Deja Vu At Paper Poetry

Following the path of the sages — Freedom to express innermost fears. Freedom to contemplate for hours. Freedom to emulate superior thoughts. Freedom to unfollow traditions. Free from all burdens. Freedom from cycles of pain. Free to move away in a new direction. Freedom from circles of expectation. Feelings of abandonment crush me. Faithlessness in faith tortures me. Fulfillment…

My response to a prompt from the Paper Poetry publication — “…for unless I am myself, I am nobody.” ~ Virginia Woolf Dark was the world But there I crawled Hands and knees Along the rough and rocky road. Road of silent bones Jagged stones cut deep My skin raw I pulled myself along the road. Dark was the world Blind —…

An ekphrastic sonnet — The lines wobble in their imperfection It’s part of what makes them cute and unique Wesley’s hand is new to illustration He does find it much easier to speak. “How do I draw a sunflower, Mummy? I want to make it look happy and real.” “I’ll draw one right here so you…

A free verse poem about self with help from Virginia Woolf — ‘For unless I am myself, I am nobody’ ~ Virginia Woolf ~ I lost myself along the way the push and pull of life’s refrain be everything to everyone all at once and one for all you’re here to serve, to do some good reward is giving — give-give, give more missed the warning, was there…

A brain-fogged senryu — Clouds of confusion Thought processes gone a-wol Peasouper brain fog © Carolyn Hastings 2022 Brain fog. Isn’t it the pits when you feel like your head is packed full of sludge-soaked cotton wool? There’s been a lot of talk about brain fog of late as it’s one of the most…

The Zen Buddhist monk who taught us mindfulness — “Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” Thich Nhat Hanh (Oct 11, 1926 — Jan 22, 2022) incense wafting through the…

Butterfly wings — I spy bright butterfly wings hovering among the lilacs as they feast on nectar nestled deep in the center; Fluttering their wings, they dance through my garden, a welcome reminder simply to breathe. Look around; life’s a gift. Here’s my attempt at writing a second etheree poem as I wing…