tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344171829989892372024-02-20T17:55:27.032-08:00Poets for PeanutsPoetry by T. L. Shreffler.poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13209171840636823473noreply@blogger.comBlogger298125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-37293634150118365172022-12-30T15:19:00.003-08:002022-12-30T15:19:59.549-08:00Upon My Death<p> Can you not grant me just this wish?</p><p>To wring the fruit 'til no drop is left</p><p>and let us be and breathe and grieve</p><p>this heart grown weary of breath after breath--</p><p>can you not give one dream to me?</p><p>To be remembered and loved upon my death.</p>poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-33246365011787070002022-06-18T11:02:00.002-07:002022-06-18T11:02:58.838-07:00<p>I am every leaf</p><p>each blade of grass</p><p>wings seeking</p><p>seed sprouting</p><p>rain tempos</p><p>birds quieting</p><p>from this stillness</p><p>arose every music.</p>poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-72392460433195481882022-06-18T10:56:00.006-07:002022-06-18T10:56:52.280-07:004 Poems<div>"Drown"</div><div><br /></div>We are taking on too much water, so<br />
I am plunging the ore between the planks of the boat<br />
and prying them apart.<br />
<br />
I am sinking this ship into the sea.<br />
I wouldn't call the choice very easy<br />
but it is plain to me<br />
the hull is rotting.<br />
<br />
I was hoping to get a decade in<br />
before the weather took her down<br />
but then, the splitting crack of frame,<br />
the sail lost near rocky shore--<br />
she ran aground,<br />
<br />
Abandon ship, abandon--<br />
our heart, our lives, we drown.<br />
<br /><br /><br />"Untitled"<br />
<br />
Look at this, the thread unraveling,<br />
your prophecy, self-fulfilling.<br />
Look at us, our rock, eroding.<br />
<br /><br /><br />"Might"<br />
<br />
This inner violence becomes me.<br />
<br />
Don't forget that I am ten feet tall<br />
and forged in fire, an iron knight.<br />
<br />
Do not forget I wield a blade half my size<br />
and twice my might.<br />
<br />
Do not mistake the love I gave--<br />
It was truer than the truest soul--<br />
Fiercer than the greatest wind--<br />
Deeper than Poseidon's throne--<br />
<br />
Don't mistake my need for you<br />
as the air I need to breathe.<br />
You've driven me away enough,<br />
and now, I set you free.<br />
<br /><br /><br />"Ten Feet Tall"<br />
<br />
Good. I hope you always feel ten feet tall<br />
and never this small.<br />
<br />
I hope you know your heart is worth a hundred hearts<br />
and a hundred loves to be.<br />
<br />
I've found it doesn't help to hurt in love,<br />
it truly helps to see<br />
<br />
when another's heart is too small to give<br />
ten feet of love to me.poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-28021164130557893202020-11-15T10:01:00.002-08:002020-11-15T10:02:26.722-08:00Mountain<p>It's not the feeling</p><p>but the image it evokes</p><p>mountains of dormant, unencumbered fog</p><p>stretching into the white rooftop of the world</p><p>solitude, a foundation</p><p>to grow the tallest</p><p>sprawl into the space allowed, unrequesting--</p><p>those attracted to the independence of another</p><p>are not looking for softness or knowable darkness, but seeking</p><p>a mountain.</p><div><br /></div>poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-39563961571529215112020-07-13T11:46:00.002-07:002022-06-18T10:57:35.980-07:00All Forests / Flotsam"All Forests"<br />
<br />
Hello.<br />
I don't know you.<br />
I don't<i> know</i> people.<br />
What tribes, what living quarters?<br />
I want to live there --<br />
How am I supposed to find such a connecting force?<br />
Let awe inspire us.<br />
Let awe fulfill us<br />
that we might see the great trees of all forests.<br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
"Flotsam"<br />
<br />
how far drifted have I?<br />
I am flotsam<br />
and you seemed like an anchor<br />
of some kind--<br />
<br />
there is this legend, this mythology<br />
that I am mad, desperate or crazy<br />
but really, I've been impaled so many times<br />
the spear has become me--<br />
<br />
I don't mean to offend or deceive--<br />
I don't trust you,<br />
but I have you inside me.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-86567925953230119192020-06-07T18:05:00.002-07:002020-06-07T18:20:23.641-07:00CottageThat little cottage sitting on a hill,<br />
overlooking what once was a silver place,<br />
where moonlight guided all of the spirits to their destinations.<br />
<br />
<br />
That little cottage<br />
which stands lonely now,<br />
abandoned by the Wind.<br />
Only silence has come to claim it,<br />
as a fading breath<br />
slips from the windows<br />
and through the cracks in the floor,<br />
lying mute and pervasive in that dark place,<br />
in the shadows behind chairs,<br />
in the cracked foundations of the heart.<br />
<br />
<br />
The closet door stands open,<br />
the only words left in this house, telling me<br />
<i>You once shut this door on yourself </i><br />
