A Matter of Syntax

 

Base image by Jackson David on Unsplash

a prayer, spell, or wish

small variance in meaning

same basic concept

notes

The Haiga was inspired by a prompt from Carpe Diem Haiku.

https://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2012/10/carpe-diem-23-praying.html

Text art and effects were added by the poet using Pixlr. 

You are welcome to share the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl.

sharing with

http://myjustsostory.blogspot.com

https://odysee.com/@MichaelGhelfi:c/1-hour-of-combat-music-airship-armada:5?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Many Temples Senryu

Image by Little MiMi from Pixabay

so many temples

away from the daily stress

enlightenment here?

~cie~

notes

I don't want to spend too much time rambling on, but I want to give credit where credit is due. This poem was partly inspired by the prompt, of course, but also inspired by a line from the song She's Come Undone by The Guess Who, which pretty much sums up the way I've felt about things for most of my life.

I know that some people get comfort from religion and I'm not saying they can't. However, I never have. Religion never did anything except make me feel worse about how flawed I am. 

Further, people tend to conflate religion and spirituality. A lot of the time, I believe that there is a higher power and that the soul continues following the death of the body. I believe in the possibility of reincarnation. I don't need to believe in any specific deity or dogma to hold the aforementioned beliefs. 

The Norwegian black metal musician Gaahl said that God is not in some building, God is in nature and God is in each of us. I wish we would extend kindness to one another's souls rather than being hateful to one another for our external differences.

Sometimes I reckon I'm just fucked and there is nothing but a life of pain followed by nothing. That possibility just makes me feel worse, so I try not to entertain it for too long.

Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb
Too many churches and not enough truth
Too many people and not enough eyes to see
Too many lives to lead and not enough time

 It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun

She's come undone

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #111 Troiku ... New Beginnings ... Lotus starts to bloom

image source

in deep prayer

eyes closed in devotion -

Lotus starts to bloom

in deep prayer

I can't trust what my mind says

it plays tricks on me

eyes closed in devotion -

trying to change my focus

away from my pain

lotus starts to bloom

is the lotus in my mind

real or illusion?

~truth seeker~

notes

The sleigh of the Troiku was created By Chèvrefeuille. The horses were gingerly handled by someone.

November PAD Chapbook Challenge 2019: Day 29: Have iPhone, Will Travel

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Have iPhone

Will travel

I've never seen the Northern Lights

I'd like to get them in my sights

To watch their ghostly green glow

As they put on their show

See them dance across the sky

And if I could fly

I'd like to dance into their beams

And leap from stream to stream

Have iPhone, honey

But no money

So I won't be going far

In my beat-up car

But when my beat-up body ceases to run

I'll go and have my fun

I'll ride on the green glow

Who knows how far I'll go?

Dancing in the Northern Lights

I'll become one with the night

~Cie~

Notes:

The November PAD Chapbook Challenge prompt for today was Have (blank.) 

This poem came out of nowhere. I just wrote it down.

Tan Renga Challenge 2019: Day 9: Snails

Snails in Moonlight

Artist Unknown

I bow to my master

Matsuo Basho told me the way

to watch a snail

Haiku taught me to embrace

the way of snail and turtle

Chèvrefeuille & Cie

Notes:

The Hokku (Haiku) stanza of this Tan Renga was written by Chèvrefeuille. The Akegu (closing) stanza was written by me.

I am not being hyperbolic in any way when I say this. Participating in this exercise has been life-changing for me. Haiku is no longer simply a poetry form for me. It is a way of meditation, a way to improve not only my life but possibly the lives of others as well.

NaPoWriMo 2017: Day 1: A is for Angel

Did angels

Fall to Earth

Long ago?

Left behind

Did their minds

Forget their divinity

Are there souls

Who try to remember

Lifetime after lifetime

What we once were

Is this why we suffer

Why we feel too much

And sometimes

Let others use

And abuse us

Will we one day remember

And spread our wings again

Or are we

Forever

Lost?

