Fog swallowed the road,
shrouding in opaque cerecloth
the only way out,
and the visitors panicked
while the locals visited.

Posted for the A-Z Challenge: O and NaPoWriMo
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved

Like a magician
in mercurial splendor,
the desert’s mood swings
and we shelter or parade,
completely at its mercy.

Posted for the A-Z Challenge: M and NaPoWriMo
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved

L – Lost and Found

For years, I roamed,
chasing an unknown
to fill a mysterious hole
in my hungry soul
but when I stilled
and let the silence build,
I realized my mistake.
For goodness’s sake,
it was always there,
inside, and if I dared,
I would have seen
what’s always been:
fields of flowers
nurtured by manure.

**It sounds a little depressing at the end, but it’s meant to be the opposite – an example of life’s yin yang.**

Posted for the A-Z Challenge: L and NaPoWriMo
©2015 V. del Casal

K – Kindling

Disappointments crunched underfoot,
paining the feet mightily,
so at first I feared the journey
with its sharp little switches
but later learned to repurpose,
and now at night, when the heat
dissipates into coolness,
a fiery blaze bellows
from kindling found
crushed on the ground.

Posted for the A-Z Challenge: K and NaPoWriMo
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved

In the jungle,
an iron lion roars,
benched
with a menagerie
of friends:
the monkey,
the giraffe,
and the elephant
way in the back.

 

A silly little poem inspired by a children’s patio bench and posted for the A-Z Challenge: I and NaPoWrimo.
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved

H – How Long Will You Run?

Rushing
from home
to work
and back
again
every day
weekends
too
are run
through
while halcyon summers
fade
further
away
like a sunbaked
baseball
under wraps.

Posted for A-Z Challenge: H and NaPoWriMo
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved

E – Earth, Is That You?

I love deserts. The sand dunes and cactus. Searing heat and the maybe mirages. I dare not visit in the summer, when boiling is balmy, but reserve my sojourns in the winter where the bitter cold is blunted by a brisk climb. Oh, the reward of such a hike upon sitting atop an outcrop! A hundred square miles of Martian terrain revealed while gobbling a chocolate chip cookie. My visits are short, unfortunately. But just enough. A little getaway to another world far removed.

 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge: E and NaPoWriMo and inspired by a visit to Death Valley National Park (the picture is of The Devil’s Golf Course).
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved

D- Dew on Calla Lily

Drops rest on petals
washed by early morning rain.
All too soon sun-dried.

Posted for the A-Z Challenge: D and NaPoWriMo
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved

Feet filed passed the gnarled old tree,
eager, instead, for the vibrant grove beyond
until one day, a pair came to rest at its roots
and stayed, eager for the crooked branches above.
Soon others stopped, though puzzled at the pause.
What good’s a dead tree without leaves? they asked
but only the sound of tramping feet gave an answer.
So they, too, trooped away, leaving the naked limbs behind
and only when a balmy breeze stirred the air,
a raven-black head popped from the tangled spires
and whispered, “Crooked is as crooked does.”
before nestling back against a bough.

 

A riff on “pretty is as pretty does” and posted for the A-Z Challenge: C and NaPoWriMo…it’s…well…hmm…maybe another edit (or two) would serve this one well. 😦

©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved