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    Parker Owens
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Stumbling Into Spring: NaPoWriMo 2021 - 2. April 7th to April 12th

Another sextet of poetry for this NaPoWriMo. The forms and subjects vary, as you might expect by now. As usual, any errors are mine alone.

April 7th

 

We wait in line

too tense to whine

or to repine

the first shot.

 

 

The second dose,

we’re more verbose

for it’s so close

to freedom.

 

 

Yet two weeks more

with arms so sore

seems such a chore,

but worth it;

 

 

Though we must mask,

content I bask

in every task

that’s normal,

 

 

And one day we

might blessedly

dance jubilee

in breathing.

 

 

 

 

April 8th

 

I lost the stars today;

they were there, shining,

when I stepped out the front door;

Ursa Major exchanged greetings with me

passing the twisted apple tree;

but someplace,

perhaps where the beechwood becomes green fields,

a sparrow sang, plaintive, sweet and clear,

and I, with all creation, stood, startled;

so when I scanned the eastern ridge again,

I found them gone.

 

 

 

 

April 9th

 

The days are much more frequent that I grope

through routine moments than when I was young;

impenetrable mists now shroud that hope

and that too human heart from which it sprung.

The murk descended slowly by degrees,

so subtle that I barely sensed its dawn

and now I pray for those lucidities

that I employed in ages done and gone.

Yet memory can sometimes pierce the cloud

with laughter or perhaps a sunny smile,

those winter joys which sometimes are allowed

to lighten our senescence for a while.

Yet ever in the gathering twilight haze

will I remember you to light my days.

 

 

 

 

April 10th

 

I still wear

my father’s blue sweater,

the one Mom gave him that last birthday;

its vee-neck is stretched and the elbows are thinning,

but when I’m looking in the mirror,

it’s almost possible

to see him.

~~~

Furniture

can speak, if you listen;

Mom’s rabbit-ear chairs creak with gossip,

phone conversations overheard in the pantry

or letters full of disappointment

left behind on the seat,

unfinished.

~~~

All those books

which cause the shelves to groan

seem excessive to the observer,

but they’re old friends who spent dark nights and long weekends

as company through my loneliness,

and too great a comfort

to forsake.

 

 

 

 

April 11th

 

I sing a song of broken ground,

beneath the robin singing,

a melody of row and mound,

with seed cast neatly all around

and green shoots upward springing.

 

 

My tune is made of sun and rain,

of brown soil rich and ready

for spade to turn where seedlings strain

to take the gifts the light will deign

which yield a scent most heady.

 

 

Intone the springtime air divine

and dance the planting merry,

for runners lush that intertwine

and summer’s fruit turned into wine

from promise of the berry.

 

 

So chant the harmony of earth

and thrice till fine and thorough,

that there might be new life, new birth,

of riches, joy and growing mirth

which rises from the furrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 12th

 

Listen

for silent things

like owls descending swift

beneath the circling, watchful stars,

themselves

unvoiced

by telescoped astronomers

who gave galaxies names,

but without ears

to hear them.

 

 

~ * ~

 

 

There I stood,

mute, motionless, transfixed,

like some wide-eyed nocturnal creature

caught by the unexpected glare of brilliant light,

unable to handle the circumstance,

because I could answer

his question.


Queries, commentary, reactions and all manner of responses are wonderful. Feel free to leave anything you want to say here. Thanks very much for reading. There will be more.
Copyright © 2021 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

'I sing a song' - you do indeed. Both this and your first beg to be set to music.  🎵 They both have that ballad lilt. Your set of skyscrapers made me smile in different ways, the last making me grin. I'm sure one of these days, you won't be able to get in the house for books. 😄 Older age gets us all, dear friend. Be grateful, I suppose, that you have got so far.

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Older age will indeed come for us. Your Eric is much on my mind today, let alone my joints. I'm glad you enjoyed the songlike nature of April 7 and 11. It must be spring that draws me to this music. Now to use my red pen for something other than poetry. Thank you so much for reading these!

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These are all written with your usual skill and flair for bringing the natural world to life in a relatable way.  I particularly liked the lost stars and blue sweater.  Books are, indeed, old friends and you can never have too many.  

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It was so good to come across your poems today. How you’re able to consistently write such strong poems each day is impressive. 

I’ll share a few thoughts on my favorites of the set. 


8th - I read this one several times because it’s so melancholy and pretty

9th - Taking on a sonnet is no easy task. Reflections on aging and reminiscing on youth. I love how you ended it on a sweet note.


Overall I enjoyed how you threaded sensory details from nature throughout your poems. They are peaceful, nostalgic, and reflective.

Really wonderful work, thanks for sharing.

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3 hours ago, chris191070 said:

Great poetry, I love April 7th 

I’m very glad you liked April 7th. It feels good to breathe more confidently. 

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3 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

These are all written with your usual skill and flair for bringing the natural world to life in a relatable way.  I particularly liked the lost stars and blue sweater.  Books are, indeed, old friends and you can never have too many.  

Culling the bookshelves is such a hard task. I rarely fill up a full box, but come home from the book sales with more than one. Dawn comes earlier and earlier these days; the stars flee so quickly now. It’s getting so warm this spring, I hardly need Dad’s sweater. It will keep until next fall. Thanks a million for reading! 

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2 hours ago, headtransplant said:

It was so good to come across your poems today. How you’re able to consistently write such strong poems each day is impressive. 

I’ll share a few thoughts on my favorites of the set. 


8th - I read this one several times because it’s so melancholy and pretty

9th - Taking on a sonnet is no easy task. Reflections on aging and reminiscing on youth. I love how you ended it on a sweet note.


Overall I enjoyed how you threaded sensory details from nature throughout your poems. They are peaceful, nostalgic, and reflective.

Really wonderful work, thanks for sharing.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read these. I enjoy writing sonnets; their patterns and rhythms seem natural to me. I’m also happy you felt and saw the woods and sky and its creatures here. It’s nice to share what’s outside my window. 

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All are superb, Parker. April tenth and eleventh... :worship: . There is always storytelling in your poems, and nuances that, alone, can waken feelings and stir memories... thank you.

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2 hours ago, Headstall said:

All are superb, Parker. April tenth and eleventh... :worship: . There is always storytelling in your poems, and nuances that, alone, can waken feelings and stir memories... thank you.

You’re very magnanimous in your words. April 11 seemed to fall together quite naturally, as easily as the garden growing. April 10 is a collection of observations, written while the rain fell. I’m glad these stirred good thoughts and evoked bright, clear images. Thanks again for reading these, and for your comments.

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I enjoyed the entire set.

April seventh: I can relate.

April tenth: I own an assortment of things that let me see people, open the veil between their world and mine, sometimes I even talk to them. 

April eleventh:Spring indeed!

 Thank you.

 

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8 hours ago, aditus said:

I enjoyed the entire set.

April seventh: I can relate.

April tenth: I own an assortment of things that let me see people, open the veil between their world and mine, sometimes I even talk to them. 

April eleventh:Spring indeed!

 Thank you.

 

I’m very happy you saw April 10th as perhaps series of portals with which to remember, even to conjure. As to April 11th, I can hardly wait to get my main vegetable garden started. That you found things to enjoy in all of these makes me smile. Thanks very much for reading! 

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7 minutes ago, Geron Kees said:

April is a glorious month, and you've definitely captured it on Kodacolor film.

Thanks so much for your lovely comment. I only hope my supply of Kodachrome lasts the whole month. 

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