors glide in silent forest
seeking sustenance in chorus
mice digging tunnels under snow
little whiskers afeared to show

noisy woodpeckers: spots of colour
frantic in their feeding fervour
daytime bashing scarlet heads
seeking insectum in their beds

squirrels shiver atop the section
grateful for goober-type selection

loudly warn at every instance

feline friends to keep their distance

~~~~~~~~~~
Read WRite Poem #107

Visit for more poems!

This is 4th draft for this one...I will mull it over and revise it later!  just don't want to lose it!
 For more info on brumation, estivation, etc..... Time to estivate

napowrimo #29: I don’t think I can

napowrimo #29: prompt: I don’t think I can

I don't think I can
or I won't
this is my new mantra
leave out the don't

I will do
what I want to do
I will be positive
I will be true

I will help others
I will have positive thoughts
I will love
I will trust
I will
I must


I will embrace
in my mind's agility
opportunities to play
to the best of my ability

to genuflect
is not my style
to sit and accept
and ponder awhile

I will have hope,
dignity, joy and love
if I choose
and I will

This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

NaPoWriMo #28 - Seeing Red

napowrimo #28: Prompt: seeing red

absorb the energy and the spirit of nature
gaia unfolds as it should
drive by deep forests
buds on the trees begin to swell
the lifeforce awakes to nourish
flourishing with the sap as it rises

Mother Nature goes out in the night
a phantom fairy who paints buds
each day another layer
pointillistic poetry
they begin to hide the homes
set back from the road
maple trees with bright red buds
they burst with flower
greens and yellows
hardwoods swell with life
conifers brilliant green



Eventually the homes will be invisible
protection from stranger's prying eyes
pine trees bright green
contrasting the brown of the dead grasses
the bright greens of the clover
the colours are beautiful
an artist's rendering
a statement that life unfolds as it should

~~~~~~~~~
Red Post #2


the tourists they pitch
red wallows in ditch

by the side of lakes
man's plastic mistakes

the garbage is strewn
read: neglect and doom

sweet creatures they die
humanity nigh

grandchildren I fear
will miss all I hold dear

abuse of the earth
fight with all you're worth
~~~~~~~~~

This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

NaPoWriMo #20 - sun sparkles

I follow two poetry prompts for National Poetry Writing Month

1. NaPoWriMo #20 prompt: a photograph

2. April PAD Challenge: Day 20
For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem of rebirth.

I chose a video I shot last week
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sun sparkles on water
the light bounces
dances off the tips of the waves
like diamonds falling from God's hand
in brilliant celebration of spring

wind whips up the waves
flotsam and jetsam ride
across the surface of the lake
like the people that we meet
afloat on a tide of hope
angst clutters their path

listen to the birds that sing
the chimes that ring
leaves gently massaged by wind's fingers
God's breath as it warms the wanderer
smell the pine amongst the crocus
in this season
all around the world
many choirs sing the song
hold fast to that love

gather the diamonds in your lap
hold fast to your faith
that courage will spur you towards the light
avoid the anchors that take you down
gather the people
those whose spirits reflect the light
hold their hands
honour their spirits
speak truth to their wisdom
~~~~~~~~~~~
Draft #1!





This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

NaPoWriMo #19 - if she were your friend

NaPoWriMo #19 - if she were really your friend - prompt

if she were really your friend
she'd call
she'd care
she'd be there

This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

NaPoWriMo Day #18 word salad

Word salad

words are like salad
you make your choices
you choose a word like embarassment over appreciate
which drenches your dish and overpowers the relationship
there is a balance between seasoning
your salad droops and drowns

you choose a word like dreadful over delightful
and your salad, like your life, becomes depressing
your life is here to taste fully
to appreciate each flavour
to laud the colours and the mix of textures
instead you drown in cucumbers
and baby carrots, soaked in bleach, poison your mind
thrown like logs on the fire
bruising the lettuce like your feelings
you wilt

onions meant to enhance the sharp taste
bite and destroy the symmetry of flavours
sour grapes that render a tasty dish unpalatable
give up and walk away
you are the better for it
begin anew
fresh ingredients
a new recipe for success

This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

napowrimo #17: Appetite

napowrimo #17: missing something prompt

Instead of “missing someone/something,” maybe you’d like to write about “something missing.”