<i>and </i><i>lived here, </i><i>in all the hidden corners of a child's closet– </i><br />
I was the doll.<br />
This the paper castle in which I lived my Night.<br />
<br />
<br />
~TL Shreffler<br />
<br />poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-75278646515119898602020-05-24T06:07:00.002-07:002020-05-24T06:07:11.922-07:00Grow<div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I want to grow graciously outward,<br />To leave behind the Riverbend,<br />To drop what I can do without,<br />Come quietly to myself again.</div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I want to riddle up and secret down,<br />Do more than simply long to go,<br />I want to find that tune in me<br />To strengthen strings and follow flow.</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
I want to find a sacred song,<br />An answered prayer, a name and verse--<br />By seeking you, I seek myself,<br />And so, your love I follow first.</div>
</div>
poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-62023969906562917512020-05-18T10:04:00.002-07:002020-05-18T10:04:44.899-07:00Moon<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
Light is not a natural place<br />for those who set their roots in darkness.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Some of us have lived in winter for so long,<br />Spring is the most torturous bloom.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
The night swallowed us.<br />Still, we found the moon.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
~TL Shreffler</div>
poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-7810926696633176262019-08-14T17:01:00.001-07:002019-08-14T17:01:27.710-07:00Grove<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I walk through the forest where</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">He is still waiting, there</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In the deep woods, a statue overgrown</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">With moss. I can still kneel</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">And brush my fingers across</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />The clay cleverness<br />Of an aged face<br />Weathered by all seasons -- Love,<br />The sacred grove remains.</span>poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-89434481876450642082019-01-26T23:18:00.000-08:002020-07-13T11:41:04.360-07:00LiftShe was wolf girl in the lift,<br />
Powerful and free.<br />
Nothing but her will, her body,<br />
The weight, lifting,<br />
<br />
Stress on muscles, straining--<br />
Teeth grit through the midst of it,<br />
Freeing<br />
<br />
All the pain, courageous, she<br />
always preferred to feel --<br />
a freeing breath --<br />
-- release.<br />
<br />poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-41653449864611812822019-01-26T21:21:00.002-08:002020-07-13T11:37:22.534-07:00WildflowersI love poetry like wildflowers,<br />
no single standard.<br />
Can you imagine living<br />
that
anonymous life by the roadside?<br />
What if that flower became a woman<br />
and one day walked to market<br />
in the heat of bustle and bees,<br />
and saw all the human varieties,<br />
no single standard?<br />
<br />
<br />
-T. L. Shrefflerpoetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-23290553585299618052018-11-29T19:02:00.001-08:002018-11-29T19:02:49.977-08:00I don't know where the flowers run anymore,<br />
I don't know where the brick path leads.<br />
Once, I searched for bottles on a deserted shore--<br />
I knew well where sky and ocean would meet--<br />
<br />
But our certainty crumbles like sand over time,<br />
We live as things are, not how they should be,<br />
And all our right paths turn left in the end,<br />
Or dead-end at a pondersome sea.<br />
<br />
So I don't know anymore why the willows grow tall,<br />
Why the skylark calls, why the sunset bleeds.<br />
I really can't say what I want from this world,<br />
But the world will always have me.poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-62122842468896584352018-11-28T17:10:00.001-08:002018-11-28T17:10:35.443-08:00Quiet, Beautiful<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>June 1st, 2018</b></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-e20316c0-7fff-1ae6-e35f-e81ec653817d" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Quiet, beautiful</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Back to the road where the tower waits</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Back to the gray mountains</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Back to the dead plains</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Back to the mist where he kept you</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Back to the throne where you slept</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Back to the frost windows, the curtains drawn, the poison drank, the skin cold, the gums white,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the blood dried, the door cracked--</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Go</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">She escaped for a time, she did</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Go</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">but she couldn't</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Go back</span></div>
