A Sonnet for Today
How can he tweet such evil words and lies
provide weak men a reason to be cruel
ignore the world of suffering and cries
destroy the earth condoning fossil fuel
damn immigrants to live their lives in fear
and women to be subject to abuse
conduct a ship of state he cannot steer
his words a flood of racist acts unloose?
Though we were taught respect for heads of state
to revere acts of love and pure compassion
it seems to love this world is out of date
and caring for the weak is out of fashion
We’re now immersed in evil there’s no doubt
our world has turned completely inside out
Prompt: Inside Out
Form: Sonnet
Sometime Door
I must go through the door
sometime
but there is so much more to do
in this little room
I don’t just sit here
children grown with children
gardens harvested
students off to save the world
I’ve rearranged the furniture a few times
scary and stimulating for
prosaic and practical
grasped for the familiar
learned the hand that holds the shield
still succumbs to time
Sought solitude
feared loneliness
concentrated
meditated
traveled
returned to still me
Sometimes
when the walls press inward
when that word I know well
the one that belongs in my poem
refuses to reveal itself
I wonder, is it time?
What if stories go untold?
If poems remain unwritten?
I stand by the door
reach for the handle
but this old room is comfortable
perhaps I should just rearrange the furniture
one more time
Prompt: The Door Goes Both Ways
Form: Triquain (Did not use)
Fake Orange Quote
On an early autumn day, my mind muddled by
mindless oratory from an outrageous orange ego,
I descended in desperation to the garden
seeking to silence suffering through solitude
when a cloudless sulphur butterfly fluttered
to a magnificent Mexican sunflower, its petals
intense orange against garden green and I learned
not to judge a color by its connection to
a bad character.
Prompt: Opening–well I opened to the not judging concept and the sunflower opened to the sun and at one point the butterfly opened its wings and I probably opened a can of worms by misquoting MLK so horribly–or maybe I’m just rebelling?
Tashi at Fiesta Island
See Me
Crone in Bernie Sanders hat, I fill hummingbird feeders and grape jelly jars for mockingbirds and orioles, water butterfly garden, inspect milkweed for Monarch caterpillars. Tashi rolls over, four feet in air, insists on a belly rub, a trip to Fiesta Island, leaps across hills, down cliffs to salty bay. Warm afternoon home, she chuffs disproval as screens and keyboards compete for attention. The house that once hugged children and shook to amplified guitar, now strains to hear living sounds of nearby high school, collects dust and dog hair, sighs, settles, and waits.
Fall day, not alone
Critters, flowers, and Facebook
And, of course, the ghosts
Prompt: See Me
Form: Haibun
Tonight a pastel sunset reminded me of the poems I didn’t use for October 1 and when the muse played hard-to-get, I decided to go back and visit my notebook. Resetting to Day 1?
Surrender Poems
Surrender to love? I’m ready
Here’s my white flag
but my army stands confused
no enemy waits to receive my bow
Can I surrender to not-love?
to the perfect sunset
the balmy night
the scent of jasmine?
I waited for summer
and now that it is here
the calendar strikes fall
or
The first of October and
finally the evening air is pleasant
warmth carries the scent of jasmine, summer
and love’s promise so long ago
when surrender was sweet
in the arms of youth
the racing heart
urged on by each tentative caress
dance of danger and sweet surrender
or
Tonight as I sat on the deck
bare feet on the rail
a pale warm sunset purpled into black
the night blooming jasmine
lifted me to when the soft brush of
furtive fingertips against my arm
set off currents of longing
and soft lips against mine
were almost too much to bear
or
Rebellion doesn’t allow surrender
unless it comes as sweet death
my old voice wants to scream
don’t give up, yet
I linger with my glass of wine
as the sun screams against the sky
in all its red and purple
before it is snuffed out
in darkness
Why do I allow the jasmine scent to
spirit me to a time of youthful excitement
bodies in discovery in the cool night
intertwined in don’t-let-go
finally complete
happy in our yin and yang
your magnet pull
the circuit that flashed
the flow that jolted the
heart to bursting
or
surrender to love
surrender to solitude
surrender to what is
surrender to sunset
How Will I Know?
