Stepping into Poetry

Stepping into Poetry

I'm stepping into poetry
as though it's going to tell me
the meaning of life's mystery
and why a cypher looks like history

Dipping a toe into poetic rhyme
Silencing my voice like a mime
Hearing vowels and ending consonants drop a dime
Revealing how the mind flows every time

I envy you similes and metaphors
Being "like" and "the same as" opens doors
to descriptive verses as my mind explores
watch me as my imagination soars

Poetic muse and I dancing in the street
to a different drummer we're stepping to the beat 
Worn out soles almost falling off my feet
Raising the roof even when my high is deplete

Poetry has saved me from many a situational clutch
And perhaps I'm just expecting too much
Thinking I can use this artistic crutch
Reminiscing about the strength of a poetic touch

Paisley Pause

So stunned, I became blank
On the outside anyway
On the inside my blood turned to tears
and I am still crying on the inside today

I'm writing this the day after I heard that Prince died
It was my daughter who gently told me
I was pregnant with her when I saw Purple Rain
but I became a Prince fan long before that movie

In 1978 I heard Soft and Wet on the radio and asked, what did he just say?
Not giving the side eye, I felt there was a third eye to it, something creatively free
It was sultry falsetto, electrified, unapologetic, on the edge
He was off the beaten path musically, and the trip was alright with me

Rock, R&B, Funk, Pop, Jazz, whatever, just mix it up, spice it up
By the time I Wanna Be Your Lover came out I was hooked
Played all sorts of instruments, and he was self taught
He served a creative gumbo, and I loved it every time he cooked

He was just as h...

Melt

Imagining peaceful settings
I can usually place myself there
Rendering myself calm and laissez-faire
And temporarily without care

Repetition of a word
A mantra if you will
Tends to make me still
and deliriously tranquil

Then there are those times when my mind 
is muddled from the hand I've been dealt
it is then when I have to dig deeper
And command myself to melt

I initially envision myself starting to drip
until I progressively liquefy
And lately I've been pondering the types of liquid
I can turn into before I solidify

I could be cinnamon tea
a spicy medicinal brew
Or leave a tangy sweet after taste
from the juice of mango or honey dew

I could be rain...a brief spring shower
that those lovers can saunter in
Suddenly I downpour...Watch them splash, giggle
and dash ...