She Conquered her Fear
She conquered her fear to do what’s right
though she knew the beasts would fight
she took the stand and told the truth
she’d kept long buried from her youth
and many a woman relived her plight
She shared her shame, we felt her fright
his hand against her mouth held tight
to mute her screams of his abuse
She conquered her fear
Some memories vivid from that night
but not the date, her ride, the site
but oh the laughter, loud, uncouth
still echoes and taunts her tattered youth
She conquered her fear
Prompt: Conquered Form: Rondeau (two liberties taken)
Denied but not Defeated
When spectacles no longer
can make my vision clear
and loud rock music in my past
makes it harder now to hear
And when my spouse of many years
got sick, forgot, and died
and our plans to be together
were permanently denied
Old age you thought you’d got my best
suppressed my will to fight
but though you’ve dimmed my windows
you have yet to stop the light
Though my energy is waning
and I’ve aches in back and knees
I still smell the evening jasmine
still kick back in night’s cool breeze
And I remember the intensity
that comes with being young
our fight for right and justice
and the folk songs that were sung
With my gentle dog beside me
in autumn’s weakening sun
though you’ve blocked me and denied me
I still smile and know I’ve won.
The Orange Tweet Bird and the Turtle
There once was a greedy orange bird
whose attempts at smart tweets were absurd
He sat in his gold nest
then shat on the rest
‘til their voices were no longer heard
His bro and accomplice demonian
was a dried up evil chelonian
who led every attack
with the bird on his back
each bloodbath complete and draconian
The prompt was strange animals and one of the forms was a limerick although this is not the suggested light-hearted verse.
Pain to Power
It’s time for women to arise
At last the world has heard our cries
Booze fueled abuse by rich white men
will never silence us again. We know their lies
He stands unclothed, his greed revealed
His racist rants, his hate unsealed
But now that evil has a name
we will no longer hide in shame. His fate is sealed
The more he mocks, the more we’ll tell
Recount each woman’s secret hell
Pain to power, we’re not their toys
we won’t accept “boys will be boys,”
and we’ll vote well
The prompt was “Insecurity” and the form a florette. Sometimes poems tell you things. This poem said, “I’ll go with the florette, but damned if I will pander to your insecurity!” The poem always wins. BTW, when I pasted it into the blog, the last line insisted on jumping down to stand alone instead of remaining tied to the one before it.
Haiku
We are stronger now
Her story is our story
solidarity!
Three Cinquains
booze
family wealth
white male privilege
but now we rise
women
you
you rock
you are strong
you don’t take shit
you
you
are strong
don’t take shit
smile at his karma
hah!
Tanka
Remember that day
You thought it was only you
and you hid in shame?
Their wrongs no longer hidden
claim your voice and roar
Last night I asked for rain, but Rosa shrugged her shoulders and gave me this sunset.
Surrender
You surrendered to solitude
let go of the what ifs
the somedays,
the he will come
Surrendered to silence
just the dog clicking down the hall
the only soft breath
your own
No need to compromise
pleased your own palate
ate when you were damned good and ready
synchronized sleep with your sigh
at the book’s last page
You surrendered to the laugh lines
the frown lines
the sag
the fragility
Surrendered to forgetfulness
the hand that ached
the jar unopened
the cleaning and garden chores undone
But should
a graying knight offer
to warm your winter
share the chores
laugh at the unopened jar
that defeats you both
will you risk the charge up one last hill
and surrender to love?
Old woman
battered by seas
of self loathing,
self doubt
wobbling wheel
seeking center
I long to crawl
into Buddha’s great lap
curl like temple dogs
sun-warmed on steps
rest in this gentle land
across the world from my own
stop seeking
be still
I wrote this just after the election to try to boost my spirits, but now that I hear it may be a theme in the new book that just came out, I thought I’d better post it now.
A Purely made up Fantasy
by Barbara Huntington
In a large skyscraper in New York City:
“Mr. Ivanov and Mr. Petrov to see you sir.”
“Ruskies. Joe, can you handle it? I’m trying out ways to fire that girl tonight to get the biggest outrage from the press, really big outrage! ”
“I checked their backgrounds, sir. They appear to be with the Russian bank you worked with on a deal in London? They say they will only talk to you. They said to mention their American investment.”
“Damn! Ok. Let me comb my hair. Tell them I am in the middle of a big TV deal, the best deal, will make me a lot of money. The most money. I have lots of money already. Lots of money.” (Reaches his right hand into his desk drawer and keeps it there.)
Two men in grey business suits enter as the assistant leaves. “Sir, you are aware of our deal?”
“Yes, it’s a great deal. The best deal. It will make us lots of money.”
“You are no doubt aware that the deal has gone under and you owe us five billion U.S. dollars? Oh, by the way, the gun you are holding in your desk drawer has no bullets. We unloaded it earlier as a precaution.”
“That is a big deal, lot’s of money, big money. Your bank will be very rich.”
“The deal is kapoot. You belong to us and we have what we believe will be a mutually beneficial solution. Wouldn’t you like to be President of the United States?”
“No way. I have my money, big money, my real estate, my TV show. The best TV show!”
“Our people have talked to your friend, the former president and convinced him, with his help we can get you the nomination. Of course, we are telling him, you cannot win the election, so he thinks his candidate will easily win the presidency.”
“What if I run and lose? Will that satisfy the debt?”
“Of course, Sir! Good by. Our office will be in your office, I mean in touch with your office.”
He sinks into his chair and reaches for his phone. “Hello, Scott? Yes, find me the best campaign person you can find. Tell him I am running for president, but want to come in second. Call Bill and tell him I rethought his suggestion and I’m going to go for it. We can do this. Oh, have your staff brainstorm a list of all the things a presidential candidate should never do or say. Yes, in a debate, in a rally, of course! (Pushes end button on phone.)
This will be the best! What a coup! No way do I want to win this thing, but what the hell, I have practice with the TV show being outrageous. They will never vote me into office. I will lose by the most votes ever and get out of five billion. I will lose to be the big winner! The biggest loser and the biggest winner! The best! Now who would be the best folks to make me unpopular? (Pushes button on phone.)
Kathy, get me the number of the KKK, yes the Klan, and do you know any Nazis?
The Poetry and Prose of Barbara Huntington 