~Thalia~

OctPoWriMo 2015: Day 11: I Did It My Way

I Did It My Way

When they sneered at me

And what I believe

When they tried to force me to see things their way

I went ahead and did it my way

When they told me I was zany

Said that my thoughts were evil

That I wasn't fit to be among decent people

I kept on doing it my way

When they called me nefarious

Said that I was consorting with the devil

Just because I talk to ghosts

I still did it my way

Sometimes their words made me unhappy

Many times my heart was broken

But lying about my truth would bring no joy

So I always did it my way

Perhaps to those in the mainstream

My beliefs seem a little extreme

But I always try to be good and do right

At the heart of it all, that's my way

~Spectra~

Notes:

I'm Spectra, and I do Tarot readings and speak to those beyond the veil. I've always had psychic abilities. I grew up in a small town, and the rumors flew. I got tired of trying to convince closed-minded people that I wasn't Satan's sister, so I just let them talk. 

Eventually I moved away and didn't have to deal with them any more. Sadly, the world as a whole is rife with closed-minded attitudes.

It's hard to believe, but there are still plenty of people who think that "witch" equates with "devil worshiper." 

If anyone else has esoteric beliefs or simply an open mind and a desire to make the world a better place, you might be interested in Team Netherworld's Open Minded Search for Truth page.

Truth is not one size fits all. We are all walking our own path. The one thing we all must do, first and foremost, is harm none. That includes not spreading lies about those whose paths are different from our own.

NaPoWriMo 2015: Day 14: Suffering: A Conversation Between Me and the Cosmos

Suffering:

A Conversation Between Me and the Cosmos

"Why do you allow us to suffer?" I cried

To any deity or angel or demon

To any ascended master

To any spirit high or low

To any elemental being

To any ghost

Or speck of dust

Or invading microbe

Or molecule, atom, electron, proton or neutron

Which might chance to hear me

"Why do you create things of beauty only to allow them to be destroyed?" I demanded

"I want to know who is responsible for this!" I declared

I wondered aloud how something so magnificent as this cosmos could come to be

Without even an iota of divine intervention

I decided that it could not

But the creator thereof must long ago have pissed off

To any rate, this is the only thing I can imagine to be true

For as I gazed up into the night sky

At the myriad of stars

I was as alone as ever

Having, as always, no answer to the question

Of why we are born

To suffer

~Opal~

Notes:

Like Ellie yesterday, I deviated from the prompt. The prompt was to create a poem which includes a conversation. Technically, mine does, although it is a one-sided conversation!

Paradise

This realm paradise

Is that place where you can dream

And at last find peace

~Helena~

Supernova

Do the Cosmos weep

When a stellar explosion

Leaves all dead and calm

~Naila~

As the challenge goes, this poem is an epic fail. I succeeded with the first rule. I biffed the second and third. Whether I succeeded with the fourth is open to interpretation. I did not succeed at the fifth. The poem does have a deeper meaning, but I doubt anyone will be able to determine what it is.

+ 5-7-5 syllables

+ a seasonword (kigo)

+ a cuttingword (kireji, in western mostly interpunction)

+ a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown in water

+ interchangable first and third line

+ a deeper meaning

“Every song must end."

Where once there was an energetic soul

Creating melodic legerdemain

To the accompaniment of a raw beat pulsing like a wild heart

The untamed desires of the audience reflected in the sound created

Now there is only a void

An empty hollow, where a short, shy man once stood strong

A gritty Bodhisattva in a tank top and jeans

Who had no patience with parasites

Who inspired broken souls to keep on fighting

The dusk has fallen over his mind

But perhaps even in dying in such a heart-breaking fashion

His spirit reminds us to keep compassion in our souls

Every song must end

His song deserves the grandest of finales

Love,

Dolly

This image is not our creation. 

Props and all to whoever made it!

