Strange were the hands that made them
in the brooding sun-gold realm:
secrets of an ancient time
so silent still in slumber
on the dry and windless plains,
age-old forgotten symbols
by life and ghosts abandoned.
Are there watchers in the skies?
Do they see us wake from dreams
and mark with hope the wonder
that we might now remember
time-travelers of the past?
“Wait,” they somehow seem to say.
“Wait. We will come back some day.”
#NascaPlains #NascaLines #Geoglyph #PeruAndAliens
Fire Hydrant
The warted, bunioned
Stump of pipe
Rises from the ground—
A challenge to aesthetics.
Yet for a painter who loves
Minor and greater shadows
Light that caresses a curve
Or sharpens an angle,
Or cuts the eye
For such a painter,
This mutant of the city
Is a thing of beauty.
I, however, cannot agree.
It remains
A warted stump of pipe
In glad paint.
#SubectsInArt #WhatIsBeauty #Hydrant
SECRETS OF THE NASCA PLAINS
Strange were the hands that made them
in the brooding sun-gold realm:
secrets of an ancient time
so silent still in slumber
on the dry and windless plains,
age-old forgotten symbols
by life and ghosts abandoned.
Are there watchers in the skies?
Do they see us wake from dreams
and mark with hope the wonder
that we might now remember
time-travelers of the past?
“Wait,” they somehow seem to say.
“Wait. We will come back some day.”
#NascaPlains #NascaLines #Geoglyph #PeruAndAliens
EASTER
Easter is a time to express
Love in all our communications,
To speak with long time friends,
Renew love ties with old loves,
Touch the heavens in thanks,
Remember why we are here.
Easter, peaceful bliss,
Omen of what we all owe,
Divine help when needed most.
May I thank you for your love?
One more reason to be glad.
Happy Easter to you all.
#Easter #Poetry
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
The poem “SECRETS OF THE NASCA PLAINS” is included this week in honor of Pan American Day (April 14) and UN Human Space Flight Day (April 12).
REFRACTIONS—a poem by Robert Roxby
“EASTER,” first appeared in the author’s anthology, Reflections on a Lifetime.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“FIRE HYDRANT” is included for World Art Day (April 15).
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
SPLINTERS FOR APRIL 2022
Poems as Lonely Orphans
As I read the most recent prizing poems,
I begin to understand why
Mine are not and remain
Like orphaned children
In a forgotten country village.
They perch upon a doorstep
Watching the seldom traveled road
For someone to come along who will
Really love them and take them home.
#RejectedPoems #Poetry #PoetryContests
From a Letter to an Editor
Dear Poet-Friend:
My poem is lost, or forgotten,
Or worse yet, not ‘noticed!’
A name haunts me—a child born
And gone…., where?
The candle is lit—every night—
Sending forth its faint search line
Through cold glass
Into that mysterious lost land
Of where?
And I call:
(silently and secretly for the
name is dear to me alone)
“If no one wants you now,
I hope they’ll send you home to me.”
#EditorLetter #PoetrySubmissions #LostPoems #PoeticHumor
POKEY DAVIS
Speed was Pokey’s all-time goal.
Never one to observe the written rules,
Pokey broke them all on every trip.
But that last curve came up too quick.
Now we obey the rules and slow the pace.
Old Pokey Davis is on a roll,
(How soon can we hit the road again?)
Not as fast as he was wont to go.
Of course, this time he isn’t driving.
Pokey is on the way to his resting place.
As the preacher blesses his soul,
I wonder if Pokey’s soul broke the rules
When it left his body bound for home?
#Memoir #SpeedDemonElegy
SPLINTERS FOR APRIL 2022