I´ve Lost My Appetite

I´ve lost my appetite
Where the heck did it go?
I looked in the kitchen
and found only empty peanut shells

I looked under the bed
but the dust bunnies
sat there wriggling and giggling
in gleeful harmony.

I looked in the living room
but it wasn´t there beside the tattered T.V.Guide.

It´s vanished with headaches,
sleepless nights and tears.
It´s been lost for an eternity.
I don’t know where else to look.

I sought it once in late nights
and too many cold beer,
but that was an illusion
For a time it sufficed
but I no longer fool even myself.

Maybe
like the dam car keys,
it will show up when I stop searching so desperately.

In the meantime I do not hunger
My clothes must be pinned
They hang loosely from my hips

I´ve lost my appetite.
Where do I look now?

~~~~~~~~
This poem relates to Appetite Found!

This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

napowrimo #16: laundry

napowrimo #16: prompt

the prompt: word association...I walked into the laundry room and this arose in my thoughts

laundry

diapers
sleepers
sheets
towels

hot from the dryer
sitting
sorting
lovingly enfolding


This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

napowrimo #15: instead of

napowrimo #15: instead of

The task: make a list of things you do instead of something else...I found the prompt tough as there is little I 'must' do. It did spawn a poem, however.

Instead of

instead of reaching out
I reach inside
instead of reaching for help
I struggle within

God is within
others without
I lie here without you
knowing I made my choice
who to help me out of my hell?
there is only myself
a hell of my choosing
a moment of weakness and fear



This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

NaPoWriMo #14 road trip

napowrimo #14: road trip

Road Trip

I love driving in the fall
heater on
windows open
wind flying through the car
me sailing over the land
unbound by inertia
released by the power of the vehicle
sun shine warming our souls
birds soaring on wind shears
brilliant leaves flapping in the breeze

I often drove to work hoping
hoping to forget to get off at my exit
I never did
do I regret it?
yes
I wanted to fly and fly

I remember trips with kids
flying along the highway
trees leaves sparkling lakes flew by
only one ticket
car packed to the roof
3 kids under seat belts
3 bikes on the roof
1 cat in a cage
1 iguana in an aquarium
1 computer (sans cable)
toys & clothes
no room for more

we flew to the cottage
only to jump in the lake
anticipation
froggin'
canoe
the lake
embraced by open arms
and more love than we could imagine
life was good
love was hopeful
dreams were told

NaPoWriMo #13 River of Love

We are drops of water in this great river of love
Like cogs in the wheel we shoulder the burden
Force the millwheel to turn
Sometimes we drop our load
You helped me pick up mine
Time to help you with yours
I tried to help you up
You carried on without a backward glance
I raised my glass in anger
I plotted
I cursed
How to help you?
How to assuage my pain?

But my pain was only fear
Fear that you denied my love
Fear that I could not do the right things for you
Fear that I could not ease your pain
Fear that you did not trust me
You had your doubts
As I tried to find my way
I know now you raged against your own fears
I know now that it was your right to make your choices
We opened up our hearts and embraced again


This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

NaPoWriMo #12 - where I'm from

NaPoWriMo #12 - prompt: where do you come from?

Meeting my birth mother

where am I from?
all I knew
were brief explanations
a Worker's report

I sought more
we met
we talked
a meeting in a strange time
a one night stand, you said
you wouldn't tell me about my father

terse
unaccommodating
tense

it broke my heart
my pain was palpable
as you assuaged your guilt
a lifetime of standing up for yourself
you diminished me

call me mother
you said
my mother changed my diapers
wiped my tears
shed her tears
you wisely gave me up to her
in a time when it was the best thing to do

the love I felt was deep and unconditional
through trials and tribulations
hormones and hassles
adolescence of addled thinking
too fat
too alone
too smart
too stupid

mother saw me through tears and fears
I saw her through to her end of life
you never saw me again


This work is © Jennifer Jilks.

NaPoWriMo #11 - the movies

NaPoWriMo #11 - seen any good movies lately?
No, but I made two: Josephine & Jesse's swim.

Josephine
jelly bean
cutest baby
I've ever seen

I loathe going to movies. I just cannot stand the attitudes of some of the other patrons. Both of us are vertically challenged and often end up behind tall people and in front of talkers. We are happy to rent movies.

Movies

popcorn candy
bright lights
action
noises and smells
can't see the caption

too many previews
too much noise
adults in the theatre
acting like boys

ugliest carpets
you've ever seen
what were they thinking
a nude love scene?

tall man short woman
can't see the screen
under my foot
an old jelly bean

people talking
and throwing food
shhh! Be quiet
I'm not in the mood

shoot em up
cuss them out
swearing to beat the band
beam me up Scottie
people I can't stand

NaPoWriMo #10 Love

