Afternoon in the Rose Garden

A rose garden-peaceful, light,

And thoughts of you, invited, come

In splendor, like the rose,

So beautiful, it’s essence bright.

What color should I name my love

Purest white, or deepest red,

Brilliant yellow like the sun,

Or baby pink and innocent?

Perhaps the orange, all gaily dressed

Like festive parasols in a row

That line the boardwalk in the sun,

Where bathers sit to shade their heads.

Or no, then like the lavender

Pale and quiet, soft and silent,

Fragranced lightly in it’s breath,

All delicate lace, it’s petals fragile.

All lovely scents, all beauty formed

Of nature’s choicest vibrant color

In newest bud or aged bloom

Everywhere I look, I see the wonder.

And then I see you in a rose,

Growing quietly among the rows.

The deepest pink -- a blushing bride

Is not as lovely as this one’s pride,

Which blooming fully in the sun,

Brings you to mind, my dearest one.

It’s fragrance light, it’s blossoms free,

It’s buds coiled tight, it’s leaves deep green.

I see your neck, so soft and fair

So graceful, in it’s petals there.

Within a bloom so perfectly,

I see your face, your smile for me.

And as I touch the velvet side

Of petals opened full and wide,

I see your form in beauty laid,

Your grace before me on your bed.

I want to spend eternity,

Drinking in the sight I see

Before me in the darkened room,

Your loveliness, a rose in bloom

As deeper into me you cling

With every movement as I bring

That cup of water you so desire

I feel, then join your inner fire.

I hear your moan in pounding breast

As our two hearts approach the crest

As higher unto heaven’s state

We climb, until we reach the gate

Of purest bliss, and in that place

With I in you and you in me --

We melt into each other’s heat.

As one pure rose of deepest pink,

The deepest pink

The one I chose,

My sweetheart‘s face,

My darling rose.

Flowtrvlr

©2002

It Started With a Phone Call

It started with a phone call

From my son in San Francisco

A continent away

"Mom, I just called to say

I love you, and I'm thinking

about you today,

and by the way

have you turned on the

television today?"

I told him that I loved him too

And turned on the TV

And didn't turn it off again

For days

Just before the second plane

Just before the pentagon

Just before the farmer's field

Oh, my God

I said

And over and over and over

Again

No, no, no, no,

Running through my head

What kind of madness is this?

What's next, how can it get worse?

What nightmare world

Has opened up and swallowed

All our calm and perfect hope?

Can we just run this backward

And start the tape at the beginning

And change something

Anything

So those planes do something

Different

Besides flying into buildings?

That's only for the movies

And no one really gets hurt

Because it isn't really real

This is too horrible to imagine

To nightmarish to be real

How can this be happening?

And yet these newsmen in their

Unkempt clothes and unwashed

Hair and somber faces

Just keep talking on and on

And I think they are telling me

The truth

My heart is aching, tearing, breaking

For someone I do not know

For so many someones

Who were loved ones

For somebody who is crying, breaking,

Aching, tearing in their heart and soul

For so many someones

Who never will come home

Oh, my God

Over and over and over and over

Again

No, no, no, no

When will it end?

Not before we go to war

Not before we change forever

Not before we pull together

Like never in our lifetimes

Before

Americans united

In grief, in tears, in sorrow

In strength, in faith, in charity

For our fallen brothers

And sisters

And fathers

And mothers

It ended with a phone call

From my son in San Francisco

"I just called to say I love you,

Mom, and I was thinking of you,

Today"

And I dialed back the number

Left a message I was home

I just returned from services

At church in remembrance

Of that day it all began

A year ago

And I still feel the aching

In my heart for someone

I don't even know

And wonder how their family

Is doing now, one year later

After their world turned upside down

Oh, my God

Over and over and over

Again

9/11/01-9/11/02

Earlene McCoy

©2002

National Poetry Day

Today is October 2, 3014 - National Poetry Day. The theme for 2014 is "remember."

It Started With a Phone Call, was written on September 11, 2002 and is about 911 - that horrible day our lives changed forever, September 11, 2001. We will never forget!
The Rape of the Expendable was also written in 2002; my feelings about the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. However, it is applicable to the BP oil spill and the many, many others that have occurred around the world. The terrible damage to each area's wild life and the ecological impact should never be forgotten.
And finally: You Are in Our Thoughts and Prayers, 2003, was posted September 27, 2014, but should be included in our "remembrance" as it is a letter to all service men and women serving abroad and at home. It is as timely today as it was then.
Time passes by so quickly and life goes on, but we remember.

