The Poets United prompt was Loneliness. This was my take on it. Peace, Amy
In My Solitude
He’s gone out the door for yet another
long, dour weekend with his mother
I am left to my own devices
TV never quite suffices
Hating the quiet, the isolation
I head out for café consolation
Alone in a crowd, it’s win, win again
Just me and my journal, my mind and my pen
Could call up some friends and do a flick
Then toast and get toasted until I’m sick
But I decide not to pick up the phone
The comfort: Control is mine alone
I hear music vaguely beguiling my mind
See dancing figures upon the blind
Phrases now pop up from deep recesses
These help assuage any “home alone” stresses
And with synesthesia, quick movement of eyes
Creates haunting noises that always surprise
I pray, I eat takeout, and sure, I do miss him
But sometimes a girl needs a break on a whim
© 2011 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
(Synesthesia affects me this way: When I move my eyes side to side, there follows a tracking, sort of metallic noise, not unlike the Six Million Dollar Man jumping sound. Sorry, it’s a US TV reference, my out of country friends!
RENDER SURRENDER
Give it up
Push it away
that ego, whispering “me me me”
(like a bad soprano warming up)
Let it go
Open your mind
Listen to the echo
(the voice that says the world revolves around you)
Let it in
Breathe it in
Creation, the Creator, who loves you
(and only wants you to give love back to the world)
Come full stop
Close your eyes
Let love catch up to you
(you were running too fast anyway)
© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
This is in response to a challenge from We Write Poems (make up a prompt/form that may be used in the future. I call this Formulaic: 3 + (x) = Poem) and my poetic home, Poets United.
At ABC Wednesday, we’re still on the letter “M.” Also, as always, posting to Writer’s Island, so bop over to both sites and see what other poets are doing! Peace during this holy week, Amy
Mmmmmmmms
Snuggling as we watch the sunset together from the patio
Hoisting a Wisconsin ale with new friends
The crumbly crunch of fresh shortbread
A quick call to my best friend that turns in to two hours of
trying to right the wrongs of the world (while taking time to
trash Joan Rivers’ new show)
Occupying small space in a roomy chair,
scribbling poetry as I ponder life oozing by on State Street
My first bite of Barb’s Angel Cake
How the wick crackles when first I touch match to candle and
knowing the sweet mysteries that will unfold when he
sneaks into the room
So many moments that make me say,
“Mmmmmm, life is good”
© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
No prompts today… just some thoughts. Hope they help you find your “safe place.” Amy
Island Dweller
When the dentist’s drill begins shrill keening
in my latest in a series of root canals
When the physical therapist says, “This
might hurt a little”
When the Red Cross phlebotomist
tries to mine my blood, missing the vein
or my legs are in stirrups, awaiting
the pinch of the Pap
I go to my island
The passport is breath
often deeeeeep breath
and I though I am prone
it’s on a bed of warm sand
Relaxed by water lapping my toes
on the shore of an endless beach
Every breath is music
Every moment is relief
© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Super Bowl in Wisconsin 2011
Cheese
More cheese
Cheese on chips
Cheese in dips
Cube and tubed
Fried and dyed
Cheese on breads
Cheese on heads
Mixed up and fixed up
Grated and plated
Guacamole
Beer and Stoli
Microbrews
Harder booze
7-layer dips
smeared on lips
Kicker misses
Groans and hisses
Green and Gold
bright and bold
Shrieks and grins
GREEN BAY WINS!
Cheesehead’s dream
LOVE our team
© Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Although it came to me too late for Writer’s Island, this poem found its way to me last night (and early this morning), as our cat, Gable, nestled at the foot of my bed. The prompt was “Beguile.” Better late than never! Amy
CATS (haiku)
Felines beguile us
With their soft, sweet, subtle ways
Purring, pawing, lap-nesting
© Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 