NaPoWriMo #10 -find a passage of text, preferably from an out-of-print book, and turn it into a poem. This process is appropriately called a found poem. The Academy of American Poets has a great article about the history of the found poem, with links to examples by TS Eliot and Charles Reznikoff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
*LOVE

My soul had a thousand doubts,
Before life'd begun
Love increased a thousand times
When three became one.

My joy has a thousand stars,
All eyes they shone.
My heart began to blossom
My arrival sung.

My world has a thousand stars,
Day’s horizon one
They remain in my mind’s eye
When the night was done.

When a thousand days remained
Never thought of one
Shadows began to cloud o’er
The battle not won.

Your love has a thousand hearts,
Your body but one.
Love remained within my heart
When your day was done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This poem is based on my family and my parents. I was adopted into a home with love.
My found poem was too dark, and hopeless. I have found hope in the cycle of life and love.

My prompt:

LOVE

The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

--F. W. Bourdillon

As found in The Ontario Readers; Second Book, T. Eaton Co., 1909
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NaPoWriMo #9 paradise

NaPoWriMo #9 Describe your version of paradise.

Sleepers Wake

plants reach in a languorous stretch towards the life force
rain soaked their toes last night
succinct buds burst into extant foliage
trillium follow the sun's path as white faces seek solace
critters have woken from sweet slumber
cardinal trills lasciviously at trespassers
gopher waddles under corner shrubs
humans, she mutters, shaking her head in my direction
wobbly stems bobble with red tulips
fuscia-coloured daphne spread themselves on rocks like lizards
forget-me-nots wink in the breeze
blue jays screech an argument over sunflower seeds
bellies heavy with eggs provide ballast on swaying feeders
the roses heal from winter's cruel bruising blows
garter snake slides suggestively through crunchy leaves
cat tips his head in piqued interest
momentarily distracted from frantic feeder frenzy
where to go? what to do first?
the rabbit nibbles on dried corn deaf to the cacophony above
mourning doves coo in throaty passion
bumble bees land with the grace of bombers on wee violets
tumbling head over stingers they gurgle with laughter

the breeze rolls like a wave over tree tops
it caresses my cheek in joy
maple leaves shimmer in delight
clapping in praise for new beginnings
I can hear the seeds growing
germinating pleasures of gifts yet to come
I'm like the moth flitting without direction
dipping her toes in red, then blue, then pink jewels
requiring a little sun, a lite rain and a little love
we shall thrive although we progress millimetre by millimetre
all in God's time

NaPoWriMo #8 flames

napowrimo #8: wednesday is list day

No way I'm listing my flames! Married at age 19, divorced, then dating in my 40s I was too old to name them 'flames'!

I just lit a fire. With subzero temperatures it is cozy.

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

Dad’s morning ritual
gather the kindling
crumple newspapers
place them in the stove
a ritual my father performed
every morning before the sun rose
mom's cancer burned her cells
as the flames consumed the logs

there's a chill today
he'll light a fire

they hadn't been warm for years
fragile and ravaged by toil
radiation burned away that protective layer
they both brought in logs
moving one at a time
weary with the labour pains of living
dad’s brain tumour eating his mind
flames flicker reflected in his eyes

there's a chill today
they'll light a fire

here I come, I said
I’ll help you carry the load
Afraid of my motivation
Yet unable do it alone
I honour and laud them
every day of my life
grateful for being chosen
no longer facing strife

there's a chill today
I'll light a fire

With mom gone to the light
I remember the last fire he lit
when I rose to greet the day
he lay asleep on the floor
trying to get warm
the radiation had burned his scalp
much as the flames in the stove

there's a chill today
I'll light a fire

they've gone now
both are at rest
after a lifetime of lifting others
no long do they toil
they have a lighter load
for my morning ritual
I genuflect in front of the stove
warmed by memories of love

There’s a chill today
the cat needs a fire

NaPoWriMo #7 - nicknames

Nicknames...

They wound without hand
they bite, they disband

from teasing they try
to make us all cry

they hurt until weeping
the anger comes creeping

attack the defenceless
to me they seem senseless

bullies become bosses
not leaders, our losses

speak truth to power
vitriol deflower
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information on bullying, please visit my portfolio. The photo is from a skit my gr. 6 class wrote and produced in 2005 in Manordale P.S.

NaPoWriMo #6 -Spring Dreams

napowrimo #6
I am not totally thrilled with this prompt: an image, by an excellent photographer, that means little to me. I have taken, perhaps, 15,000 photos and one of my own doesn't emerge from the blizzard in my mind.

Instead, I popped off to April PAD Challenge: Day 6
write a poem about something missing.
~~~~~~~~~~~