<br />poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-22751812053305567112018-11-28T17:07:00.000-08:002018-11-28T17:16:09.901-08:00Who are we, but a voice<br />
singular and powerful,<br />
a letter written to the stars<br />
of a civilization wandering--<br />
the lonely soul of a planet, drifting--poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-2622923714656671772018-11-25T16:05:00.000-08:002019-01-12T10:36:23.058-08:00CemetariesFrom a young age, I loved cemeteries.<br />
Their smell, the fresh cut grass,<br />
(<i>in the old kingdom, always a layer of dew or frost)</i><br />
the endless mystery of named stones<br />
stretching far away. I wanted to run deep into<br />
those woods and find the lost tomb of Annwn<br />
that stood like a gateway, a pyramid—<br />
<i> (In the old kingdom, it led to the white land</i><br />
<i> where fairies roamed)</i><br />
—where treasure was buried—and a legacy—<br />
a family affair.<br />
<br />poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-72169118442934952612018-11-25T15:41:00.001-08:002018-11-25T15:41:13.085-08:00Wherever you are....<b>March 14th, 2018</b><br />
<br />
I hope wherever you are<br />
The sky is far deeper and more expansive<br />
The clouds are far lower and vast and full of moods<br />
The grass is tall enough to touch your palms<br />
And the music is so much greater<br />
Swelling through the firmament of the storm and building into your soul<br />
Wherever you are, that music, that love, that spirit,<br />
I hope you know.<br />
<br />
~T. L. Shreffler<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-58474196039346544232018-11-25T15:41:00.000-08:002018-11-25T15:41:01.296-08:00Railroad<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>March 13th, 2018</b></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So what is it?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What are the train tracks?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What is the railroad?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What is</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The roaring sound in the background</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Growing behind you, spreading in front of you, building to the second it finds you --</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What is that screaming steel running through you?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Perhaps it is you.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">~T. L. Shreffler</span></div>
poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-82301901602460287702018-11-25T15:40:00.000-08:002020-05-28T11:53:46.588-07:00Tomb / Light"Tomb"<br />
<br />
Here is the tree where the tomb rested,<br />
and here are the roots where I've been asleep;<br />
deep you must go to find your peace.<br />
Only in safety will the past release itself.<br />
Only in layers do we reveal our true selves,<br />
our true hearts, not to be healed,<br />
but to be inspected and adored<br />
like stained glass bottles, salt-worn,<br />
under caring fingertips: delicate, distorted, brilliant.<br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
"Light"<br />
<br />
I need the days to be brighter and longer.<br />
I need the sun to stay upright.<br />
I need the warmth, the bond, the touch, the caress, the light.poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-29875068410915030772018-11-25T15:37:00.000-08:002018-11-25T15:41:24.649-08:00Northwestern Summer Rain<b>March 16th, 2018</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Suddenly I can smell the grass after a Northwestern summer rain.<br />
Early afternoon, open window,<br />
crisp golden air<br />
the sunlight slanting over her shoulder<br />
onto the pages of a book<br />
as she reads, her mind in mystery<br />
the floor is deep mahogany<br />
a sense of permanency<br />
a garden, a roof, a memory<br />
of apple trees.<br />
<br />
<br />
~T. L. Shreffler<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-22184400103526435502018-11-24T07:09:00.003-08:002019-01-14T00:14:53.647-08:00SpinIt was a pattern we fell into,<br />
me and you.<br />
<br />
You’d say something to bait me;<br />
coming from you,<br />
it was easy.<br />
<br />
Eventually, I acted<br />
only to provoke you, and neither of us knew<br />
how to rein the other in, so we would<br />
spin spin spin.<br />
<br />
Even young, I had a name<br />
and you miscalled it again, again<br />
so I would fight for you to see me as I am.<br />
You moved like a propeller.<br />
I would push and you would pull; together,<br />
ever ever ever<br />
we would spin spin spin.poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-44480660885552999592018-11-23T14:49:00.000-08:002020-06-07T17:44:29.983-07:00Balance / Flowers"Balance"<br />
<br />