Rape of the Expendable

Glistening drops of oil

Beading up on silent waters

Like quarters on Army beds

Black like the plague of death

They leave behind

Unforgiving of the innocent

Greasy sheets of oil

Clinging to silent feathers

Like shrouds marking mass graves

Carelessly thrown over all

In the rush to cover nakedness

As if the dead cared anymore

Slow unkindly demise

Of Nature's treasures

Rape of the expendable

By the reprehensible

For the untenable

Reason of wealth

God have mercy

On us all

Earlene McCoy

©2002

You Are in Our Thoughts and Prayers

The Dogwoods are in bloom

And I thought of you today

Spring is here already

You were in my prayers last night

Easter will be coming soon

A yellow ribbon marks your chair

The choir is rehearsing songs of praise

And we all miss your voice, your laugh

Your presence in our midst

But we hold you close beside us

In our thoughts and in our prayers

My children have a new baby girl

I'm a grandmother now times three

I went to see her on a sunny day

And I thought of you way over there

In sand and heat, in danger's way

And in my heart I said another prayer

That God would bring you safely home

That He would hold you in His hand

That you would feel His Presence near

While you are in this foreign land

The white and pink of Dogwood trees

Have given way to leaves of green

I held the thought of early spring

And sent it on to you

With baby scent and children's smiles

With laughing friends at bar-b-ques

Oh, and by the way,

Your cat and dog are safe and sound

Although they miss you too

We're doing all we can at home

To keep things running smooth

And each day in our thoughts and prayers

In everything we say and do

There is that thread connecting us

Even through the miles that separate us

No matter what you may be going through

We here at home are holding you

And the sacrifices you're making too

All the while you are over there

You are here in our thoughts and prayers

Thank you,

Artwumyn

c.2003

Hello Again...

Once again there has been a long gap between posts...this time four years. Many reasons, none of them really important. Perhaps the best thing is to just post and not apologize for any time lag. So, that said, here is a poem I wrote for a friend who was serving in Afghanistan quite a few years ago - the time does go by quickly...but it is still pertinent today.

Cancer is, verse 1

Cancer is

Invasive
Pervasive
A bad dream
That won't go away

Horrendous
Tremendous
A nightmare
That stays in the day

One minute you're normal
Relatively speaking
Next moment you're shrieking
To relative strangers

And relatives come
To be with you and hold you
But when they go home
You can't go with them

Because you've got cancer
And cancer has got you
And now you are different
And nothing's the same

Cancer is

Hateful
Ugly and spiteful
Full of dis - eases
That give you no rest

Cancer is

Tiring
Exhaustive, expiring
You just want this nightmare
Of daytime to end

Sometimes you're lucky
And cancer is vanquished
Cut out by ruthless
Surgeons with blades

But you are still thankful
For scars that run crazy
Because for the blades
The cancer would spread

But cancer cut out
Is not cancer over
There is no peacetime
Once wartime has ceased

Because of a small chance
Or maybe a large chance
That cancer may come back
Or linger within

So you never rest easy
No sleeping as babies
For once cancer has you
It never lets go

Artwumyn 2008

Time Stands Still

The last post to my blog was in 2007. Over two years have passed since. Why the gap? In a word - Cancer. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in October of 2007. In January of 2008 I underwent a mastectomy. Physical recovery was normal, but emotional and spiritual recovery has taken much longer than I could have imagined. I went through all the stages of grief, both for the loss and for the change in body image. In the last few months I have felt ready to take on more of life.

This is much abbreviated, but I may post more detail later. I just wanted to comment on the gap in dates before I began posting poetry again...and letting it flow.

2 Easy

love is
unspoken
phrases of
freely circulating harmonies
lightly twirling swirls of
exciting similarities
lovely lofty cloudscapes of
gently flowing transitions
pulsating rhythms of co-mingling
differences balanced in security on
firmly laid foundations of
steel-stated linkages of
reinforced gaugings of
respectfully waited
kindnesses and
loving inner coursings

giving circulating circles of
receivables of valuables of variously
unmeasurable hopefulfilling
dreamwishes and satisfying
lifevisions in sharefully and
carefully driven vehicles of
accepting compromisings

really not mechanical
but very enterprising
and easily instructable
when loveables advising
come to the table dressed
for journeys lengthy and uprising
in their natural proclivity for
partnerships surviving.

2easy

~~~~~~let it flow~~~~~~~~

Flowtrvlr 2002

Haiku For Two

Intuition is
Seeing from the inside out
The feeling within 

In darkness I wait
Timing each sound's rhythmic beat
Imagining sight

Artwumyn 2002

The Faerie's Ball

Come dance with me and we'll be free.
Don't be afraid of the fall.
I've lit the way to the forest glade.
Follow along, it's not far.
Come let us spin our weaver's tales.
And laugh into the night.
The midnight mists will hide our view.
Till we are out of sight.
Come let us play along the way.
The path is deep and wide.
Most certainly say you'll come with me.
To the Faerie's Ball tonight.
Faerie Sojourner 2002

Just letting it flow...

Life is a journey, a path through the unknown and the unfamiliar, which then becomes the known and the familiar…some of it loved, some of it unloved, some of it memorialized for quick reference, and some of it passed so quickly as to be instantly forgotten - and missed. Linger on the path…
and let it flow…
Flowtrvlr 2007