Spring is missing
it lays under the heavy clouds
the lie of the calendar
burying dreams
an old nightmare


April showers bring May flowers
she chanted
but what does April snow bring?

crocus faces covered in snow
weeping dewy tears
geese scrabbling for footholds
birds digging out seeds from bird feeders
ducks making snakes in snow-covered lakes

pine needles droop with despair
their green painted over in white
the wind relieves the branches
blows branches free of their burdens

colour April green with hope
yellow forsythia and purple lilacs
violets nodding heads in summer reverie
for those who curse the storm
hold fast to faith
the promise of eternity will unfold

NaPoWriMo #5 - 50 words

50 - word pickup check below for my prompt

Your Grief
my dearest
I am so sorry for the death of your child
your pain and despair are familiar songs
songs I remember clearly
you will look back and see a face
mannerisms than remind
hair that fell a certain way when brushed
you will hear their laughter
you will hold these images close
without feeling as if you heart is breaking

this change will come
ever so slowly, imperceptibly
sometimes the time between now and then is hard to endure
your faith in life, happiness, the future may waiver
grab onto anyone and anything that will get you through
do not be strong, logical, sensible,
listen not to the shoulds and the musts
fight not the pain
it will roll over you like a giant tidal wave
allow it to carry you forward
once the pain is spent
dropped gasping on the shore of sanity
it will fade
life will become worth living again

I am a strong swimmer
when you are swallowed up in the backwash
cling to me
close your eyes
feel my love
one mother's love to another
I will reach across the waters
do not forget to reach out
we all have pain
we all have loss
we are never given too much to bear
you are strong and you are loved
joy will come again
these lessons we learn as we love

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not sure I could play today. I didn't find 50 words from a fellow poet! I chose, instead, to choose some words from this post on bereavement. (I just completed my certificate in Foundations of Palliative Care. ) Then changed my mind...
I took a letter written to a mother who had lost a child, found in Elisabeth Kübler Ross' On Children and Death (1983), a powerful, positive message of hope. Bracedridge's Natalia Novak murder has coloured our thinking and out emotions.

NaPoWriMo #4: fresh colours

napowrimo #4: fresh paint or make up
Think of a colour...any colour. I used this blog as inspiration, since our hardware stores all close at noon around here!

My late mother - we often gathered on 4/4 for her birthday. She loved her periwinkle, forget-me-nots, & violets. On this day, the anniversary of her 84th birthday, I miss her greatly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Colours of your love

today a pure white snow falls
a cosmic joke covers up the promise
even as your body gave up its battle
our lives framed by cancer
rose-coloured glasses buried with you
our faith remained strong

I know you and Spring will return
often my soul tingles
I feel you watching over me
pink forget-me-nots we planted
(as if you would be forgotten)
they spread, like your spirit, over this place
all is forgiven and forgotten

as a nurtured chosen child
you painted principles we hold dear
you coloured our lives
fairytale summers by the lake
thickly brushed stories of love
silver songs of unconditional joy
golden fireflies in the dark
the tinkle bells of hope
sparkle like diamonds
punctuating the saphire sky
all framed in mahogany by faith
never a door closes
but a window opens

seeing me through
trials and tribulations
I gave you much grief
I know in my heart
the indigo periwinkle
will raise their heads
azure violets
will nod to the sun
cerulean forget-me-nots
will carpet the land
black and yellow butterflies
will dance in your garden

a salute to the people you loved
and the land you lauded

~~~~~~~~~~~
“My mother had a great deal of trouble with me but I think she enjoyed it.”

--Mark Twain, American humorist, satirist, lecturer (1835 - 1910)