the middle of the room 4

or turn around
and check the map
certainly won't ask for directions
men don't do that

but I might...

DBP

5-6-14

The Soldier Beetle and the Imaginary Butterfly

the soft bodied soldier

a fireless firefly so bred

tho' sometomes red

the fighting leatherwing

a rankless soldier

with many names

Cantharidae, Drilidae,

 Lampyridae, Lycidae,

 Omalisidae, Omethidae,

Phengodidaeincludes and Rhagophthalmidae

so majestic and locquatious

just a bloodsucker beetle

preying with its centimetre vortex

flashing its yellowness

and elytra black

hiding the fact

that chitin armour is soft

long orange legs

hiding in bushes

looking for insects oft

on flowertops

as the sun beams down

not afraid of thistle crown

enjoying aphids

a friend to the hydrangea

swallowing its prey as it hectors

feasting on pollen and nectar

eyes caught

on a whitish butterfly 

motionless

and strangely effluvious

normally not pabulum 

but oddly tempting

the tranquility

forestalls him in attempting

the pollenated shrub 

soaking in spring rains 

vigorous, and upright

citizens of the city

seemingly arcane

a fearless bush 

bud blight on occasion, but friends deter 

Aphids visit but the soldier

the rescuer 

civility and comradeship 

deciduously coarse 

speaking with pyramidal panicles 

sterile white flowers

exploding in the diurnal course 

maturing into pink diamonds 

'unique'  in riff

advertising it's red-stems

so strong and stiff 

proud to be so festive

droopless and decorative

decision to alter

yellow to purple-tinged in fall

the magic that defies us

the colour and the blaze

the innocense and endowment

among blossoms and bugs

we praise

DBP 5-12-14

DEWBUGS

Looking

the dew drops

they seem  "alive"

it is early mornings brooking

knowledge speaks, spelling

condensation on those cool surfaces

forming water droplets

but...are my eyes story-telling?

movement? closer I stand...

some kind of squash bug

carrying their little eggs

and, those predatory stink glands

and piercing mouth parts

these almost microscopic nymphs

seeking,

squash, pumplin, melons, cucumber so tart

white instars

mating on  cucurbit vines

not guttation?

the point has been reached to par

it must be the absense of clouds

clear nights

the calm

the dance of dewfall shrouds

answering to the cries

of pine seedlings

sometimes windy distillation

what if no rain flies?

yes!...lichen love dew

and fog water

Ersa, she must shed her majestic tear 

crawling on the blades that grew

Chazan prays for Dew

in his white kittel, blowing

Amidah, praying for dew together with rain

the resurrection of the midrashim...he knew

"My doctrine shall drop as the rain"*

speaking to distill 

small rain on the tender herb, 

and the showers upon the grass so fain

swimming in dew ponds

drowning the hemipterids

and

harvesting our lives

*Deuteronomy 32:2

Thank you to Marco Pucci for his vision...

DBP 5-10-14

Thoughts on Tennyson

(based on readings of The Lady of Shalott, Tears Idle Tears, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and  Song of the Lotus-Eaters)

Lying,  gowned in snow 

coating her skin so softlly 

The fanciful lightness upon her

and the nights  chatterings flow

as she floats to her trammeling  home

And as the vessel swims 

she sees the willowy shores

she sings her last song to me

as my dream escapes from whims

"And the silent isle 

imbowers 

The Lady of Shalott." *

I am encompassed

my thoughts draw from the endless deep

turning home

sentiment embossed

soft tears that are idle

an attempt to define

a despair so breathless

a seek happy fields, of long grasses tidal

to create a vacuum for love

with a rememberance of lessening days

"Forward, the Light Brigade!" **

I have never been afraid

at least knowingly

but fear stands beside me so staid

and I depart from blunders

I don't remind myself

that I have a choice to die, 

the valley of Death wonders

is it a wealth of ardor and fire 

at least six hundred deep breathes

I stroll  in woodlands 

The folded leaf takes my foothold 

the buds address

as the branches watch, infinitely grand

both sun drenched and moonlit 

so green and dewed

and the falls spray, 

reflecting the filtering daylight

I see a glistening apple

that seems to be smiling

ready to share itself

with the roots so dapple

of the fruitful soil

*From "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred Lord Tennyson

**From "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson

DBP 5-10-14

The Mystery of Priscilla Lawson

so little is known 

idolized on those 

sultry Floridian beaches

Miss Miami of '35 athroned

now she was Universal

sadly an uncredited stash

suddenly a Flash

a voluptuous daughter

so villainous

her mythical father so merciless 

rivaling  Arden, so cultishly

her blazing sexuality

this is complex, considering

the asdolescent fantasy play

reality and unhappy matrimony

little Rose Bowl dickering

Then..a celluloid double wedding

and a visit to the Golden West

with a crowning gable

and Myrna's quest

she mimics a career

then on to the Corps

a tragic loss of limb

denied by Arden so grim

a later car crash?

a jeep overturned?

so much silence, collating

a west coast stationary shop 

sadly, much hemorrhage

and ulcerous word from Laennec 

no words from a previous  cast

who strangley passed... 

afer a sip from a cup of tea

so young, strangely unknown

no Witch-Woman

only Princess Aura

CHAIR

the condition

no concern

the situation

not a worry

the memories it carts

and the unique beauty

caress the heart

as I think 

of what it could tell

a fiddler stomping

Gramma storytelling

so well

and a child 

waiting for a piece of cake

a cat curled in comfort

a suitor with a gift in wake

a guest with a cocktail

without walking

it has strolled through time

neglected at times

and now, not talking

in need of repair

a delicate presage

but it has only

changed in image

forever a message

no different than I

solitary sometimes

surrounded as well

and consoling in spindled rhymes

as the breezes whisper

through tiny cracks

and the lathed body

seduces time

decades embodied

DBP 7-9-14

Irritating

am I like them?

If I am

then I need help!

do I repeat

the same thing

over and over?

that boring theme

redundant and loud

my ideas whelp

supposedly an aid

for listening ears

a kind of stover

am I a pest

questioning those

who don't agree?

hammering wisdom

over-rated

with humour's twist

I probably am

never changing

up vision's tree

scanning possibilities

suggesting change

through my irritating mist...

DeaBeePea 5-1-16

Bandana

LOSS

as a person like many

collecting odd things

the pile continues

before the fat lady sings

drawers full of junk

and boxes of crap

mounds in the corner

of my bedroom map

desk-top aclutter

books and Glade   

pelee pebbles

and pens in spades

so a loss of some

of this over-stated mess

would be something in hindsight

I would surely bless

DeaBeePea 5-8-16

for she is the best

DeaBeePea 5-8-16

HELEN

never forgotten

this "everything" Mom

off- the- wall humour

before the CD Rom

she thought sideways

when everyone else was vertical

and brushed her strokes

of lifes simple spectacle

the Christmas Card lady

everyone awaited

what is "Helen" making this year

they anxiously baited

not overly affectionate

but she she cried many tears

when things went wrong

fearing much sadder years

but her spirit undefined

prevailed so determined

with self-effacing humility

and never much sermon

but there was no question

of her opinion shrilled

that we somewhat ignored

in our stubborn quill

she is never gone

as she rides the clouds

saying hello

from her uncovered shroud

DeaBeePea 5-8-16