Prompt used:

Red Wolf Poems

This poem is dedicated to Malcolm (duh)

Also to our Real Cie, who loves him so much

So sorry your heart is breaking, Darlin'

If I could I'd heal up his mind so you'd both be happy

A Bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated Bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Photoshop manip by Cie

Original Eye in the Sky image:

Copyright: zadvinskiy / 123RF Stock Photo

Healing the Wounds Afflicted by Reason

Healing the Wounds Afflicted by Reason

Image Source

I

Let the unknowable touch the buckle of my spine

Having to know the essence of everything

Takes away its beauty

Let it be what it is

Let yourself feel what you feel

Don’t overanalyze everything

It is what is

You are what you are

We are the product of our yesterdays

We are becoming our tomorrows

Don’t be so quick to discount what can’t be put into words

Let it be enough to let it be

Copyright: tuvi / 123RF Stock Photo

II

In the end, everything dies

Stars become stardust

The most beautiful blooms fade

Their petals drop away

In the end what matters most

Is the sustenance they gave to their fellow beings

Counting the bread and wine by autumn’s gain

Is the best of measures

Image Source

III

“O, know, sweet love, I always write of you”

These words were already written in your heart, my friend

Digging in with golden talons

As you tried to deny that which was tattooed upon your soul

An offer of kindness

Became a desire for kisses

What you deem wicked

What you decry as x-rated

Is only the expression

Of your heart’s zeal

To heal

The beautiful, broken being

Left crushed against the rocks of time

~Wanda~

199 Words

Prompts:

Let the unknowable touch the buckle of my spine 

–

 Little Summer Poem Touching the Subject of Faith by Mary Oliver

*************

Counting the bread and wine by autumn’s gain 

– 

Poppies on the Wheat by Helen Hunt Jackson

**************

O, know, sweet love, I always write of you 

– 

Sonnet 76 by William Shakespeare

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 7

Image Source

Silence

Turn off the world for a minute

Be done, be done

STOP!

Stop thinking

Stop ruminating

Worrying

Fearing

Throw out all the clutter in the mind

Turn it off for a minute

Please, why can't we?

Put down the damn world

And all the fears

And the sorrow and the tears

STOP!

Just stop and be...

It's harder than you think because then you get to thinking

And thinking

And thinking some more

Then you start to realize just how much is going wrong

The thoughts spiral down

The anxiety gets worse...

Living in the modern world

Is sometimes nothing but

A goddamn curse

Turn it off for a minute

Just a minute

Just fifteen

Just an hour...

I wish I could turn it off for a week

Organize everything the way I need...

That would take a lifetime

And then another one

Turn it off for a minute

Turn it off and just be

I'm tired of hearing the Monkey Mind

Always chattering at me

Turn it off for a minute

Turn it off

Turn it off

Turn it off

Stop thinking

Stop fretting

Stop worrying

Just 

STOP!

~Wanda~

Wanda's note:

This has a tendency to happen when I try to meditate.

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 1

Copyright: carlanichiata / 123RF Stock Photo

The Transformation

You made the transformation

Leaving behind the chrysalis that was your broken body

Your soul flew free like a butterfly

It was a good thing

But there are days when it saddens me

And makes me angry

That I can't talk to you any more

That I won't ever see you again

I suppose I'll feel differently when my time comes

And my soul breaks free of the chrysalis of my body

But sometimes it's hard to understand

Or to feel positive

You have this set of people saying you have to believe the way that they believe to be allowed into the butterfly garden

You have that set of people saying that there is no soul, and anyone who believes in such simply is delusional

Sometimes there's no comfort to be found for those of us

Who don't think that either of those things is true

In any case, it's all quite muddling to me

I'm always glad you're free of your suffering

But sometimes I feel left behind and lonely and I just wish I had an answer that made sense

You're beyond all of that now

Enjoy your transformation

Fly free

~Helena~

In memory of my father

Peace in Solitude

Still I seek to find

Peace in times of solitude

Peace within myself

~Polly~

Cross-Posted to:

One Love

Poetry of the Netherworld