A Flurry of Activity Today

I'm not sure whether it was Leslea Newman's November poetry challenge 30 Poems in 30 Days that got me started or my migraine yesterday or the weird dream involving me dying and seeing a bunch of dead people I know in a waiting room with a long line. (Yes, I know I'm weird; but if you knew me, you would already know that.) Well, what can I say, 'tis the season for that sort of morbid stuff. Whatever the reason, I wrote five poems before work this morning. Don't get too impressed, three of them are haikus (and I don't really think the five are all that great). Self-deprecating intros aside, here are the poems in the order I wrote them.

Migraine Haiku

first the hint of pain
then nauseating migraine
lingers ‘til evening

ltv


an unwelcomed guest
bringing offerings of pain
won’t leave when I ask

ltv


[untitled Haiku]

reaching into death
the living must be certain
about coming back

ltv


travel plans

In my dreams
I reach towards death
to visit those I failed
to say goodbye to
or those I stubbornly
refuse to accept as gone
but these long adventures
of my subconscious
risks the same as any other
selfish vacation -
collections of images
reminders of something
I can never have
or worse –
the opportunity
to give in completely
and return to that place forever

ltv


the very best

every morning is Halloween
I raise the dead in my bedroom
then give thanks to the bounty
of soothing hot water in my shower
my eyes are opened to the gifts
of the day, even if they are left
under foot on the living room carpet
I clean them and start anew
with the aromatic coffee I love
be mine caffeine every day
how lucky I am to find
this pot of gold already brewed
or am I being fooled
into mothering myself with
memories of what I observed
in my youth – is this a red flag
of my daddy issues
rejecting tea for coffee
asserting my independence
with a beverage
I labor through these thoughts
the rest of my day
exhausted by the hallmarks
of my existence

ltv