When are you going to leave behind your balance,<br />
teeter forward and fall<br />
in love with the world?<br />
<br />
When are you going to plunge into humanity?<br />
Submerged by the wave<br />
the salt stings your eyes<br />
the ocean presses on every side<br />
feel them<br />
rush toward you<br />
mouth gasping for air<br />
throw open your arms<br />
and rise.<br />
<br />
*<br />
*<br />
*<br />
<br />
"Flowers"<br />
<br />
Healing takes time.<br />
Being able to care<br />
for small things first, like a new rug,<br />
a succulent on the windowsill<br />
or a couch for friends to sit.<br />
Then the invitation.<br />
Bringing others inside.<br />
<i>You need new friends, dear.</i><br />
<br />
This might take longer, but<br />
in time you meet a kindred soul—<br />
<br />
have patience, for<br />
a year reveals all to those<br />
who wait to see the flowers grow.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-82702615694200026872018-11-20T11:45:00.001-08:002018-11-21T00:23:45.369-08:00Certain things might not change--<br />
your trust in people, irreparable--<br />
certain losses run deep.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>You don't need to be perfect, but do</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i> be loving.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
You might need to leap, but<br />
take your time on the edge.<br />
Enjoy your indecision.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Please, don't forget the loving part.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Let things happen organically,<br />
<br />
as naturally as possible,<br />
<br />
like a leaf floating down from a willow tree<br />
<br />
to land in a river. The sheen<br />
<br />
of water sparked<br />
<br />
some wonder in me, as I watched this leaf,<br />
<br />
so patiently,<br />
<br />
leave behind its mother<br />
<br />
to follow its destiny<br />
<br />
out to sea.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
He doesn't mind<br />
we can't always speak to each other.<br />
<i>I'm a quiet person anyway,</i> he says.<br />
I guess we have more than speech to share--<br />
we have music to write and notes to compare--<br />
the two of us make an excellent pair--<br />
she smiling sad-eyed ragtag girl,<br />
a wayfarer in a half-seen world,<br />
he knight of earth, patient, strong,<br />
his arms, her home. His heart, her song.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course the wind would fall in love with the earth.<br />
<br />
She likes dancing away, spinning up to the sky and<br />
<br />
returning with gifts, the sun in her eyes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course the earth would be enwrapped by her love.<br />
<br />
Watching her dance so far up above, waiting for her<br />
<br />
to come back to the ground with leaves, and rain, and dust, and song.<br />
<br />poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-5241965545014994102018-11-20T09:53:00.000-08:002018-11-20T09:53:56.497-08:00TurningI am putting away<br />
the past today<br />
in exchange for a new way.<br />
<br />
The heart has infinite space.<br />
There's room enough<br />
for a new day,<br />
<br />
new love and morning times<br />
grown from the compost<br />
of coffee grounds from yesterday,<br />
<br />
egg shells and dried sage,<br />
onion rinds and decomposing<br />
leaves from the driveway;<br />
<br />
I turn the heap, leaving behind<br />
the backyard for the front porch,<br />
the sunrise and the highway.poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-83566514086011317842018-11-19T14:38:00.004-08:002018-11-19T15:27:33.222-08:00Are we still echoing?<br />
<br />
Soul on soul<br />
resounding<br />
<br />
we collide,<br />
layers of us<br />
unfurling<br />
<br />
like smoke curling<br />
in a glass,<br />
<br />
we are<br />
a melody<br />
<br />
becoming.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />poetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834417182998989237.post-56334313268269542642018-11-19T10:39:00.000-08:002018-11-25T15:52:37.013-08:00GhostsThe ghosts are heavy today.<br />
Did you know they carry weight?<br />
My passengers are crowded in close.<br />
<br />
The small one wails and wails.<br />
The tall, cold, skinny one hunches in his coat<br />
and lurks, and watches.<br />
The fat one trolls back and forth, the most oppressive<br />
of the three, rampaging about and throwing bottles,<br />
breaking glass on the floor of the train<br />
as we roll and roll<br />
through an autumn day.<br />
<br />
Their voices become so loud, drowning out my own--<br />
I've bid them to leave a thousand times<br />
but they need me, a place to belong, a person to be--<br />
they accompany me traveling,<br />
we bicker like a strange family.<br />
<br />
I guess I belong to their ephemeral ways--<br />
of all who have left me,<br />
they choose to stay--<br />
<br />
so I carry them,<br />
a comforting weight<br />
on an autumn day.<br />
<br />
<br />
~T. L. Shrefflerpoetsforpeanutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12769880777556317487noreply@blogger.com0