I hold hope aloft this fall day
pull, run, tug, play
below, patterns of possibility
squares, spirals, shapes still undreamed
zephyr playmates tease
hopes falter, dip, plunge but then
buoyed by the breeze
rise again
Will I know when
bored by shorter days
brutal bully breeze
will sneak away
behind barrier hills
leave hope to drift, fall
a final plunge
from tormentor’s gust?
How will I know
hope will no longer rise again
promise slammed
into the brown-scummed pond?
Prompt: How will I know
Fred with his hero, Tony Gwynn. Rumor has it some of Fred’s
ashes may have found their way to Tony’s Memorial at Petco Park.
Time in Memory
Today my mind goes back eight years
returns in tears
but that last day
won’t go away
his skeletal hand trembled so
eight years ago
his eyes were dim
as I fed him
He stopped, gave me a startled look
then he shook
lay back in bed
I think I said
I love you as I tiptoed out
looked back in doubt
went out the door
could not do more
That night as I lay down alone
I heard the phone
don’t miss your chance
called ambulance
Our children came from far away
arrived next day
we never heard
another word
And time keeps moving on and on
forever gone
I fear the phone
I lie alone
I Don’t Want Much
Remember me with love and laughter
and that will be enough hereafter
I hope my poems and prose live on
though I suppose it won’t matter to me when I’m gone
May descendents and students continue my fights
for compassion and justice and civil rights
and for all to have water, food, shelter and health
an end to greed and ridiculous wealth
May the young generations continue their stand
to save our planet, the oceans and land
to use clean resources for energy need
stop corporate welfare, corporate greed
May our country be blessed with young ethical leaders
And ditch all the current old crass bottom feeders
I guess what I’m really rooting for
Is an end to suffering, privilege, and war
I want so much it makes me dizzy
Kids, here’s the baton, you better get busy
Prompt: What I want
Form: Palindrome (which I didn’t use after I spent way too much time on it)
The Fox and the Finch
Once upon a time
well, just the other day
an evil orange fox appeared in the land
his name I will not say
The fox proclaimed he was self-made
though his dad was filthy rich
he hired folks and never paid
he always found a glitch
And maybe he paid taxes
and maybe he did not
but something we can all surmise
he never paid a lot
He told the forest creatures
he was very, very wise
Those naïve beasts believed him
and listened to his lies
They made him king of everything
as he took their winter food
the fox was mean and vicious
he was rotten, he was lewd
He told them he was powerful
and by telling made it so
but the fox forgot to look up
so he never saw the crow
From his lookout overhead
Crow could see the fox’s ruse
he gathered all the forest birds
and told them the bad news
And the old crow knew enough was enough
He was a tough old bird
and he sent forth a tiny finch
to make his message heard
Please listen to that little finch
who landed on the lectern
so when 2020 comes around
that fox will feel the Bern
Prompt: Once Upon a Time
Form: Fable
Madness Reigns
If you look at Saudi Arabia they’re an ally grab them by the pussy 15-man hit squad on vacation tourists MBS rogue killers accompanied prince on his trip to US rush to judgment bone saw Jamal Khashoggi here we go again with, you know, guilty until proven innocent audio recordings premeditated torture interrogation gone wrong fingers cut off legal papers to get married tax cuts for rich beheaded if you want to live when you come back to Arabia, shut up headphones to listen to music while body dismembered I just cannot state strongly enough how totally dishonest much of the Media is Otaibi not seen in public I like people that weren’t captured children in cages Duterte some very fine people tremendous purchaser yacht apartments hotels Bin Salman’s personal security detail no collusion painted walls toxic substances give them a handful of days more to complete so they get it right Kim Jong Un I don’t like losers Pocahontas We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh. And he was innocent all the way very, very large brain senior position in Saudi interior ministry Puerto Rico paper towels and it will change back fake news
Prompt: Madness Reigns I started many rhymes but my sadness for the journalist and our world, my horror of the situation, and my loathing for the powerful with no moral compass wouldn’t let me.
The Poetry and Prose of Barbara Huntington 