Today at dversepoets.com we are invited to write about philosophy of life, about taking a break from "being connected" and taking time to be with one's own thoughts and how we can re-write our scripted life. I had written this earlier but it seemed to fit the category of "opportunities to look at one's life", taking stock of what one has, a way of surmounting trauma and disappointment, etc.
Skeletons of old railroad relics lie scattered,
stuck in foliage stiff and dry
Sing my poverty!
Squirrels whisk nuts underground,
barn to barn the swallows fly
nab what fruits they can by robbery
Prickly heat throws back the sun;
we breathe the motionless air
How different the weather is,
the river does not flow,
runs and hides a honey bearOverhead jet stripes in the sky
bees vanish as scythes pant,
The horseman's ruddy gaze
says he is parched from the inside,
emerging from checkered shadows,
drunk on his drowsy ride
Red brick in color,
chunks of clay earth break away
where waterfalls used to slide,
hawks scared the jay
His sight stretches back to the volcano
that emptied its belly -
when hope faded quickly away
and heat softened the mind
He had the strength to carry on,
the desire to live a different way
Glimmers a mirage in glassytude,
just when an oasis soothed the eye.
Imagining underground water blue
He dismounted and crawled,
digging elbows into silt,
sprawled on his stomach in the dirt,
Grateful he might live another day
he quenched his thirst in morning dewA slip of grass caught his chin
as he bent his head to pray
