Month: April 2017

My Striking Pen

.Reading time 1 minute.

Is my pen led astray?
Or just having its way?
two line strikes
and
those “rich green, carpet of flowing grasslands”
become
“verdant meadows”

Ideas morph in the margins
the chrysalis cracks
under the weight of my rolling, ballpoint pen
NOW
“the welcoming pale pink petals of my wax begonias that lure hummingbirds”
flutter away as
“blushing invitations to winged friends”

Arrows zing around my page
in colorful edits
this is war
in my mind
ten words drop in a single line:
“the furry, flop-eared bunny hopped, hid eggs and in the yard and, exhausted, dropped”
simply put:
“the rabbit died”

I’m not crying
rabbits
though cute
are ever multiplying
like words
before edits
they overrun the garden-page
NOW
weeded
hunted
tended
ideas flourish
under the cut of my striking pen
this is war

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Posted in poetry & free verse. Bookmark the permalink.

Dreaming

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

dreaming
to rainy beat
through the open window
the storm’s falling tears beckon me
carry me on waves through tempest-tossed night
I cascade over waterfalls
and drift on oceans calm
wash up on shore
dreaming

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Entry posted in poetry & Rictameter Verse. Bookmark the permalink.

What?

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

what does a ban say
on a sunny Easter Day

THAT

starving children,
the moaning human refuse
collected
for posterity
in refugee wastelands
must starve
WHILE
sheltered youth,
plump and spoiled
dressed in pressed watercolors
not junk yard soiled
are allowed free run
on a White House lawn
to hunt for candy-filled eggs

what does a ban say
on a sunny Easter Day

THAT

this year
the Easter Bunny voted
rolled his eggs for Trump

WHILE

children, impoverished,
hunted meals
from the dump

what does a ban say
on a sunny Easter Day

WHAT?

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Posted in poetry & free verse. Bookmark the permalink.

Nectar

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

beckon
winged company
through a blushing appeal
each petal, an invitation
treasure map to ambrosia concealed
butterfly moves proboscis probe
seeks nectar to consume
as soft flowers
beckon

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Entry posted in poetry & Rictameter Verse. Bookmark the permalink.

An Instrumental Tanka

.Reading time 1 minute.

trees shake maracas ~

a Taino rhythm to keep ~

rattle past’s recall ~

the new world vomited bile ~

poisoned, the old leaves fell dead

~

(note: Maracas originated with the Taino people, the Indigenous inhabitants of the Caribbean Islands and S. Florida. The coming of Columbus brought a time of disease, slavery and murder that left approximately 5 million humans dead, nearly exterminating the Taino. Indigenous people today face a continued battle in America to protect their treaty negotiated lands, waters and ancestral burial sites most recently from gas pipelines. An honest look at history is a starting point in healing old wounds and preventing new ones.)

#noACP

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Entry posted in tanka, poetry & noACP. Bookmark the permalink.

Sentenced

.Reading time 1 minute.

asked I
to the pencil graphite tip
that fell under my desk
rolled off the top of my bare foot
and lodged its complaint in the plush carpet under my toes
as I plucked it out
between my thumb and pointed finger
just before I flicked it into my garbage bin
like a dry crumb
“Did I press too hard?”
“Did I poke through the page?”
I hear my English professor’s stale echo:
“Writer’s should show
finesse,
subtlety
and
grace,
each word carefully chosen.”
that poison-arrow dart
broken, but still sharp,
left me a tip
before its trash landing:
charcoal smudges on my hand fit for fingerprint blotting
“Guilty!” it said. “Sentenced to life!”
the witness has formally testified
for there on the pages before me
poured out from my beating heart
my written words
bled

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Posted in poetry & free verse. Bookmark the permalink.

A Melodic Haiku

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

player coaxes notes

fingers take seductive lead

in dance with the keys

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Posted in haiku & poetry. Bookmark the permalink.

A Waking Tanka

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

spring rings bright alarm ~

warm breeze shakes worn canopy ~

leaves burst buds and stretch ~

sun ripped off winter’s blanket ~

now is woodland’s hour to wake

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Entry posted in tanka & poetry. Bookmark the permalink.

If

.Reading time 1 minute.

If
If it
If it were
If it were your
If it were your children’s bellies grumbling
of course you would feed them
knead stone into bread
until your fingers bled trying
can you squeeze water from clay?
filter impurities away?
with your skin?
steal shelter from garbage bins?
build scrap-tin walls with a cardboard roof
until it rains
filling puddles with the rust
of poverty’s chains
to what land would you flee?
if bombs showered your home?
all order violently destabilized
carry your children on your back
so you might keep their dead bodies from dying
for another day or two
how much time can you purchase?
when you can’t even buy food?
If it were your children’s bellies grumbling
If it were your
If it were
If it
If

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Posted in poetry & free verse. Bookmark the permalink.

A Haiku Uncoiling

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

clean water for life ~

black viper stretches, threatens ~

with sharp, fracked-oil fangs

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Entry posted in haiku, poetry & noACP. Bookmark the permalink.

#noACP

#renewables

#noDAPL